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England National Football team
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The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. Although most national teams worldwide represent a sovereign state, the four Home Nations which constitute the United Kingdom are each represented separately in most international tournaments.
England are one of the more successful footballing teams, being one of only seven countries to ever win the FIFA World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They defeated West Germany 4-2 in extra time in the Final. Since then, however, they have only reached the semi-finals once, losing to West Germany on penalties. Nevertheless, they remain a prominent team on the global stage, rarely dropping outside of the top ten rankings of both FIFA and ELO. England also reached the semi-final of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996. They were the most successful of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship with 54 wins (including 20 shared wins) before the competition was suspended in 1984.
Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland, who were their opponents in the first-ever international football match in 1872.[1] Since regular fixtures against Scotland came to an end in the late 1980s, other rivalries have become more prominent.[2] Matches with Argentina and Germany have produced particularly eventful encounters. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium in London.
History
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The England national football team is the joint oldest in the world, formed at the same time as Scotland. England played their first international match against Scotland, and at Scotland's invitation, at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland on 30 November 1872.[3] Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three "Home Nations" - Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The games were made competitive with the British Home Championship from 1883 to 1984.
Before Wembley was opened, England had no permanent home ground. England joined FIFA in 1906, playing its first ever game outside the British Isles in 1908. However, the relationship between the two was strained, resulting in the British nations' departure from FIFA in 1928, before rejoining in 1946. As a result, England did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were beaten in a 1-0 defeat against the United States, failing to get past the first round. England's first ever defeat on home soil to a non-UK team was a 0-2 loss to Ireland on September 21, 1949 at Goodison Park, Liverpool. A 6-3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was England's first ever defeat to a non-UK team at Wembley.
Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as the first ever full time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. Under Ramsey, England experienced its greatest ever success, winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final against West Germany 4-2 after extra time. Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick in the final. The 1966 World Cup was also held in England. Though England lost again to the Auld Enemy Scotland only a year later with a famous 3-2 for the Scots at Wembley. England qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico as reigning cup holders. They reached the Quarter-finals but were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2 - 0 up but were eventually beaten 3-2 after extra time. For the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, England failed to qualify. In 1982, England under Ron Greenwood qualified for 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain after a 12-year absence and were eliminated from the second round without losing a match. The team under Bobby Robson fared better as England reached the quarter finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup and finished fourth in the tournament four years later, which was the best performance in the World Cup since 1966.
Graham Taylor's short reign as Robson's successor ended after his England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but then the 1996 European Championships were held in England, and under new coach Terry Venables the team had its best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-final. The England team of the 1990s and 2000s has been consistently in football's top twenty countries, but hasn't progressed beyond the quarter finals of any international tournament apart from Italia 90 and Euro 96. Sven-Göran Eriksson took charge of the team between 2001 and 2006 and was the first non-English manager of England. Despite controversial press coverage of his personal life, England enjoyed considerable success in the 2006 World Cup under his guidance, and was rated the 6th best team in the world.
Steve McClaren was appointed as the head coach following the 2006 World Cup. The reign was marked with little success, with England failing to qualify for the 2008 European Championships. McClaren left on 22 November 2007, after only 16 months in charge and making him the shortest tenured full time England manager ever since the inauguration of the post in 1946. He was replaced by the former Real Madrid and AC Milan manager Fabio Capello. The Italian is the second foreign manager to coach England, after Eriksson, and took charge of his first game on 6 February 2008 against Switzerland. England won 2-1. Since then Capello has also managed England in games against France, USA and Trinidad & Tobago. England lost 1-0 to France, won 2-0 against the USA and 3-0 against T&T. His next game is against the Czech Republic.
Home stadium
For the first 50 years of its existence, England played its home matches all around the country; for the first few years it used cricket grounds, before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. England played their first match at Wembley Stadium in 1924 against Scotland, but for the next 27 years only used Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches.
The Wembley Stadium is a stadium in Wembley, located in the London Borough of Brent in London, England. It is owned by The Football Association (FA) via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and its primary use is for home games of the England national football team, and the main English domestic football finals.
Media coverage
England home matches (both qualifiers and friendlies) are shown live on BBC One. Live coverage of away matches is sold by the host team (ie. England's opposition who are at home) for both qualifiers and friendlies, although it tends be either the BBC or Sky Sports that purchases the rights to these matches.
From the 2008/09 season, England's home qualifiers will be shown live on ITV with away qualifiers and home friendlies being shown live on Setanta Sports. Away friendlies will again be sold by the home team. In Australia, Setanta Sports will broadcast all of England's home internationals from August 2008.
All matches are broadcast with full commentary on BBC Radio Five Live.
Colours
England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.
