World Cup 1966 in England: No Czechoslovak participation, another dose of bizarro, England takes gold

The 1966 World Cup was eventually won by the home country, England, after a thrilling final. However, this world championship was without Czechoslovak participation, as sixteen African countries decided to boycott the 1966 World Championship in England. The tournament also saw the appearance of several stars, led by Eusébio and Beckenbauer. So what did the sixth World Cup in history have to offer?

The 1966 World Cup offered a lot. Unfortunately, Czechoslovakia did not qualify for the tournament and, as far as the qualifiers were concerned, the 1966 World Cup in England was attended by ten teams from Europe, five teams from the American continent and one representative from Asia in the form of the DPRK.

For Europe, the teams were Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, France, England, Germany, Hungary and the USSR. As for the representatives of the American continent – Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

It should be noted that the 1966 World Cup in England was the sixth World Cup in history to be held in seven cities or eight stadiums. This tournament was hosted by London in two stadiums, although only one match was played at White City Stadium, to which, incidentally, there is a bizarre curiosity.

You can find out more about this topic in the attached special above. All other London matches were of course held at the famous Wembley, and the 1966 World Cup in England was also held in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

Golden England, a spectacular final

The English national team claimed gold medals at this World Cup, recording one of the most remarkable achievements in their football history, even at a domestic tournament. Across the history of World Cups, England have taken part in sixteen of them, but they have only won one medal on all occasions.

And it was this golden achievement in 1966. The closest England came to further medals was in 1990 and 2018, when they lost to Italy and Belgium respectively in the bronze medal match.

England got through the main group without too much trouble. The English national team initially drew 0-0 with Uruguay, but then beat Mexico and France. In both cases 2: 0, England advanced to the next stage of the tournament from first place and without conceding a goal.

In the quarter-finals, England then faced Argentina, whom they beat 1-0, with Geoffrey Charles Hurst scoring the decisive goal in the 78th minute. England scored for the first time in the semi-final against Portugal. Bobby Charlton scored two goals in that match, only to be reduced by the legendary Eusébio in the 82nd minute.

The 1966 World Cup final in England then offered one of the best games ever not only in the World Cup, but in football in general. As we write above, you can find out more about this topic in our World Cup special.

However, the English won this final match by 4:2, with Hurst being the biggest contributor to this victory. He scored a hat-trick, with Martin Stanford Peters adding another goal. Helmut Haller and Wolfgang Weber scored for Germany.

Eusébio and other football legends

Portugal’s Eusébio was the tournament’s top scorer, scoring nine goals and leading his team to the bronze medal. He shone the brightest in the quarter-final against the DPRK, which the Portuguese dominated 5-3 despite making up a three-goal deficit.

Eusébio scored four goals in this match and can be said to have sent Portugal to the semi-finals. And as we wrote above, he scored both here and in the bronze medal match against the Soviet Union (2::1).

But there were several other football legends at this tournament, including Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Charlton, Garrincha and Pelé.

A big disappointment and a shocking end not only for the Brazilians

France, Italy, Brazil and Spain all failed to make it out of the group stages. The French even finished in last place in Group A, losing to Uruguay, England and scoring their only point in a 1-1 draw with Mexico.

The 1966 World Cup in England was also a disappointment for Spain, although they were not of the same quality as their group opponents (especially Germany and Argentina). They finished third in Group B with two points ahead of last-placed Switzerland.

Brazil were playing a rather old style of football at this tournament and it was not as much of a ‘rollercoaster’ as in previous years. In the group, the Brazilians did not beat Portugal, which clearly dominated this group (3 wins, full points – ed.) and even Hungary, which advanced to the quarterfinals at Brazil’s expense.

Italy also brought shame to the 1966 World Cup in England, finishing third in Group D behind the clear winner of the group, the Soviet Union and North Korea.

A successful championship with another dose of bizarreness

Sportingly, it was once again a successful championship that offered much, including some bizarre highlights. So if you are interested, we reiterate that in the above attached special you will find a roughly half-hour analysis of this 1966 World Championship in England.

1. episode: The 1930 World Cup in Uruguay

2. episode: World Cup 1934 in Italy

3. episode:: WSC 1938 in France

4. episode:: World Cup 1950 in Brazil

5. episode:: 1954 World Cup in Switzerland

6. episode:: WSC 1958 in Sweden

7. episode:: WSC 1962 in Chile

9. episode:: 1970 World Cup in Mexico

10. episode:: WSC 1974 in Germany

Sources: FIFA, ESPN