Wikipedia
National football team
Name = England
Badge = England crest.png
Nickname = Three Lions
Association = The Football Association
Coach = Sven-Göran Eriksson, 2001-
Most caps = Peter Shilton (125)
Top scorer = Bobby Charlton (49)
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First game = Scottish national football teamScotland 0 - 0 England
(Partick, Scotland; 30 November, 1872)
Largest win = Northern Ireland national football teamIreland 0 - 13 England
(Belfast, IrelandNorthern Ireland; 18 February, 1882)
Largest loss = Hungary national football teamHungary 7 - 1 England
(Budapest, Hungary; 23 May, 1954)
World cup apps = 12
World cup first = 1950
World cup best = Winners, Football_World_Cup_19661966
Regional name = European Football ChampionshipEuropean Championship
Regional cup apps = 7
Regional cup first = 1968 European Football Championship1968
Regional cup best = Third, 1968 European Football Championship1968, Semi-finals, 1996 European Football Championship1996
The England national football team represents England (not the whole United Kingdom) in international football (soccer)football competitions such as the Football World CupWorld Cup and the European Football ChampionshipEuropean Championships. It is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England.Due to historical precedent, and continuing national sentiment among them, each of the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom possesses its own separate football association, domestic league and national team. Because the International Olympic CommitteeIOC does not accept regional representative teams, England, like the other three, do not compete in Football at the Summer OlympicsOlympic football.England are by far the most successful of the Home Nations, having won the Football World Cup 19661966 World Cup and the British Home Championship outright thirty-four times, as many as the other three nations have won outright altogether.
History -
Early years - England played in the first ever international football match, against Scotland national football teamScotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick (now part of Glasgow), Scotland on November 30, 1872. The result was 0-0; England had to wait until the following year to record their first win, 4-2, over Scotland at the Kennington Oval.England would only play the other Home Nations (Scotland, Wales national football teamWales and what was then Northern Ireland national football teamIreland) for nearly 40 years - partly due to the dominance of the UK in international football, as well as the problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace. England first played Continental opposition in a 1908 tour of Central Europe, recording easy wins over Austria national football teamAustria, Hungary national football teamHungary and Czech Republic national football teamBohemia. England's first defeat to a team outside the British Isles came in 1929, when they lost 4-3 to Spain national football teamSpain in Madrid.The FA had joined FIFA in 1906, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught, and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three Football World CupWorld Cups. However many in England declared the team unofficial "World Champions" after they defeated Football World Cup1934 World Cup winners Italy national football teamItaly in the "Battle of Highbury" in November 1934.
Post-war - After the Second World War, the FA started to modernise their approach; they rejoined FIFA in 1946, the same year they appointed the first dedicated #England managersteam manager, Walter Winterbottom (before then, the team was picked by a committee). England's World Cup debut came in Football World Cup 19501950; however, they suffered an infamous England v United States (1950)1-0 loss to the United States men's national soccer teamUnited States and failed to get beyond the first group stage. England struggled in the Football World Cup 19541954 and Football World Cup 19581958 tournaments, and all the signs pointed to how far behind English football had fallen behind the rest of the world.England's tactical inferiority was highlighted on November 25, 1953, when Hungary national football teamHungary came to visit Wembley Stadium. Hungary, one of the best sides in the world and fielding legendary players such as Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskás, England v Hungary (1953)outclassed the English 6-3 - this was England's first ever home loss to Continental opposition. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7-1, which still stands as England's worst ever defeat.By the 1960s English tactics and training had started to improve, and England turned in a respectable performance in the Wc1962 , losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Brazil national football teamBrazil. After Winterbottom retired in 1962, former captain Alf Ramsey was appointed; Ramsey boldly predicted that England would win the following tournament, which England were hosting.
1966 World Cup - with the Jules Rimet trophy]]Ramsey's prediction came true, and the Football World Cup 19661966 World Cup was England's finest moment. Captained by Bobby Moore, England's "Wingless Wonders" dispatched Argentina national football teamArgentina and then Portugal national football teamPortugal to set up a final with Germany national football teamWest Germany at Wembley. England won 4-2 after extra time, with three goals from Geoff Hurst and one from Martin Peters. The game popularized the British catchphrase "They Think It's All OverThey think it's all over... it is now!", which were BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's words as Hurst scored his third goal in the 120th minute.
