1966 and all that
The World Cup kicks off on Thursday.
What follows are some personal recollections of previous World Cups beginning (where else?) in 1966. Please note that this post is (a) quite long, and (b) written for my own amusement. I don’t expect anyone else to read it! Normal service will be resumed soon …
The decision to award the 2026 tournament to the USA, Mexico and Canada was debatable at best. I know that many World Cups (including the 1994 tournament in the USA) have been played in hot climates, but think of all the travelling the teams will have to do. Also, of those three countries, only one - Mexico - is genuinely passionate about football, although that factor didn’t stop Qatar (an even more dubious choice) being picked to host the last World Cup in 2022.
The 2026 finals have been expanded from 32 to 48 teams which means a record-breaking 104 games. I can remember when there were 16 teams (1954-1978), then 24 (1982-1994), and 32 (1998-2022). What next? 72? 84?
Qualifiers now include the likes of Cape Verde, Uzbekistan, and Curaçao (population 158,000), a country I confess I had never heard of until a few weeks ago. No-one was more delighted than me when Italy failed (again) to qualify for the finals, but the qualifying system clearly discriminates against European teams. Sixteen out of 54 countries in Europe (the strongest region) qualified for the 2026 finals, despite the fact that 24 European nations appear in the top 48 of Fifa’s current world rankings. In contrast, six out of ten South American nations qualified automatically with a seventh given an opportunity to qualify via a play-off against a country from another (weaker) confederation.
The bloated tournament kicks off with twelve groups of four. The top two in each group plus EIGHT teams that finish in third place will qualify for the first knockout stage (aka the round of 32). So, after 17 days, only 16 of the 48 teams will be going home, with another 22 days (39 in total) still to come. Even though they’re in a potentially tricky group with Brazil, 2022 semi-finalists Morocco, and Haiti, surely not even Scotland can fail to qualify from the group stage for the first time in history?
1966
Host nation: England
Winners: England
I was seven in 1966 so most of what I know about the tournament is based on subsequent books and articles. The biggest shock was the failure of Italy to make it out of the group stage. Italy was one of the best football nations in the world at the time but, after beating Chile 2-0, the Italians lost 1-0 to the USSR. Then, in one of the great World Cup upsets, they lost 1-0 to North Korea who then lost 5-3 to Portugal in the quarter-finals having been 3-0 up.
Another team that failed to progress beyond the group stage were the holders Brazil who had won the World Cup in 1958 and 1962 and were to win it again in 1970. In 1966 they were victims of some heavy tackling, bordering on assault, and they departed the competition early having lost to Hungary and Portugal in the group stage. Pele, widely regarded as the best player in the world, missed the second match (against Hungary) through injury, and against Portugal he was carried off on a stretcher.
The quarter-final between England and Argentina, which England won 1-0, is also remembered for dubious reasons. After the match, during which the Argentinian captain was sent off for persistently arguing with the referee, England manager Alf Ramsay diplomatically declared, “We don't swap shirts with animals”.
I don’t remember seeing any of those games. The evening matches kicked-off at 7.30 and I wasn’t allowed to stay up to watch them, so one of my few memories of the ‘66 World Cup is hearing the roar of the crowd as I lay in bed while my father watched (I think) the semi-final between England and Portugal on our small black and white television. I don’t even remember watching the final against West Germany, but I must have seen at least part of the match because another memory I have concerns the moment the Germans equalised in the last minute of normal time.
My father, who was neither hot-headed nor particularly interested in football, was so frustrated (or infuriated) that he switched off the TV and marched out into the garden while was I left sitting on the floor looking at a blank screen. After half an hour or so he returned and switched it back on just as the England players were doing a lap of honour celebrating their victory. I do remember that.
World Cup rating: 3/5
1970
Host nation: Mexico
Winners: Brazil
The 1966 World Cup must have piqued my interest in football, but it only began in earnest the following year when I started supporting Chelsea. Thereafter, one of the best and earliest football memories I have was watching Manchester United beat Benfica 4-1 after extra-time at Wembley in 1968 to win the European Cup. The following month I have a vague memory of England losing 1-0 to Yugoslavia in the semi-finals of the European Nations Cup (only four teams qualified for the finals in those days) in what was described as a ‘bruising’ battle, but I don’t think the game was shown on television so my first full experience of watching ‘international’ football was the British Home Championship in 1969. Featuring England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the format had been changed for the benefit of television so the matches were played over eight days at the end of the season, with every match broadcast live for the first time.
