England National Football Team

The team are skippered by Wayne Rooney who is also their all-time leading goal-scorer with 53 goals in all competitions from 119 caps. The record was previously held by former captain Sir Bobby Charlton. Rooney is England’s most-capped outfield player of all time. Rooney overtook former England captain David Beckham to claim the record with Beckham boasting 115 caps. Former goalkeeper Peter Shilton holds the record for the most number of senior appearances with 125 caps.

They play their home matches at the Wembley Stadium in London. The stadium has been recently redeveloped and can hold a capacity crowd of 90,000 spectators.

The English national team are one of the two oldest national football teams in the world. The two sides squared off in the world’s first ever international football match in 1872.

England’s finest hour in international football arrived in 1966 when they won the World Cup as hosts. Sir Alf Ramsey was the manager of the side which faced off against West Germany on the occasion and won the tie 4-2 with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick.

The feat is a unique one as no player has ever managed to hit three goals in a world cup final ever since. Hurst’s second goal, which put England 3-2 ahead in extra-time at the Old Wembley stadium, has been a topic for debate with those who believe that the ball did not cross the line after ricocheting off the bar post.

England had featured in four World Cups prior to 1966. While they did not enter the competition in its first three editions, England made their World Cup debut in Brazil 1950. On the occasion, the Three Lions were knocked out at the Group stages. They made the quarterfinals at Switzerland in 1954 before again suffering a group stage exit in 1958. England reached the quarterfinals once again in 1962 before winning the competition in ’66.

The side secured qualification to the 1970 FIFA World Cup as champions in the previous edition but did not make it past the quarterfinals. They would fail to qualify for the next two editions of the competition before making a comeback in 1982. They were knocked out in the second round on the occasion.

In 1986, England were hard done by as Diego Maradona’s “hand of god” goal in the quarterfinals put paid to their chances in Mexico. Sir Bobby Robson was at the helm of the side on the occasion and he would take a Paul Gascoigne-inspired side to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in USA.

England failed to qualify for the competition in 1994 before making a comeback in 1998 where they were knocked out in the second round. They would make back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in 2002 and 2006 before suffering a second round defeat in South Africa 2010. England were knocked out of the group stage in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The side have never won the UEFA Euro competition. They have finished third on two occasions – 1968 and 1996. England were hosts back for Euro 1996 and were beaten by Germany on penalties.