Decline in the 1970s - England came third in the 1968 European Football Championship1968 European Championships, and were one of the favourites to win the Football World Cup 19701970 World Cup; however, they fell in the quarter-finals to West Germany 3-2, having been 2-0 up. West Germany also beat England 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 1972 European Football Championship1972 European Championships. Worse was to come as England failed to qualify for the Football World Cup 19741974 World Cup after only managing a 1-1 draw against Poland national football teamPoland in a qualifier at Wembley, largely thanks to the heroics of Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. In the aftermath of England's failure to reach the World Cup Finals, the FA sacked Sir Alf Ramsey. Of their 113 matches under Ramsey, England had won 69 and drawn 27. There was widespread distaste that, given his distinguished record, Ramsey had not been given the opportunity to resign.After a brief period where Joe Mercer was caretaker manager of the side, the FA appointed Don Revie as Ramsey's permanent successor. He fared even worse than Ramsey, as England failed to qualify from the group stages of the 1976 European Football Championship1976 European Championships; Revie resigned halfway through England's unsuccessful bid to qualify for the Football World Cup 19781978 World Cup. At the same time the team were attracting an ever-growing hooligan element in their support, especially at their matches abroad - at the 1980 European Football Championship1980 European Championships ItalyItalian police deployed tear gas during a group match with Belgium national football teamBelgium. England qualified for the Football World Cup 19821982 World Cup but failed to progress from the second group stage despite not losing any of their matches, in another tournament marred by violence.
Revival under Robson - Although at the time he was widely derided by the press, Bobby Robson is now looked upon as one of England's more successful managers. He took England to the Football World Cup 19861986 World Cup, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Argentina in the quarter finals, thanks to two goals from Diego Maradona - the first the infamous "Hand of God goalHand of God" goal, where Maradona punched the ball into the net, Goal of the Centurythe second after a 50-yard dribble past five England players that is widely regarded as one of the finest goals in history. As a small consolation, Gary Lineker won the tournament's World Cup Golden BootGolden Boot.England's Football World Cup 19901990 World Cup was their best since 1966; after a slow start in the group stage, England squeaked single-goal wins over Belgium and Cameroon national football teamCameroon in the knockout rounds, before being beaten on penalty shootout (football)penalties by West Germany in the semi-finals, after drawing 1-1. The team's good performance, the relative lack of violence and the emergence of Paul Gascoigne - England's player of the tournament, who cried after being booked against West Germany (which would have ruled him out of the final had England won) - were all factors in the rehabilitation of football in British society in the 1990s.
Mixed 1990s - Robson's successor, Graham Taylor, was largely a failure - the team failed to win a game at Ec92 and missed out on qualifying for the Wc1994 altogether; the team infamously went down 1-0 to minnows San Marino national football teamSan Marino in a qualifying match after just eight seconds, one of the fastest international goals of all time, before recovering to win 7-1. Taylor was sacked in 1993 and replaced by Terry Venables, who oversaw a much improved performance at Ec96 . With the tournament hosted in England and it being the 30th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup victory, fans' expectations were high; however, after famous victories over Scotland and the Netherlands national football teamNetherlands, and a rare penalty shoot-out win over Spain national football teamSpain, England fans were treated to ''déjà vu'' as their side lost their semi-final on penalties to Germany after drawing 1-1.Venables stepped down after Euro 96; his successor Glenn Hoddle oversaw England's successful qualification for the Wc1998 , but the team were knocked on penalties again, this time to old enemies Argentina after David Beckham had been sent off. Hoddle resigned the following year after stating his controversial beliefs about the disabled in a newspaper interview. Former captain Kevin Keegan took over, only just managing to get England into Ec22000 (after a 2-1 playoff win over Scotland), where a lacklustre England failed to get beyond the group stage. Keegan resigned in September 2000, after England lost their very last match at the old Wembley Stadium, a World Cup qualifier against Germany.
