Great England Moments Part 1

So there is just 57 days till the greatest tournament on earth kicks off and I cannot wait. As my excitement is growing I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of England's greatest moments and this is of course only one place to start: 1966.



By far the greatest moment in England's history winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966. Seeing Bobby Moore lifting the trophy in that picture makes me tingle even though I was not born till 21 years later. Geoff Hurst still holds the record of being the only man to ever score a hat-trick in a World Cup final and it was a team filled with legends. The XI from that day who won the Jules Rimet trophy were: Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Charlton (Jack), Moore (C), Ball, Stiles, Charlton (Bobby), Peters, Hunt and Hurst. It is every England players dream to write themselves into history like these players have done and it is every England fan's dream that it will happen in South Africa.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico saw one of the best saves ever seen from Gordon Banks off a Pele header. It is still astonishing to understand how he managed to save it and get it up and over the bar. England eventually lost to West Germany 3-2 after extra time in the quarter-finals although there was Banks and a few other England players were ill with food and there has always been a strong opinion that there food in the hotel was spiked.
Here is a link for that save.




The 1986 World Cup is forever remembered for two moments, unfortunately they both involve England. Firstly the greatest player of the time Maradona out jumped Shilton in goal for England and then used his hand to knock the ball in. None of the officials saw it and let it stand. That goal is forever now known as the 'Hand of God'. Then Maradona showed his real quality, picking the ball up on the halfway line and taking on most of the England team before scoring. England lost 2-1 to Argentina and exited the competition in a very bitter mood.

The 1990 World Cup we came so close yet still so far. Our best performance since winning it. Beaten by the Germans on penalties in the semi-finals. This being one of the most famous pictures in England's history of Gazza's tears after we lost. Being beaten on penalties would be become a returning theme.

As the World Cup continues to get closer I will do another Great England Moments looking at the last 3 World Cups and what went wrong.