The traditional England away colour is red, although England did not need an away kit until they played against a non-British side. From 1945 to 1952, England wore a blue away kit. In 1996 England's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was worn against Bulgaria, Germany and Georgia but the deviation from traditional red was unpopular with supporters and since then the England away kit has remained red.
Third Kit
England have occasionally had a third kit as well. At the 1970 World Cup England wore a third kit with light blue shirt, shorts and socks against Czechoslovakia.
They had a strip similar to Brazil's kit, with a yellow shirt and blue shorts in 1973, worn against Czechoslovakia, Poland and Italy.
Between 1986 and 1992 England had pale blue third kits which were rarely worn.
Fixtures & Results 2008/9
Friendly Matches
Upcoming friendly matches
England squad
Most recent squad
Players in the 22-man squad for the most recent match against Trinidad and Tobago[4][5]
| Name |
DOB |
Club |
Caps (goals) |
Debut |
| Goalkeepers |
| David James |
August 1, 1970 (age 37) |
 Portsmouth |
39 (0) |
v Mexico, 29 March 1997 |
| Joe Hart |
April 19, 1987 (age 21) |
Manchester City |
1 (0) |
v Trinidad & Tobago, 1 June 2008 |
| Joe Lewis |
October 6, 1987 (age 20) |
Peterborough United |
0 (0) |
N/A |
| Defenders |
| Rio Ferdinand |
November 7, 1978 (age 29) |
Manchester United |
68 (2) |
v Cameroon, 15 November 1997 |
| John Terry |
August 5, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea |
30 (1) |
v Netherlands, 13 February 2002 |
| Glen Johnson |
August 23, 1984 (age 23) |
Portsmouth |
8 (0) |
v Denmark, November 2003 |
| Jonathan Woodgate |
January 22, 1980 (age 28) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
7 (0) |
v Bulgaria, 9 June 1999 |
| Phil Jagielka |
August 17, 1982 (age 25) |
Everton |
1 (0) |
v Trinidad & Tobago, 1 June 2008 |
| Stephen Warnock |
December 12, 1981 (age 26) |
Blackburn Rovers |
1 (0) |
v Trinidad & Tobago, 1 June 2008 |
| David Wheater |
February 4, 1987 (age 21) |
Middlesbrough |
0 (0) |
N/A |
| Midfielders |
| David Beckham |
May 2, 1975 (age 33) |
 Los Angeles Galaxy |
102 (17) |
v Moldova, 1 September 1996 |
| Steven Gerrard |
May 30, 1980 (age 28) |
Liverpool |
67 (13) |
v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 |
| Gareth Barry |
February 23, 1981 (age 27) |
Aston Villa |
20 (1) |
v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 |
| Stewart Downing |
July 22, 1984 (age 23) |
Middlesbrough |
18 (0) |
v Netherlands, 9 February 2005 |
| David Bentley |
August 27, 1984 (age 23) |
Blackburn Rovers |
6 (0) |
v Israel, 8 September 2007 |
| Ashley Young |
July 9, 1985 (age 22) |
Aston Villa |
3 (0) |
v Austria, 16 November 2007 |
| Tom Huddlestone |
December 28, 1986 (age 21) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) |
N/A |
| Strikers |
| Peter Crouch |
January 30, 1981 (age 27) |
Liverpool |
28 (14) |
v Colombia, 31 May 2005 |
| Jermain Defoe |
October 7, 1982 (age 25) |
Portsmouth |
28 (5) |
v Sweden, 31 March 2004 |
| Theo Walcott |
March 16, 1989 (age 19) |
Arsenal |
2 (0) |
v Hungary, 30 May 2006 |
| Dean Ashton |
November 24, 1983 (age 24) |
West Ham United |
1 (0) |
v Trinidad & Tobago, 1 June 2008 |
| Wayne Rooney |
October 24, 1985 (age 22) |
Manchester United |
43 (14) |
v Australia, 12 February 2003 |
Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months:
| Name |
DOB |
Club |
Caps (goals) |
Debut |
Most recent callup |
| Goalkeepers |
| Paul Robinson |
October 15, 1979 (age 28) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
41 (0) |
v Australia,
12 February 2003 |
v France,
March 2008 |
| Scott Carson |
September 3, 1985 (age 22) |
Liverpool |
2 (0) |
v Austria,
16 November 2007 |
v France,
March 2008 |
| Robert Green |
January 18, 1980 (age 28) |
West Ham United |
1 (0) |
v Colombia
May 31, 2005 |
v France,
March 2008 |
| Chris Kirkland |
May 2, 1981 (age 26) |
Wigan Athletic |
1 (0) |
v Greece,
16 August 2006 |
v United States / Trinidad & Tobago,
May 2008 |
| Defenders |
| Sol Campbell |
September 18, 1974 (age 33) |
Portsmouth |
73 (1) |
v Hungary,
18 May 1996 |
v Croatia,
21 November 2007 |
| Ashley Cole |
December 20, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea |
64 (0) |
v Albania, 28 March 2001 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Phil Neville |
January 21, 1977 (age 31) |
Everton |
59(0) |
v China,
23 May 1996 |
v Estonia,
13 October 2007 |
| John Terry |
December 7, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea |
44 (4) |
v Serbia and Montenegro,
15 November 2003 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Wes Brown |
October 13, 1979 (age 28) |
Manchester United |
17 (0) |
v Hungary,
28 April 1999 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Micah Richards |
June 24, 1988 (age 19) |
Manchester City |
11 (1) |
v Netherlands,
15 November 2006 |