The Eriksson era - In 2001, the SwedenSwede Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed as Keegan's successor, becoming the first foreign national to manage England. Eriksson turned around the team's Wc2002 campaign with a 5-1 victory over Germany; England came from behind with goals from Emile Heskey, Steven Gerrard and a Michael Owen hat-trick. England ensured qualification after a tense final game against Greece national football teamGreece; David Beckham scored from a free kick in the last seconds of the game to make the score 2-2 and put England top of their group on goal difference. In the finals in Japan and South Korea England beat Argentina 1-0 in the group stage and reached the quarter-finals before being beaten 2-1 by the eventual winners Brazil.In Ec22004 , England came top of their qualification group after drawing 0-0 away to Turkey national football teamTurkey in their final qualifier. In the finals, despite a last-minute loss to France national football teamFrance in the group stage, England were favoured to do well, but were knocked out in yet another penalty shootout, this time to hosts Portugal national football teamPortugal after a 2-2 draw in the quarter-finals.2005 has seen Eriksson receive hefty criticism from fans for his defensive strategies and alleged lack of passion. A 4-1 loss to Denmark national football teamDenmark in a friendly was followed by a humiliating 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland national football teamNorthern Ireland in a Wc2006 qualifier, which compounded criticism. An unconvincing 1-0 victory over Austria national football teamAustria did nothing to relieve the pressure. However, despite these criticisms England qualified for the World Cup finals with one match to spare, and travel to Germany as group winners following a 2-1 victory and a much improved performance against Poland national football teamPoland.In their first friendly match following qualification for the World Cup, England beat Argentina 3-2 in Geneva, Switzerland, in a game many have described as England's best performance in a very long time.The Swede has also received a degree of criticism during his time in charge for experimenting with his teams excessively during friendly matches, sometimes changing the entire eleven at half-time before FIFA ruled that only a maximum of five substitutions would be allowed in such games from 2004. He also received criticism from some quarters of the English media for 'cheapening' the captaincy of the England team by allowing lower-profile players such as Emile Heskey and Philip Neville to lead the team after substitutions. However, these critics generally ignored or were not aware of the fact that only the player leading the team at kick-off is officially recorded as having captained England, so players inheriting the armband later in games were not 'England captains' in the official sense. Since the loss to Northern Ireland, and several key players suffering injury or suspension, Eriksson began using a holding midfielder, usually Ledley King, to operate in front of the defence, enabling players like Frank Lampard and Stephen Gerrard to play more attacking roles that they are accustomed to. This has, in general, been seen as a very good move.
Current squad - Players who have recently been called up to England squads include:Goalkeepers Paul Robinson (goalkeeper)Paul Robinson - Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur (18 caps, 0 goals) Chris Kirkland - West Bromwich Albion F.C.West Bromwich Albion (on loan from Liverpool) (0 caps, 0 goals) Robert Green - Norwich City F.C.Norwich City (1 cap, 0 goals) David James (footballer)David James - Manchester City F.C.Manchester City (33 caps, 0 goals) Scott Carson - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool (0 caps, 0 goals);Defenders Gary Neville - Manchester United F.C.Manchester United (77 caps, 0 goals) Luke Young - Charlton Athletic F.C.Charlton Athletic (7 caps, 0 goals) Jamie Carragher - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool (22 caps, 0 goals) John Terry - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (21 caps, 0 goals) Sol Campbell - Arsenal F.C.Arsenal (66 caps, 1 goal) Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United F.C.Manchester United (44 caps, 1 goal) Ledley King - Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur (occasionally employed in midfield) (15 caps, 1 goal) Ashley Cole - Arsenal F.C.Arsenal (44 caps, 0 goals) Stephen Warnock - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool (0 caps, 0 goals) Phil Neville - Everton F.C.Everton (52 caps, 0 goals) Matthew Upson - Birmingham