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Football World Cup 1966


1966 was a year of triumph for the its host nation, England. It was England who won the tournament in a controversial final over West Germany, 4-2. Eusebio of Portugal was the leading goalscorer in the tournament with nine goals.
The format of the competition stayed the same as 1962: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Top two teams in each group would advance to the quarterfinals.
It was a World Cup that had a rather unusual hero off the field, a dog called Pickles. In the build up to the tournament the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from an exhibition display. A nation wide hunt for the icon ensued. It was later discovered in some newspaper as the dog sniffed at some bushes in London.
Despite achieving record attendances at that time, it was a World Cup with few goals as the teams began to play much more tactically and defensively. This was exemplified by Alf Ramsey's England as they finished top of Group A with only four goals to their credit, but having none scored against them. Uruguay were the other team to qualify from that group at the expense of both Mexico and France. All the group's matches were played at Wembley apart from the match between Uruguay and France which took place at White City.
In Group B, West Germany and Argentina qualified with ease as they both finished the group with 5 points, Spain managed 2, while Switzerland left the competition after losing all three group matches.
In the northwest of England, the Old Trafford and Goodison Park stadia played host to Group C which saw the World Cup holders, Brazil, finish in third place behind Portugal and Hungary and so be eliminated along with Bulgaria.
Group D, however, provided the biggest upset when North Korea beat Italy 1-0, and finished above them, earning themselves qualification along with the USSR. Chile finished bottom of the group.
The quarterfinals provided an easy victory for West Germany as they cruised past Uruguay 4-0. It appeared as though the surprise package North Korea might do the same to Portugal when after 22 minutes they were in the lead 3-0. It fell to one of the greatest stars of the tournament, Eusebio, to change that. He scored four goals in the game and with Augusto adding a fifth in the 78th minute, one of the most incredible comebacks was complete.
Meanwhile in the other two games, Bene's late goal for Hungary against the USSR, who was lead by Lev Yashin's stellar goalkeeping, proved little more than a consolation as they crashed out 2-1, and the only goal between Argentina and England came courtesy of England's Geoff Hurst. During that game, Argentina's Antonio Rattin became the first player to be sent off in a senior international football match at Wembley.
Both semifinals finished 2-1: Franz Beckenbauer providing the winning goal for West Germany as they beat the USSR, while Bobby Charlton scored both goals in England's triumph against Portugal. Portugal went on to beat the USSR 2-1 to take third place.

Top Scorer

9 goals
Eusébio (POR)

Group 1 results:
England 0-0 Uruguay
France 1-1 Mexico
Uruguay 2-1 France
England 2-0 Mexico
Uruguay 0-0 Mexico
England 2-0 France

    P W D L F A Pts
  England 3 2 1 0 4 0 5
  Uruguay 3 1 2 0 2 1 4
  Mexico 3 0 2 1 1 3 2
  France 3 0 1 2 2 5 1

Group 2 results:
West Germany 5-0 Switzerland
Argentina 2-1 Spain
Spain 2-1 Switzerland
West Germany 0-0 Argentina
Argentina 2-0 Switzerland
West Germany 2-1 Spain

    P W D L F A Pts
  W. Germany 3 2 1 0 7 1 5
  Argentina 3 2 1 0 4 1 5
  Spain 3 1 0 2 4 5 2
  Switzerland 3 0 0 3 1 9 0

Group 3 results:
Brazil 2-0 Bulgaria
Portugal 3-1 Hungary
Hungary 3-1 Brazil
Portugal 3-0 Bulgaria
Portugal 3-1 Brazil
Hungary 3-1 Bulgaria

    P W D L F A Pts
  Portugal 3 3 0 0 9 2 6
  Hungary 3 2 0 1 7 5 4
  Brazil 3 1 0 2 4 6 2
  Bulgaria 3 0 0 3 1 8 0

Group 4 results:
USSR 3-0 North Korea
Italy 2-0 Chile
North Korea 1-1 Chile
USSR 1-0 Italy
North Korea 1-0 Italy
USSR 2-1 Chile

    P W D L F A Pts
  USSR 3 3 0 0 6 1 6
  N Korea 3 1 1 1 2 4 3
  Italy 3 1 0 2 2 2 2
  Chile 3 0 1 2 2 5 1

Quarter-finals results:
Portugal 5-3 North Korea
England 1-0 Argentina
West Germany 4-0 Uruguay
USSR 2-1 Hungary

Semi-finals results:
West Germany 2-1 USSR
England 2-1 Portugal

3rd/4th place play-off:
Portugal 2-1 USSR

World Cup Final:
England 4-2 West Germany (aet)