The 1966 FIFA World Cup was staged in England between July 11 and July 30, 1966 at eight venues, including Wembley Stadium, where the hosts played all six of their matches. Brazil, who had won the World Cup in 1958 and 1962, were the pre-tournament favourites, but failed to progress to the knockout stage after suffering 3-1 defeats by both Hungary and Portugal at Goodison Park in their second and third Group 3 matches.
By contrast, the eventual winners, England topped Group 1 after a goalless draw with Uruguay, followed by 2-0 defeats of Mexico and France, during which Liverpool forward Roger Hunt scored three times. Their quarter-final against the Argentina team captained by Antonio Rattin was an ill-tempered affair and, with ten minutes of the first half remaining, all head broke loose when West German referee Rudolf Kreitlein dismissed Rattin for his second cautionable offence. Incensed, Rattin refused to leave the field and the game was stopped for nearly 10 minutes. In any event, England won the tie 1-0, courtesy of a goal by Geoff Hurst after 78 minutes.
The semi-final against Portugal, featuring the legendary Eusebio, proved to be a masterclass from Bobby Charlton, who scored both England goals, either side of half-time, in a 2-1 victory. The World Cup final against West Germany at Wembley Stadium on July 30, 1996 has become the stuff of legend. Helmult Haller put West into the lead after 12 minutes, but some quick thinking by England captain Bobby Moore allowed Geoff Hurst to had home an equaliser, unmarked, six minutes later.
Further goals by Martin Peters and Wolfgang Weber in the second half meant that the scores were tied at 2-2 at the end of normal time. In the first period of extra time, Hurst scored a second, controversial goal, award by ‘Russian’ linesman Tofiq Bahramov, who was, in fact, Azerbaijani and, with literally the final kick of the match, blasted the ball beyond goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski to complete his hat-trick and win the match 4-2. As BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme put it, “Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over…it is now!”