City F.C.Birmingham City (7 caps, 0 goals) Wayne Bridge - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (21 caps, 1 goal) Glen Johnson (footballer)Glen Johnson - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (5 caps, 0 goals) Paul Konchesky - West_Ham_United_F.C.West Ham (2 caps, 0 goals);Midfielders David Beckham - Real Madrid (86 caps, 16 goals) Steven Gerrard - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool (39 caps, 6 goals) Frank Lampard - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (38 caps, 10 goals) Joe Cole (footballer)Joe Cole - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (29 caps, 4 goals) Jermaine Jenas - Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur (14 caps, 0 goals) Shaun Wright-Phillips - Chelsea F.C.Chelsea (7 caps, 1 goal) Alan Smith - Manchester United F.C.Manchester United (16 caps, 1 goal) Kieran Richardson - Manchester United F.C.Manchester United (4 caps, 2 goals) Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich (29 caps, 0 goals) Stewart Downing - Middlesbrough F.C.Middlesbrough (1 cap, 0 goals) Michael Carrick - Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur (4 caps, 0 goals) Scott Parker (football player)Scott Parker - Newcastle United F.C.Newcastle United (2 caps, 0 goals) Kieron Dyer - Newcastle United F.C.Newcastle United (28 caps, 0 goals);Strikers Michael Owen - Newcastle United F.C.Newcastle United (75 caps, 35 goals) Wayne Rooney - Manchester United F.C.Manchester United (28 caps, 11 goals) Jermain Defoe - Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur (15 caps, 1 goal) Peter Crouch - Liverpool F.C.Liverpool (4 caps, 0 goals) Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic F.C.Charlton Athletic (0 caps, 0 goals) Andy Johnson - Crystal Palace F.C.Crystal Palace (2 caps, 0 goals)
Home stadium - For the first 50 years of its existence, the England team played its home matches at different venues all around the country; for the first few years it used cricket grounds, before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. England played their first match at Wembley Stadium in 1924, the year after it was completed, against Scotland national football teamScotland, but for the next 27 years would only use Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches; other opposition were still entertained at club grounds around the country.In May 1951, Argentina national football teamArgentina became the first team other than Scotland to be entertained at Wembley, and by 1960 nearly all of England's home matches were being played there. Between 1966 and 1995, England did not play a single home match anywhere else.England's last match at Wembley before its demolition and reconstruction was against Germany national football teamGermany on October 7, 2000, a game which England lost 1-0. Since then the team has played at 14 different venues around the country, with Old Trafford (football)Old Trafford having been the most often used. The FA have ruled that when the new Wembley is completed in mid-2006, England's travels will end, and the team will play all of their home matches there until at least 2036. The main reason for this is financial. The FA did not own the old Wembley stadium, but it does own the new one, and has taken on debts of hundreds of millions of pounds to pay for it. Thus it needs to maximise the revenue from England matches, and does not wish to share it with the owners of other grounds.
World Cup record - Football World Cup 19301930 to Football World Cup 19381938 - ''Did not enter''Football World Cup 19501950 - Round 1Football World Cup 19541954 - Quarter-finalsFootball World Cup 19581958 - Round 1Football World Cup 19621962 - Quarter-finalsFootball World Cup 19661966 - WinnersFootball World Cup 19701970 - Quarter-finalsFootball World Cup 19741974 - ''Did not qualify''Football World Cup 19781978 - ''Did not qualify''Football World Cup 19821982 - Round 2Football World Cup 19861986 - Quarter-finalsFootball World Cup 19901990 - 4th placeFootball World Cup 19941994 - ''Did not qualify''Football World Cup 19981998 - Round 2Football World Cup 20022002 - Quarter-finalsFootball World Cup 20062006 - Qualified
European Championship record - 1960 European Football Championship1960 - ''Did not enter''1964 European Football Championship1964 - ''Did not qualify''1968 European Football Championship1968 - Third place1972 European Football Championship1972 - ''Did not qualify''1976 European Football Championship1976 - ''Did not qualify''1980 European Football Championship1980 - Round 11984 European Football Championship1984 - ''Did not qualify''1988 European Football Championship1988 - Round 1