The 1970 World Cup ended badly for England, the holders, but I’ll come to that in a minute. Thanks to the time difference (Britain is six to eight hours ahead of Mexico) quite a lot of matches took place late at night or early in the morning, UK time. The BBC therefore broadcast highlights from 7.00am before people went to work or school. This was more than a decade before breakfast TV arrived so it was quite a novelty to watch television at that time. Highlights I remember waking up to included several games featuring Brazil (the most exciting team in the tournament) and the extraordinary Italy-West Germany semi-final that Italy won 4-3 after extra-time.
England, of course, had lost 3-2 to the Germans, also after extra-time, in the quarter-finals, despite being 2-0 up after 50 minutes. It was a terrible way to be knocked out but that was another match I missed (thanks to my father!) because it was a nice sunny day in Scotland, where we were living, and my father unaccountably decided we should take advantage of the good weather and drive to one of the picturesque glens in Perthshire, an hour or so from where we lived. At least I was spared the pain of watching England get knocked out, but it was arguably worse because on our way home we stopped at a fish and chip shop in Perth and enquired about the score. England, we were told, were winning 2-0 so it was quite a shock to arrive home (we didn’t have a car radio in those days) to discover they had lost.
After the Italians beat the Germans I wanted Italy to win the final but Brazil were far better than everyone else and fully deserved to win the tournament. I watched the match and 4-1 was a fair summary of the difference between the teams.
One last point about the 1970 World Cup. In my head I always see the tournament in colour, a big difference from 1966, probably because of the clips that appear on television and YouTube today. BBC Two was the first channel in Britain to broadcast in colour, on July 1, 1967, and BBC One followed suit on November 15, 1969, the same night as ITV. The 1970 tournament was therefore the first World Cup to be broadcast in colour but we didn’t get a colour TV until 1972 so despite what my head tells me I must have watched the entire tournament in black and white – and slightly fuzzy black and white too because satellite technology wasn’t what it is today. Despite that, it was great!
World Cup rating: 4/5
1974
Host nation: West Germany
Winners: West Germany
In 1974 the World Cup returned to Europe and, not for the first time, the best, most entertaining team didn’t win. No, not Brazil, but the Netherlands who lost the final, 2-1, to West Germany despite scoring from a penalty bravely awarded by English referee Jack Taylor in the very first minute. Inspired by Johan Cruyff, the Netherlands were brilliant throughout the tournament but after going ahead so early they seemed to take their foot off the peddle and allowed the Germans to gain a foothold and then win the game. Some observers thought that, for historical reasons, the Dutch were a bit too keen to demonstrate to the Germans the superiority of their football and forgot to win the match. Either way they were the best team in ‘74 and it was a lost opportunity for Dutch (who have lost three World Cup finals).
In 1974 the format was changed so there were two group stages and the eventual finalists were the winners of the two groups that made up the second group stage. This meant there were no knockout rounds, which is often when the World Cup truly comes alive, so apart from the final the only match I recall reasonably well is Netherlands versus Brazil during the second group stage. The Dutch won 2-0 but the match is mostly remembered for Brazil’s overtly aggressive style, the complete opposite of how they played in 1970. They were equally physical in other matches and it is believed they adopted this way of playing because of what happened in England in 1966. Either way, it was counter-productive against the Netherlands in particular because the Dutch were more tactically astute and weren’t intimated by their opponents’ physical approach.
If you were English, the elephant in the room was the fact that England, winners in 1966, failed to qualify. (Poland, who won England’s qualifying group, surprised many people and came third in the ‘74 World Cup.) Scotland, however, did qualify - for the first time since 1958 - but failed, by the tiniest of margins, to get out off the first group stage during which they beat Zaire 2-0 but drew with Brazil (0-0) and Yugoslavia (1-1). I was at school in St Andrews at the time and it was (and still is) a persistent boast that Scotland were the only “unbeaten” team in the ‘74 World Cup. Even West Germany, the eventual winners, lost (1-0) to East Germany during the first group stage. Listen to many Scots, as I had to, and you could be forgiven for thinking Scotland were the de facto world champions, despite the fact that they only played three games (West Germany played seven), winning one and drawing the other two.
