The History

The most important trophy in the world of football, instigated by then FIFA president Jules Rimet in the late twenties in the wake of the great success of the football tournaments at the Olympics in Paris (1924) and Amsterdam (1928), both won by Uruguay. Until 1978, 16 teams were admitted to the final tournament (in 1930 and 1950 this number of participants was not reached however), from 1982 up to the 1994 finals, 24 countries earned the right to play there, while from 1998 onwards 32 are represented. The original trophy, the Coupe Jules Rimet, was won outright by Brazil after their third win in 1970. It has since been stolen there and never found. The name of the current trophy is FIFA World Cup. Brazil, (West) Germany and Argentina have both won its twice, France and Italy each won it once.

1966 England Wins the World Cup

England, 11-30 July 1966 (Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesborough, Sheffield, Sunderland). Decided at FIFA Congress in Rome, 22 Aug 1960. Entries deadline 15 Dec 1963. 74 teams entered (6 for the first time), 53 actually played (SAF banned for apartheid politics). Qualifications drawn 31 Jan 1964 in Z?rich. Finals drawn 6 Jan 1966 in London.

Attendance: 93,802 - Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland) - Goals: Haller (FRG) 12', Hurst (ENG) 18', Peters (ENG) 78', Weber (FRG) 89', Hurst (ENG) 101', Hurst (ENG) 120' - London's Wembley Stadium provided the venue for the Final, and 97,000 people crammed inside to watch.

After 12 minutes Helmut Haller had put West Germany ahead, but the score was levelled by Geoff Hurst four minutes later. Martin Peters put England in the lead in the 78^th minute; England looked set to claim the title when the referee awarded a free kick to West Germany with one minute left. The ball was launched goalward and Wolfgang Weber managed to poke it across the line, with England appealing in vain for handball as the ball came through the crowded penalty area.
With the score level at 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, the game went to extra-time. In the 98^th minute Hurst found himself on the score sheet again, when his shot hit the crossbar and was controversially deemed to have crossed the line by the referee. In the last minute, it was Hurst again to easily sprint through the (then almost empty) German half and net his third, just as the gathered crowd invaded the pitch to celebrate with the team. This made Geoff Hurst the only player ever to have scored three times in a World Cup Final.
BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's description of the match's closing moments has gone down in history: "Some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over." (Hurst scores) "It is now!"
England received the recovered Jules Rimet trophy from Her Majesty the Queen and were crowned World Cup winners.