The 1966 FIFA World Cup Final was played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 July 1966. It was contested by England and West Germany, with England winning 4-2 after extra time to claim the Jules Rimet Trophy. The match is remembered for England’s only World Cup and major international title, Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick, and the controversial third goal awarded to England by referee Gottfried Dienst.
About 1966 FIFA World Cup Final in brief
The 1966 FIFA World Cup Final was played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 July 1966. It was contested by England and West Germany, with England winning 4–2 after extra time to claim the Jules Rimet Trophy. The match is remembered for England’s only World Cup and major international title, Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick, and the controversial third goal awarded to England by referee Gottfried Dienst and linesman Tofiq Bahramov. In addition to an attendance of 96,924 at the stadium, the British television audience peaked at 32. 3 million viewers, making it the United Kingdom’s most-watched television event ever. England’s third goal has remained controversial ever since the match. The crowd and the audience of 400 million television viewers were left arguing whether the goal should have been given or not. Modern studies using film analysis and computer simulation have shown that the whole ball never crossed the goal line – only 97% did – and that the ball would have needed to travel a further 2.6–6cm to fully cross the line to be considered a goal.
England became known as the “wingless wonders” on account of their then-unconventional narrow attacking formation, described at the time as a 4–4–2. England did not concede a goal until their semi-final against Portugal, and did not score again until the final against West Germany. England, managed by Alf Ramsey and captained by Bobby Moore, won the toss and elected to kick off. After 12 minutes, Sigfried Held sent a cross into the English penalty area which Ray Wilson misheaded to Helmut Haller, who got his shot on target. The ball deflected across the England six-yard box, wrong-footing the England defence and allowing Wolfgang Weber to level the score at 2–2 and force the match into extra time. In the 89th minute Jack Charlton conceded a free kick for climbing on Uwe Seeler as they both went up for a header. The rebound fell to Lothar Emmerich, who shot across the face of goal and into the body of Karl-Heinz Schnellinger.
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