World Cup rating: 3/5
1978
Host nation: Argentina
Winners: Argentina
For the second World Cup in a row, England failed to qualify having been drawn in the same qualifying group as Italy. Scotland were there again, though, and after their unbeaten run of three games in 1974, Ally McLeod, Scotland’s exuberant new manager, encouraged hopes that a talented group of players might even win a “medal” (ie achieve a top three placing).
Sadly it didn't turn out that way. Winger Willie Johnston was sent home early after testing positive for a banned stimulant, and after being beaten by Peru (a match I watched and recall to this day) Scotland were held to an excruciating draw by Iran, so even a famous win against the Netherlands (who had already qualified for the next group stage) couldn’t save Scotland from elimination.
Despite that, I think I enjoyed the 1978 World Cup more than any other. In some ways it was a relief that England didn’t qualify because, as an England supporter, I was able to enjoy the tournament as a neutral. At that time Argentina was governed by a military junta led by General Galtieri who, four years later, authorised the invasion of the Falklands. Under Galtieri the country had a terrible human rights record, but when Argentina played it was amazing. Ticker-tape rained down from the stands and there was a feverish atmosphere on and off the pitch. It was compelling to watch but Brazil were arguably the best team and favourites to win the tournament.
But then something dramatic happened. Having come second to Italy (to whom they lost 1-0) in the first group stage, Argentina beat Poland 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Brazil in the second group stage. Brazil meanwhile had beaten Peru 3-0 and Poland 3-1 so Argentina went into their last second group stage match with an inferior goal difference to Brazil knowing they had to beat Peru by four goals to reach the World Cup final.
And the improbable result? 6-0. I remember watching the match and it was incredibly dramatic. Brazil, unbeaten in six matches, were out. Argentina, the home team, were in the final where they played the Netherlands, still good but without Cruyff (who declined to travel to Argentina) not as good as the ‘74 team. Despite that, and a fanatical crowd willing the Argentinians to win, the Dutch stayed in the game and came back from a goal down to force extra time. But the final result felt inevitable. Driven on by a delirious home support, Argentina won 3-1 in extra-time and although I still disliked the two group stage format (which Fifa stuck with for one more tournament, in 1982), I did enjoy that World Cup.
World Cup rating: 5/5
1982
Host nation: Spain
Winners: Italy
Having failed to qualify for the previous two World Cup finals, England finally won their qualifying group and I was there, at Wembley, when they narrowly beat Hungary 1-0 to confirm their participation. In their first match, against France, they started brightly and scored one of the fastest goals in World Cup history. Unfortunately I didn’t see it live because I was working and in those days employers weren’t minded to turn a blind eye so staff could watch football on TV, nor was there any internet to follow the game online.
Further victories against the USSR and Kuwait meant England came top of their group, but they now found themselves in a second group with Spain and Germany. And this is where the second group format proved fallible because the three teams were so evenly matched they played cautiously, fearful of losing, and effectively cancelled one another out. For spectators, and viewers at home, it was pretty tedious.
The first match saw England draw 0-0 with Germany, a game I watched but remember nothing about. The Germans then beat Spain 2-1, which meant England had to beat Spain by two goals to qualify for the semi-finals, a knockout round that had been reintroduced after the number of competing teams was increased from 16 to 24. Inevitably, and despite some late pressure from England, that match ended 0-0 as well, so England were out. Like Scotland eight years earlier, they could claim to be unbeaten (after five matches), but it felt like a missed opportunity to at least reach the semi-finals.
However, the best team by a considerable margin in 1982 was Brazil and, again, the best team didn’t win the World Cup. The problem was, they were so attack-minded they sometimes forgot to defend, and that’s what happened against Italy in the second group stage when they lost 3-2 and the Italians qualified at Brazil’s expense. To put this in perspective, in the first group stage even Scotland scored against Brazil. I took great pleasure in the goal though because it was scored by Dundee United’s David Narey, one of my all-time favourite players. According to TV presenter and former footballer Jimmy Hill, it was a toe-poke, but that’s unfair to Narey because he hit it on the half volley on the edge of the penalty area and it flew into the roof of the net. 1-0 to Scotland! Unfortunately it was like a bear being poked because Brazil won the match 4-1.
