1966 World Cup Final

Lore & Background

West Germany took the lead in the 11th minute when Helmut Haller shot the ball into the bottom left corner when an English defender failed to clear the ball, before Geoff Hurst equalised with a header to make it 1–1. The score remained level by halftime until England took the lead with a 78th minute goal from Martin Peters. England almost won by full time before West German player, Wolfgang Weber, scored a 2–2 equaliser in the 90th minute. The game went into extra time, in which Geoff Hurst scored a controversial goal in the 101st minute to make the score 3–2 after the first 15 minutes of extra time, until Hurst scored again in the final minute to complete his hat-trick, ending the game 4–2 after the extra 30 minutes.

He was the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final until Kylian Mbappé did so in 2022. The match is remembered for England's only World Cup and first and only major international title, Hurst's hat-trick – the first scored in a FIFA World Cup final – and the dubious third goal awarded to England by referee Gottfried Dienst and linesman Tofiq Bahramov. The England team became known as the 'wingless wonders', on account of their then-unconventional narrow attacking formation, described at the time as a 4–4–2.

Reader's Guide

Both teams were strong throughout the tournament. Each won two and drew one of their three matches in the group stages. England did not concede a goal until their semi-final against Portugal. In the final, England, managed by Alf Ramsey and captained by Bobby Moore, won the toss and elected to kick off.

After 12 minutes, Sigfried Held sent a cross into the English penalty area which Ray Wilson misheaded to Helmut Haller, who got his shot on target. Jack Charlton and goalkeeper Gordon Banks failed to deal with the shot which went in, making it 1–0 to West Germany. In the 18th minute, Wolfgang Overath conceded a free kick, which Moore took immediately, floating a cross into the West German area, where Geoff Hurst rose unchallenged; his downward glancing header went into the net and levelled the scores at 1–1.

The teams were level at half-time, and after 77 minutes England won a corner. Alan Ball delivered the ball to Geoff Hurst whose deflected shot from the edge of the area found Martin Peters. He produced the final shot, beating the West German keeper from eight yards to make the score 2–1 to England. Germany pressed for an equaliser in the closing moments, and in the 89th minute Jack Charlton conceded a free kick for climbing on Uwe Seeler as they both went up for a header.

The kick was taken by Lothar Emmerich, who struck it into George Cohen in the wall; the rebound fell to Held, who shot across the face of goal and into the body of Karl-Heinz Schnellinger. The ball deflected across the England six-yard box, wrong-footing the England defence and allowing Wolfgang Weber to level the score at 2–2 and force the match into extra time. Banks protested that the ball had struck Schnellinger on the arm, and reiterated the claim in his 2002 autobiography, but replays showed that it actually struck Schnellinger on the back.

In extra time, England pressed forward and created several chances. With 11 minutes of extra time gone, Alan Ball put in a cross and Geoff Hurst swivelled and shot from close range. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down and was cleared. The referee Gottfried Dienst was uncertain if it had been a goal and consulted his linesman, Tofiq Bahramov from Azerbaijan in the USSR, who indicated that it was, and the Swiss referee awarded the goal to the home team.

Did You Know?

• The match had an attendance of 96,924 at the stadium, and the British television audience peaked at 32.3 million viewers, making it the United Kingdom's most-watched television event ever.
• The crossbar from Hurst's controversial third goal is now on display as part of the Wembley Stadium tour.
• One of the balls from the final is on display in the National Football Museum in Manchester.