WORLD CUP 1966

For the 1966 World Cup finals in England, FIFA decided they had found the right format and the tournament would follow exactly the same path as in Chile four years earlier, four groups of four with the top two moving through. Hosts England started out in Group A, and were very comfortable after a nervous start against Uruguay. A 0-0 draw was followed by wins over France and Mexico, and they were accompanied into the quarter-finals by Uruguay. West Germany and Argentina were comfortably the class of Group B, drawing with each other and each beating both Spain and Switzerland. They eased into the last eight, with the Germans topping the group on goal difference.

One of the shocks of the tournament came in Group C, where double champions Brazil were going for a historic third success. After an opening win over Bulgaria, they were stunned 3-1 by Hungary in their second match in the absence of injured star Pelé and found themselves having to beat highly fancied Portugal to stay in the competition. Portugal seemed to want to kick the barely fit Pelé out of the match, and if that was their strategy it seemed to work as his injuries left him largely ineffective and unable to prevent another Brazilian defeat. The holders were out, and Hungary accompanied Portugal into the quarter-finals.

If Brazil's exit was a surprise, it was nothing compared to the upset that occurred in Group D. North Korea had not even been expected to qualify, and were thought to be there just to make up the numbers. After defeat to the Soviet Union and a draw with Chile they had to beat mighty Italy to stay in, and incredibly recorded a 1-0 win that remains one of the World Cup's biggest shocks. When the Soviets beat Chile to clinch first place in the group, North Korea had beaten the odds to reach the last eight.

In the quarter-finals, England edged out Argentina in a bad-tempered match famous for Argentinian captain Antonio Rattin refusing to leave the field having been sent off. West Germany outclassed Uruguay 4-0 in their match and the Soviet Union held off a Hungarian fightback to record a 2-1 victory, but the most memorable quarter-final was between Portugal and North Korea. Portugal sensationally found themselves 3-0 down after less than half an hour, but with star striker Eusebio inspired they fought back to win 5-3. Two goals from Bobby Charlton saw England safely through their semi-final against Portugal and into their first final, where they would face West Germany who had survived a late scare to beat the Soviet Union 2-1. Portugal's consolation came when a late goal from José Torres gave them third place ahead of the Soviets.

In the final, West Germany stunned the home crowd by taking the lead through Helmut Haller, but England quickly hit back when Geoff Hurst equalised. When Martin Peters gave the host nation the lead twelve minutes from the end they seemed to have done enough, but a dramatic last minute equaliser from Wolfgang Weber took the match to extra-time. The extra period saw one of football's most controversial moments when England were awarded a goal after Hurst's shot had hit the crossbar and bounced down, with the Germans claiming it had not crossed the line. That was the turning point, and Hurst sealed the first ever World Cup final hat-trick in the last minute to clinch World Cup success for England.