A win over the Soviet Union in their final group match would have seen Scotland qualify for the next stage for the first time but the game ended 2-2 after Scotland conceded a comical second goal when Miller and Hansen, the two central defenders, collided going for the ball, leaving one of the Soviet forwards to go through on goal and score.
Thankfully, the reintroduction of a knockout round – even if it was just for the semi-finals – gave us what was arguably the best match of the tournament when Germany drew 3-3 with France after extra-time, before winning 5-4 on penalties. It was a great match but the incident everyone remembers wasn’t one of the six goals or the penalty shootout. Instead it was a fairly brutal assault by the German keeper on one of the French forwards. According to one report, ‘Battiston lost two teeth, had three broken ribs and suffered damage to his back that he carries to this day’.
I watched the match in a noisy and crowded London pub and it was an unforgettable moment. Incredibly the German keeper wasn’t sent off and I’m not sure he was even cautioned. According to the same report, ‘Some will argue that it was merely a poorly-timed attempt to block the ball and that any collision afterwards was unfortunate, but unplanned. Of course, people are entitled to their opinion, but to any unbiased observer, a contrary view is difficult to escape’. Anyway, the Germans weren’t celebrating for long because Italy beat them 3-1 in the final.
World Cup rating: 4/5
1986
Host nation: Mexico
Winners: Argentina
The 1986 World Cup was originally awarded to Brazil but the country had to pull out because of the cost and it was switched to Mexico where the event had taken place 16 years earlier. Most people remember it as Maradona’s World Cup and if you saw them it’s impossible to forget his performances, especially those against England in the quarter-finals, and Belgium in the semi-finals. He was brilliant. Yes, he cheated when he used his hand to score the first of two goals against England, but the second goal – which he scored after slaloming through the English defence – was incredible and Argentina deserved to win the match.
To this day it’s one of the few World Cup matches I remember exactly where I was. A friend from university, who was living in a lovely old house in the Suffolk countryside, invited me to lunch with his wife, following which we would watch the game. I drove up from London and I remember it being very sunny. We were optimistic without being confident because, following a sticky start in the group stage, England had beaten Poland 3-0 with a Gary Lineker hat-trick to qualify for the round of 16 in which they beat Paraguay by the same score. In tournaments momentum is key and it seemed that England finally had some momentum.
It wasn’t to be. Instead of taking the game to Argentina (whose players, including Maradona, were quite hyped up to beat the English following the Falklands War four years earlier), England did what England always do against the better teams in World Cups – they sat back, desperate not to concede, and handed the initiative to their opponents. Only after they conceded two quick second half goals did they attempt to go forward. With ten minutes left Lineker scored and Argentina began to panic. Into the last few minutes and Lineker came within inches of scoring from a cross by John Barnes who had skipped past the Argentinian fullback, and the question we were all asking ourselves was, why didn’t they attempt to play like that earlier? So that’s what I remember about that day. Disappointment that, once again, an ultra cautious England sat off and failed to take the game to their opponents. The pressure, after all, was on Argentina, the favourites, so what did England have to lose?
World Cup rating: 3/5
1990
Host nation: Italy
Winners: Germany
The 1990 World Cup is often credited with reviving interest in football in England following a fairly disastrous decade, especially at club level when the English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the Hysel stadium disaster in 1985.
Famously the BBC’s World Cup programmes began with Luciano Pavarotti singing ‘Nessun dorma’ and that seemed to cut through to the general public even more than the football, much of which was pretty dire, if I recall. Scotland beat Sweden 2-1 but lost 1-0 to Brazil. The real setback though was losing their first game, 1-0, to Costa Rica, and despite the victory over Sweden they endured yet another group stage departure.
England meanwhile were in a so-called group of death in which they drew with Ireland (1-1) and then the Netherlands (0-0). ‘Terrible’ doesn’t even describe their performances. In the third match, against Egypt, they were no better but scraped a 1-0 win and that was enough to get out of the group and into the round of 16 where they played Belgium. They weren’t much better against Belgium but David Platt scored a famous last minute goal that took them into the quarter-finals where they beat Cameroon in extra time after coming from behind in normal time. That at least introduced some excitement into what had been a series of turgid performances, and now they were into the semi-finals having avoided all the top teams apart from the Netherlands in the group stage. Their opponents? Germany.