Croatia,
21 November 2007 |
| Nicky Shorey |
February 19, 1981 (age 26) |
Reading |
2(0) |
v Brazil,
1 June 2007 |
v Germany,
22 August 2007 |
| Steven Taylor |
January 23, 1986 (age 22) |
Newcastle United |
0 (0) |
N/A |
v Germany,
August 2007 |
| Matthew Upson |
April 18, 1979 (age 29) |
West Ham United |
8(0) |
v South Africa,
May 22, 2003 |
v Switzerland,
February 6, 2008 |
| Midfielders |
| Frank Lampard |
June 20, 1978 (age 30) |
Chelsea |
61 (14) |
v Belgium,
October 10, 1999 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Joe Cole |
November 8, 1981 (age 26) |
Chelsea |
50 (7) |
v Mexico,
25 May 2001 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Owen Hargreaves |
January 20, 1981 (age 27) |
Manchester United |
42 (0) |
v Netherlands,
15 August 2001 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Kieron Dyer |
December 29, 1978 (age 29) |
West Ham United |
33 (0) |
v Luxembourg,
4 September 1999 |
v Germany,
22 August 2007 |
| Shaun Wright-Phillips |
October 25, 1981 (age 26) |
Chelsea |
19 (4) |
v Ukraine,
18 August 2004 |
v Switzerland,
6 February 2008 |
| Michael Carrick |
July 28, 1981 (age 26) |
Manchester United |
14 (0) |
v Mexico,
25 May 2001 |
v Germany,
22 August 2007 |
| Strikers |
| Emile Heskey |
January 11, 1978 (age 29) |
Wigan Athletic |
45 (5) |
v Hungary,
28 April 1999 |
v Russia,
12 September 2007 |
| Wayne Rooney |
October 24, 1985 (age 22) |
Manchester United |
43 (14) |
v Australia, 12 February 2003 |
v United States,
28 May 2008 |
| Alan Smith |
October 28, 1980 (age 27) |
Newcastle United |
19 (1) |
v Mexico,
25 May 2001 |
v Austria,
16 November 2007 |
| Andrew Johnson |
February 10, 1981 (age 27) |
Everton |
8 (0) |
v Netherlands,
9 February 2005 |
v Israel / Russia,
September 2007 |
| Darren Bent |
February 6, 1984 (age 24) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
3 (0) |
v Uruguay,
1 March 2006 |
v Croatia,
21 November 2007 |
| Michael Owen |
December 14, 1979 (age 28) |
Newcastle United |
89 (40) |
v Chile,
11 February 1998 |
v France,
26 March 2008 |
Coaching staff
Previous squads
- FIFA World Cup squads
- UEFA European Football Championship squads
Competition history
| Year |
Round |
Position |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
 1930 |
Did Not Enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1934 |
Did Not Enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1938 |
Did Not Enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1950 |
Round 1 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
 1954 |
Quarter-finals |
6 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
8 |
 1958 |
Round 1 |
11 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
 1962 |
Quarter-finals |
8 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
| 1966 |
Champions |
1 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
3 |
 1970 |
Quarter-finals |
8 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
 1974 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1978 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1982 |
Group Round 2 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
| 1986 |
Quarter-Finals |
8 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
3 |
 1990 |
Semi- Finals |
4 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
| 1994 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1998 |
Round 2 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
4 |
  2002 |
Quarter-finals |
6 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
| 2006 |
Quarter-finals |
7 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
| Total |
12/18 |
1 Title |
55 |
25 |
17 |
13 |
74 |
47 |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
| Year |
Round |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
| 1960 |
Did not enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1964 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1968 |
Third Place |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
 1972 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
 1976 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1980 |
Round 1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 1984 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1988 |
Round 1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
| 1992 |
Round 1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 1996 |
Semi Finals |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
 2000 |
Round 1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
 2004 |
Quarter-finals |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
6 |
 2008 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
  2012 |
Not Yet Qualified |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Total |
7/13 |
23 |
7 |
7 |
9 |
31 |
28 |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Minor tournaments
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