1966 World Cup: When football came home 

England won their first and so far only World Cup in 1966 – at home at Wembley. It took 36 years for the World Cup to be hosted by the nation where the beautiful game was first played. 

The tournament took place across seven towns and eight stadiums and featured 16 teams. 

Wembley Stadium – with a capacity of nearly 100,000 people, hosted nine matches including the final and all of England’s games. 

This tournament saw the introduction of drug testing, and flood lights and was broadcast via satellite. 

European teams dominated – making up more than half of the main draw, there were squads from the Americas and North Korea – the only Asian representative. 

African countries boycotted the tournament after their demand for a guaranteed spot in the main draw wasn’t met. 

England opened the tournament with a lacklustre draw against Uruguay, but both teams make it into the knockouts. Other European teams and Argentina also advanced and North Korea sprang a surprise by qualifying for the quarterfinals after beating Italy. 

Portugal – 1966 winners of the golden boot, thanks to striker Eusebio’s nine goals, made it to the semis only to be knocked out by England. 

England and West Germany made it to the Wembley final – where the game turned out to be a classic. 

England looked set to win 2-1 but Germany equalised in the last minute. 

Geoff Hurst, who scored England’s first goal, scored again. But this goal was controversial – his shot hit the crossbar and bounced on the goal line, and the goal was awarded to England. 

But it wasn’t the deciding goal, because Hurst would score again, completing a hat trick. He is the only player to score one in a World Cup final, at the end of extra time and in the middle of a pitch invasion. 

Things to note about the 1966 World Cup 

• It was the first to be broadcast via satellite
• Floodlights were used for the first time
• Portugal’s Eusebio scored nine goals, winning the golden boot and taking his team to the semis for the first time
• The World Cup trophy was stolen whilst on display four months before the tournament – it was recovered by a dog named pickles
• African teams boycotted after they were not guaranteed a place in the main draw
• Brazil (defending champions at the time) failed to advance to the quarterfinals after Pele was injured in the group stages
• Italy were knocked out early after losing two games