HOW ENGLAND FARED IN WORLD CUPS GONE BY
1966 – WINNERS
That memorable day – 30th July, 1996 at Wembley Stadium when a Geoff Hurst hat-trick and Martin Peters goal saw England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time to hold aloft the Jules Rimet Trophy.
1970 – QUARTER-FINALS
Goals from Alan Mullery and Peters put England 2-0 up in their quarter-final clash in Leon, but the Franz Beckenbauer-inspired Germans exacted sweet revenge to win 3-2 after extra time.
1974 – DID NOT QUALIFY
A desperately disappointing 1-1 home draw with Poland in their final qualifying round in October 1973 meant England failed to qualify – just seven years after winning it.
1978 – DID NOT QUALIFY
An away defeat to Italy meant England crashed out again at the qualifying stages, this time on goal difference.
1982 – second round
Got through to group stges with three wins from three, but 0-0 draws to Germany and hosts Spain meant Ron Greenwood’s England failed to negotiate the second round stage.
1986 – QUARTER-FINALS
Sir Bobby Robson’s men were eliminated by the best and the worst of Argentina’s Diego Maradona. First a mesmorising goal, beating off six challengers, then the ‘Hand of God’, to complete a controversial 2-1 win.
1990 – SEMI-FINALS
Knockout victories over Belgium and Cameroon took England to the last four, but penalty misses from Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle broke England hearts.
1994 – DID NOT QUALIFY
Disappointing home draws to Norway and Holland saw England crash out again and lead to the sacking of coach Graham Taylor.
1998 – SECOND ROUND
After David Beckham’s harsh sending off and Sol Campbell’s controversial disallowed goal, England were taken to penalties by Argentina, but misses by Paul Ince and David Batty led to more heartache.
2002 – QUARTER-FINALS
Ronaldinho’s speculative 40-yard free-kick over the head of David Seaman completed a 2-1 victory for Brazil as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s lacklustre England squandered Michael Owen’s early lead.
2006 – QUARTER-FINALS
More penalty woe as Portugal held England to a 0-0 draw after Wayne Rooney was sent off. Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher missed the vital spot-kicks this time.
2010 – ????????
Nine wins out of ten qualifying matches have given Fabio Capello’s men a sound base, but can they end 44 years of hurt?