1966 World Cup

Moscow (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate refused to get carried away with what appeared to be a hugely favourable draw on Friday for his team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The draw in Moscow saw England given games against Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G.

It meant England, who have not won a major men’s international trophy since lifting the 1966 World Cup on home soil, avoided global giants Argentina, Brazil and Germany after Argentina great Diego Maradona picked them out of Pot 2 at the Kremlin’s State Palace.

Moscow (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate refused to get carried away with what appeared to be a hugely favourable draw on Friday for his team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The draw in Moscow saw England given games against Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G.

It meant England, who have not won a major men’s international trophy since lifting the 1966 World Cup on home soil, avoided global giants Argentina, Brazil and Germany after Argentina great Diego Maradona picked them out of Pot 2 at the Kremlin’s State Palace.

On the 23rd anniversary of the great Bobby Moore's death on 24th February, 1993 here's an attempt to capture the spirit not only of one of England's greatest players but also one of its most stylish icons.

You've heard of Jimmy Greaves of course, everyone has even though he stopped playing nearly 40
years ago. Greaves was one of the greatest goal scorers England has ever produced which makes his
recent...

The ever-candid David James offers some interesting responses in an interview with the
Guardian's David Hytner.

He's particularly confused by why a save from Gordon Banks that helped England win the 1966
World Cup final is less famous than the save Banks made four years later in England's 1-0 loss to
Brazil in the group stage of the 1970 World Cup:

"Banks's save in the final wasn't just a continental tip-over-the-bar, fling-your-legs-about
job, it was a proper decent save and I never knew anything about it until I saw the DVD," James
said.

Before I start typing this, and before you start reading, I should 'fess up that I'm an England
fan. Hopefully I'm not too biased and can write a post about the World Cup history of England in an
objective manner. Even when discussing the events of 1966 and 1986.

World Cup 1966 hero Geoff Hurst thinks England won't win the main prize in South Africa this year.
While he's not alone in holding this perfectly reasonable view, Hurst's pessimism is backed by some
bizarre reasoning.

"We're a tiny bit short up front," Hurst told BBC Radio 5 Live, a remark which suggests he has
never seen Peter Crouch.

A year before I was stumbling boozily through the back streets of Stockholm with a couple of QPR fans I had met in Malmo, ahead of England's make or break Euro '92 showdown with Sweden in Solna (Tomas Brolin scored the winner in a 2-1 win for the hosts which knocked England out and ended Gary Lineker's international career).

The countdown to the crunch game with Uruguay is now on and it's been a while since we last tasted World Cup success. Celebrate our 1966 World Cup win with this classic from Campo Retro for just £19.66. Simply use code ‘1966' at the checkout.

At 71 years old Benfica and Portugal legend Eusebio has passed away due to cardiac failure. Amongst the vast number of strikers remembered as legends of the beautiful game, few can hold goalscoring records as impressive as Eusebio's. With 733 goals in 745 competitive games, Eusebio's efforts were not only numerous but also memorable.

At 71 years old Benfica and Portugal legend Eusebio has passed away due to cardiac failure. Amongst the vast number of strikers remembered as legends of the beautiful game, few can hold goalscoring records as impressive as Eusebio's. With 733 goals in 745 competitive games, Eusebio's efforts were not only numerous but also memorable.

"The wait is almost over for England fans young and old." Kate Silverton's just told me that so it
must be true. How many of those fans, readying themselves for England v USA, know much about the
man that Fabio Capello seeks to emulate at this World Cup? Most will know about Geoff Hurst and
Bobby Charlton.

The World Cup is almost upon us and there aren't many genuine football fans left who aren't
looking forward to the tournament more and more everyday. The World Cup is the most special of all
competitions. We can all remember where we were watching Zinedine Zidane headbutt Marco Materazzi
in 2006, or David Beckham's penalty against Argentina in 2002, and of course David Beckham's red
card against the same opposition in St Etienne in 1998.

North Korea have clinched a place in the World Cup finals for the first time since 1966. That
appearance in England remains one of the most extraordinary in the history of the finals perhaps as
extraordinary as the fact that the North Korean team of today is almost as much as an enigma
emerging from a closed society as that of their predecessor over forty years ago.

Can't resist it. The Uruguayan Mauricio Espinosa and the Azerbaijani Tofik Bakhramov now represent
the ying and yang of linesmen in English football. Back in 1966 Germany couldn't immediately call
for goal line technology. Instead they settled for exacting their revenge over 44 years. An
exquisitely cold banquet of vengeance.