1966 FIFA World Cup

Lore & Background

England were the fifth nation to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Reigning world champions Brazil failed to get past the group stages. The two debut teams performed well – North Korea beat Italy 1–0 on the way to reaching the quarter-finals, where they lost to Portugal 5–3. Portugal finished third, beating the Soviet Union 2–1 in the bronze-match. During qualifying, all 15 African nations boycotted in protest over the lack of a direct qualifying place. Prior to the tournament, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen but was recovered by a dog named Pickles. It was the only World Cup in history that did not have matches on Sundays.

Reader's Guide

Matches were played at eight stadiums across England, foremost Wembley Stadium, which had a capacity of 98,600. England played all its matches at Wembley. The tournament was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The final was level at 2–2 after 90 minutes and went into extra time, during which Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first to be scored in a World Cup final. The official match ball was produced by Slazenger. The mascot was 'World Cup Willie', a cartoon lion.

Did You Know?

• The final was the last to be shown entirely in black and white.
• This was the first World Cup to have selected matches broadcast via satellite to countries on other continents.
• All 15 African nations boycotted the tournament in protest over FIFA's qualifying rules.