1966

England's 1966 World Cup Win

It's 43 years since England won the World Cup in 1966 at the old Wembley and a hero was made in the form of the Russian linesman who claimed Geoff Hurst's crucial goal had crossed the line. 

Prior to the tournament kciking off,  the England World Cup odds didn't fancy a host nation win, however, lady luck was shining and Alf Ramsey's England squad took to the following route to the final:

Group 1

Knockout Stage

Semi finals

The Final - England 4 - West Germany 2

After 12 minutes, England were behind by one goal after West Germany took the lead with a Helmut Haller goal, four minutes later, England drew level with a goal from Geoff Hurst, the rest of the first half produced no more goals and it was not until the 78th minute that a goal from Martin Peters put England ahead and it looked as if the tournament was going to be England's.

However in the 89th minute, West Germany were awarded a free kick and Wolfgang Weber managed to get it over the line amid calls for handball the goal was awarded and the game went into extra time.

England managed to again get ahead with a goal in the 98th minute from Geoff Hurst, a strike that hit the crossbar and bounced over the line no matter what the German's say!

Whether or not people doubt the validity of the 3rd goal, with one minute to go, Hurst completed his hat trick and it led to the famous quote by the BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme "Some people are on the pitch... They think it's all over ... It is now!".

England were crowned world champions for the first and only time in England's World Cup history, however, they have come close on several attempts since reaching the quarter finals on numerous occasions and beaten semi finalists in 1990. Optimism is high ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 

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