I remember it well because I watched the match with a German friend who worked as a translator in the Barley Mow Workspace in Chiswick where I also worked as a freelance journalist. When Germany won the game on penalties following an extremely tense match that could have gone either way, she was very diplomatic and didn’t over celebrate. I liked Sabine.
In the final, Germany beat Argentina 1-0, a reversal of Argentina’s win in 1986. I watched it but remember almost nothing about the game. Italy 1990? Over-rated, in my opinion.
World Cup rating: 2/5
1994
Host nation: USA
Winners: Brazil
One of the reasons I’m not that excited about the forthcoming World Cup is because I remember the 1994 World Cup in America where it was extremely hot and several matches were shoehorned into baseball stadiums. Worse, during the opening ceremony, legendary singer Diana Ross was invited to kick a ball into an open net from the penalty spot and still missed. (To be fair, she was wearing high heels, if I remember.) The Americanization of football (sorry, soccer) had begun and for the 2026 final Fifa is introducing another American tradition – the 20-minute half-time ‘show’ normally reserved for the NFL Super Bowl. God help us.
But I digress. In 1994, and for the third time in 20 years (ie six tournaments), England were missing, having failed to qualify from a group that was won in controversial circumstances by the Netherlands. In fact there were no home nations at all in America so much of the attention switched to ‘plucky’ Ireland, managed by England’s Jack Charlton. In 1990, under Charlton, Ireland had qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever, reaching the quarter-finals after beating Romania on penalties in a match I watched at my sister-in-law’s flat in Glasgow, and now they were in the finals again. Like England before them, however, it was tough watching a hardworking but pedestrian Irish team, but 1994 did produce one famous victory - a 1-0 win against Italy, in (where else?) New York.
The final was won, on penalties, by Brazil after a 0-0 draw with Italy (who recovered from that group stage defeat by Ireland), and that says all you need to know about a forgettable World Cup. Truth is, the mid Nineties is when I began to lose a little bit of interest in football, and the 1994 World Cup may have played a part.
World Cup rating: 1/5
1998
Host nation: France
Winners: France
For once, England were arguably unlucky. Having qualified for the World Cup from a group that included Italy, Glen Hoddle’s team were now in a group that included Romania, Colombia and Tunisia. They played well in their first and third matches against Colombia and Tunisia, but lost 2-1 to Romania and that meant their opponents in the round of 16 were Argentina. I remember watching the match in our house in Dalkeith, just outside Edinburgh, and it was arguably one of the best World Cup performances I have ever seen from an England team (not a high bar, I admit).
After Argentina scored a goal in the fifth minute from a penalty needlessly given away by keeper David Seaman (more on him later), England roared back within minutes thanks to a dubious penalty awarded when 18-year-old Michael Owen threw himself to the ground. A few minutes later, however, he scored a brilliant individual goal that, as an England supporter, is one of the best moments I have experienced during a World Cup.
Argentina equalised on the stroke of half-time to make it 2-2. Then, two minutes after half-time, David Beckham was sent off for a minor but slightly petulant kick when he caught the back of an Argentinian player’s calf while he (Beckham) was lying on the ground. Naturally, the Argentinian made the most of it and Beckham was off and England had to play the rest of the match with ten men.
When Sol Campbell ‘scored’ with a header after 81 minutes the wild celebrations in the Clark household must have been replicated throughout England (if not Dalkeith), but the ‘goal’ was disallowed and the game went to extra-time and then penalties which England, inevitably, lost. Nevertheless, if you’re going to lose a World Cup match, that’s how to do it.
Scotland, by the way, played the opening match of the tournament against Brazil and didn’t disgrace themselves but still lost 2-1. They then drew 1-1 with Norway and lost, 3-0, to Morocco to come bottom of their group, which meant elimination at the group stage. And that was the last World Cup Scotland qualified for, until 2026. And the even better news? Scotland and Morocco are in the same group. Again.
World Cup rating: 3/5
2002
Host nations: South Korea and Japan
Winners: Brazil
Oh God, I’m really struggling to recall anything about the 2022 World Cup. I remember the qualifying campaign because England’s 5-1 win in Munich was one of their greatest ever results, and performances. They weren’t four goals better than Germany, but after conceding the first goal everything clicked that day, especially going forward. They still hadn’t qualified, though, and it took a dramatic free kick in added time by David Beckham to salvage a 2-2 draw with Greece at Old Trafford to get them over the line.
