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England national football team
The England national football team is organised under the auspices of The Football Association, the governing body for football in England, and represents England (not the whole UK) in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. As the IOC does not accept regional representative teams, the UK does not compete in Olympic football.
History
England played in the first ever 'international' football match, a game against Scotland which took place at Hamilton Crescent in Partick (now part of Glasgow), Scotland in 1872. The result was a 0-0 draw.
England are by far the most successful of the Home Nations, as well as being former World Champions, they won the British Home Championship outright 34 times, as many as the other three nations managed combined.
England's moment of greatest triumph came in 1966 when they won the World Cup. They were led to victory by captain Bobby Moore, and managed by Alf Ramsey who was later knighted for the achievement. In the final England beat West Germany by 4 goals to 2, with 3 goals from Geoff Hurst and one from Martin Peters. The victory gave rise to the well known British catchphrase, "They think it's all over... it is now!" following Kenneth Wolstenholme's commentary of the final goal in the dying minutes of the game.
Goalkeeper Peter Shilton has played for England more times than anyone else. He gained his 125th and last cap in the 1990 World Cup. Sir Bobby Charlton is the top scorer with 49, with Gary Lineker second with 48.
In 2001, Sven-Göran Eriksson became the first foreign national (he is Swedish) to become the manager of England. The team qualified for the 2002 World Cup (held in Japan and South Korea) in a tense finale on the 6 October, 2001, with the final goal which gave them the much-needed draw against Greece coming from David Beckham in the dying seconds of the game. This result ensured automatic qualification above Germany on goal difference. In the World Cup itself England reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by eventual tournament winners Brazil 2-1.
So far, the highlights of Eriksson's time in charge of England have been a 5-1 victory over rivals Germany, during the World Cup 2002 qualification campaign — England came from behind, with goals from Emile Heskey, Steven Gerrard and a Michael Owen hat-trick; and a hard-fought 1-0 win over Argentina in the tournament itself.
The first national manager, Walter Winterbottom, died in February 2002.
World Cup record
European Championship record
Distinguished players
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Tony Adams central defender, 66 caps, 1986-2000 (20th=)
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Viv Anderson right back, 30 caps, 1978-1988
- Alan Ball midfielder, 72 caps, 1965-1975 (17th)
- Gordon Banks goalkeeper, 73 caps, 1963-1972 (16th)
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John Barnes left winger, 79 caps, 1983-1995 (10th)
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Peter Beardsley striker, 59 caps, 1986-1996
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David Beckham midfielder, 80* caps, 1996- (8th=)
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Steve Bloomer striker, 23 caps, 1895-1907
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Sir Trevor Brooking midfielder, 47 caps, 1974-1982
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Terry Butcher central defender, 77 caps, 1980-1990 (12th)
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Sol Campbell central defender, 64* caps, 1996-
- Sir Bobby Charlton striker/midfielder, 106 caps, 1958-1970 (3rd)
- Jack Charlton central defender, 35 caps, 1965-1970
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Ray Clemence goalkeeper, 61 caps, 1972-1983
- George Cohen right back, 37 caps, 1964-1967
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Duncan Edwards midfielder, 18 caps, 1955-1958
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Sir Tom Finney left winger, 76 caps, 1947-1959 (13th=)
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Tip Foster striker, 5 caps, 1900-1902 (the only man to captain England at both football and cricket)
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Trevor Francis striker, 52 caps, 1977-1986
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Paul Gascoigne midfielder, 59 caps, 1988-1998
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Jimmy Greaves striker, 57 caps, 1959-1967
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Glenn Hoddle midfielder, 53 caps, 1979-1988
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Emlyn Hughes central defender/left back, 62 caps, 1969-1980
- Roger Hunt striker, 34 caps, 1962-1969
- Sir Geoff Hurst striker, 49 caps, 1966-1972
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Kevin Keegan striker/midfielder, 63 caps, 1973-1982
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Gary Lineker striker, 80 caps, 1984-1992 (8th)
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Sir Stanley Matthews right winger, 54 caps, 1935-1957
- Bobby Moore central defender, 108 caps, 1962-1974 (2nd)
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Phil Neal right back, 50 caps, 1976-1984
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Gary Neville right back, 76 caps*, 1995- (13th=)
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Michael Owen striker, 69 caps*, 1998- (18th)
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Stuart Pearce left back, 78 caps, 1987-1999 (11th)
- Martin Peters midfielder, 67 caps, 1966-1974 (19th)
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David Platt midfielder, 62 caps, 1990-1996
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Bryan Robson midfielder, 90 caps, 1980-1992 (5th)
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Wayne Rooney striker, 25 caps*, 2003-
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Kenny Sansom left back, 86 caps, 1979-1988 (6th)
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Paul Scholes midfielder, 66 caps, 1997-2004 (20th=)
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David Seaman goalkeeper, 75 caps, 1989-2002 (15th)
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Alan Shearer striker, 63 caps, 1992-2000
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Peter Shilton goalkeeper, 125 caps, 1970-1990 (1st)
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Gareth Southgate central defender, 57 caps*, 1995-
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Gary Stevens right back, 46 caps, 1985-1992
- Nobby Stiles midfielder, 28 caps, 1965-1970
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Chris Waddle right winger, 62 caps, 1985-1992
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Des Walker central defender, 59 caps, 1989-1993
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Ray Wilkins midfielder, 84 caps, 1976-1987 (7th)
- Ray Wilson left back, 63 caps, 1960-1968
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Billy Wright midfielder/central defender, 105 caps, 1947-1959 (4th)
*denotes a player still playing for England or available for selection. Players in bold are those who won the 1966 World Cup. Bold figures in brackets denote a place in the Top 20 most capped players.
See also: List of English footballers
Top England goalscorers
England managers
See also
External links
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
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