As for the tournament, without looking it up I can’t even remember who, apart from Sweden, were in England’s group. I even struggled, and failed, to remember who won the tournament after England were knocked out by Brazil. That was another painful exit, not least because of Brazil’s comical winning goal, a cross-cum-free kick that wafted over David Seamen’s head and into the back of the net. Seamen was a good goalkeeper for Arsenal and over a long career he did reasonably well for England, but he made one or two howlers and this was one of them. It wasn’t his fault, though, that England lost a match we could have won. Once again, we gave the opposition far too much respect and so departed with a whimper.
PS. I’m kidding. I do remember who won the tournament. It was Brazil and they haven’t won it since. The mystery is who they beat in the final. I’ll have to look it up because I’ve honestly no idea. (Update: It was Germany, and Brazil won 2-0. I must have watched it but I have no recollection of it at all.)
World Cup rating: 2/5
2006
Host nation: Germany
Winners: Italy
Again, I’m struggling to remember much about the tournament, apart from the fact that England lost on penalties to Portugal who had beaten England in similar circumstances during the Euros in 2004. Like David Beckham against Argentina in 1998, this time it was Wayne Rooney’s turn to get sent off. However, while the defeat against Argentina in 1998 felt quite noble, this was a missed opportunity given the team they had. Frankly, the so-called ‘golden generation’ that included Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry and Ferdinand should have gone further than they did and it got worse because they didn’t even qualify for the Euros in 2008.
Earlier in the tournament, after England had struggled to beat Paraguay 1-0, I remember watching the next match, against Trinidad and Tobago, in the clubhouse of what I think was a local cricket club. Or maybe it was the rugby club. The place was packed and there were a lot of children eager to watch England play in the World Cup. After 80 minutes it was still 0-0 and it took two late goals to save England’s blushes. Great atmosphere and celebrations when they finally scored, though, so it was arguably worth the wait. Thank you, Peter Crouch!
The big surprise of the 2006 World Cup, though, were the performances of Germany under Jürgen Klinsmann. Germany has an impressive World Cup record going back to 1954, but I would guess that before 2006 few people outside Germany regarded them as great entertainers. Klinsmann briefly changed that perception because in 2006 he built the team in his own attacking image and they were a joy to watch. Eventually, though, they came up against an impenetrable defence and lost 2-0 to Italy in the semi-finals. It was fun while it lasted, though, I never thought I’d say that about the German national team.
The final between Italy and France is largely remembered for Zinedine Zidane's famous headbutt on Italy’s Marco Materazzi’s chest deep into extra-time. Materazzi allegedly goaded the French captain with a crude comment about a member of Zidane’s family (possibly his sister) and was probably as surprised as anyone when Zidane reacted as he did. The game finished a few minutes later and Italy won the match on penalties. For Zidane, it was his final act as a player because he had already announced he was going to retire after the World Cup. France may have lost but Zidane went on to become the coach of Real Madrid and lead the club to three Champions League titles. He’s also tipped to become the coach of the French national team after this year’s World Cup.
World Cup rating: 3/5
2010
Host nation: South Africa
Winners: Spain
What can I say about the World Cup in South Africa? Very little about England, that’s for sure, because after edging out of the group stage in second place behind the USA (in a group that also featured those World Cup heavyweights Slovenia and Algeria), we played Germany in the round of 16 and were thumped 4-1. OK, it should have been 2-2 when Frank Lampard scored a goal that wasn’t given despite the ball hitting the crossbar and bouncing down so far over the line it wasn’t even close, and that might have changed the momentum of the game. But it wasn’t to be and England’s performance that day and in the group stage deserved little else.
Unfortunately the home nation, South Africa, were eliminated at the group stage which always sucks some of the life out of the event, but that’s a risk you take when you award the finals to countries that are not major football nations. (See also Qatar, 2022.) South Africa did leave one major impression on the tournament, though - the sound of those godawful plastic horns (vuvuzelas) that were subsequently described as an iconic soundtrack to the 2010 World Cup. If I ever hear one again it will be too soon.
Anyway, Spain won the tournament, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final, but the match was a dud, much like the rest of the event. Other memories? None.
World Cup rating: 1/5
2014
Host nation: Brazil
Winners: Germany
The abiding memory I have of the 2014 World Cup is watching Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals. I was in Zurich on business and watched the match lying on a large bed in a windowless hotel room. It was a remarkable result that no-one predicted.
Meanwhile the tournament was yet another embarrassment for England. Not only did we fail to advance from the group stage, we didn’t win a single match. A 0-0 draw with Costa Rica was followed by two defeats, the first against Uruguay, the second against Italy. I think I must have switched off after that, metaphorically and physically, because apart from that semi-final I don’t remember anything else.
The Germans beat Argentina 1-0 in the final, after extra time, which is all you need to know about the match. I’ve watched every World Cup final since 1970 and I can’t remember a single minute of that one.
World Cup rating: 2/5
2018
Host nation: Russia
Winners: France
The World Cup should never have been awarded to Russia but under the leadership of Gareth Southgate England did at least reach the semi-finals for the first time in 28 years. Unfortunately, despite scoring an early goal, they failed to build on it (sound familiar?) and lost 2-1 to Croatia.
Other matches of note? I’m sure there were but I’m struggling to think of any. Perhaps it’s my age, or perhaps you have to be at the World Cup in person to appreciate it. Personally, I think a slimmed down tournament with fewer matches would have greater impact, but that’s never going to happen so we’re stuck with tournaments that seem to go on for ever and only rarely catch the imagination.
World Cup rating: 2/5
2022
Host nation: Qatar
Winners: Argentina
This is embarrassing but when I made this list I genuinely couldn’t remember the host nation for the most recent World Cup and had to look it up. How could I have forgotten? After all, Qatar was arguably the most contentious choice there has ever been to host the World Cup and, believe me, there have been several contentious choices including Russia in 2018. Further back, Uruguay got the nod to host the very first World Cup in 1930 but the tournament was boycotted by several European nations whose own bids had been rejected.
But back to Qatar. Not for the first time England played poorly during the group stage but battled through and reached the quarter-finals via the round of 16 where they lost 2-1 to France. I didn’t watch the game (the first time I actively chose not to watch an England match in any World Cup) but I understand they played quite well against the holders and one of the tournament favourites. Pity that Harry Kane missed the penalty that would have brought the score level at 2-2 because reports suggested that England might have gone on to win the match.
Alas, we’ll never know. Instead France won and went all the way to the final where they lost on penalties to Argentina following an exciting and dramatic 3-3 draw. Let’s hope for similar drama, and goals, in the 2026 tournament.
World Cup rating: 3/5
Postscript
When making that list I remembered without hesitation every host nation from 1966 to 2018. Going further back I can also reel off most of the host nations from 1930, when the World Cup began, to 1962. As I mentioned above, however, I struggled with the last tournament, in 2022, and had to look it up.
As for the winning nations, I know off by heart every World Cup winner from 1930 to 1978, but after that all but one (Germany in 2014) initially escaped me. And even though I watched the final in 2014, I couldn’t remember who Germany beat. Is it just my memory fading, or is it something else? Perhaps I’m just not as invested in the tournament as I was when I was younger.
Anyway, an old school friend has tickets for Scotland v Haiti in Boston next Sunday (June 14) so I look forward to hearing about that. Strangely, even during my committed ‘football years’ (1968-1994), it never occurred to me to go to a World Cup.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always support England but with few exceptions our World Cup performances have been so dire, and I’ve been disappointed so often, attending a World Cup in person has never seriously crossed my mind. In fact, looking back, the following are the only England World Cup performances I can remember that left me either elated or purring with pride. One was a qualifying match and the other two ended in defeat (one after penalties):
Brazil 1-0 England (Mexico, 1970)
Argentina 2-2 England (France, 1998)
Germany 1-5 England (Munich, 2001)
Outside of the World Cup there have only been two England performances I’ve really enjoyed. The first was against Scotland at Wembley in 1975 when England won 5-1. The other was a long forgotten ‘friendly’ to mark the centenary of the Scottish Football Association. Played on a snowbound pitch at Hampden Park in February 1973, that also ended in a comprehensive England victory (5-0, since you ask).
And, er, that’s it.
Fingers crossed, the 2026 World Cup will give us something to celebrate - Scotland reaching the knockout stage for the first time, for example, or England playing to their potential, even if they ultimately lose. But I won’t hold my breath because I’ve been here before and I know how the story usually ends.
