England national football team
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Three Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | The Football Association | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Roy Hodgson | ||
| Captain | [=Lucas Gomes]] | ||
| Most caps | Peter Shilton (125) | ||
| Top scorer | Bobby Charlton (49) | ||
| Home stadium | Wembley Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | ENG | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 10 | ||
| Highest | 3 (August 2012) | ||
| Lowest | 27 (February 1996) | ||
| First international | |||
 Scotland 0–0 England  (Partick, Scotland; 31 July 1872) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Ireland 0–13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 31 July 1882) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Hungary 7–1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 14 (first in 1950) | ||
| Best result | Winners: 1966 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1968) | ||
| Best result | Third: 1968 Semi-finals: 1996 | ||
The England national football team represents England at football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England are the joint-oldest national football team in the world alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872. England is one of the United Kingdom's Home Nations, meaning that it is permitted by FIFA to maintain its own national side.[1] England's home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and the current team manager is Roy Hodgson.
England contest the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championships, which alternate biennially. England won the World Cup in 1966, when they hosted the finals, defeating West Germany 4–2 in extra time in the final. Their best performance since has been a semi-final appearance in 1990. England have never won the UEFA European Football Championship – their best performances being semi-final appearances at the 1968 and 1996 Championships.
History
The England national football team is the joint-oldest in the world; it was formed at the same time as Scotland. A representative match between England and Scotland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by the Football Association. A return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. This match, played at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland, is viewed as the first official international football match, because the two teams were independently selected and operated, rather than being the work of a single football association.[2] Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three Home Nations—Scotland, Wales and Ireland—in the British Home Championship.
To begin with, England had no permanent home stadium. They joined FIFA in 1906 and played their first ever games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908. Wembley Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground. The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928, before they rejoined in 1946. As a result, they did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were beaten in a 1–0 defeat by the United States, failing to get past the first round in one of the most embarrassing defeats in team history.[3] Their first ever defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 0–2 loss to the Republic of Ireland on 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park. A 6–3 loss in 1953 to Hungary, was their second defeat to foreign team at Wembley. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7–1. This still stands as England's worst ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered Syd Owen said, "it was like playing men from outer space".[4]
In the 1954 World Cup, two goals by Ivor Broadis saw him become the first England player to score two goals in a game at the World Cup finals. He beat Nat Lofthouse by 30 minutes when both scored 2 each in a thrilling 4–4 draw against Belgium. After reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, England lost 4–2 to Uruguay.
Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as England's first ever full-time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. The 1966 World Cup was hosted in England and Ramsey guided England to victory with a 4–2 win against West Germany after extra time in the final, during which Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick. England qualified for the 1970 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. They failed in qualification for the 1974, leading to Alf Ramsey's dismissal, and 1978 World Cups. Under Ron Greenwood they managed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain (the first time competitively since 1962), but were eliminated from a second qualifying round comprising further group matches without losing a game all tournament. The team under Bobby Robson fared better as England reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, losing 2–1 to Argentina in a game made famous by two goals by Maradona for very contrasting reasons, before losing every match at the Euro 88 tournament. They next went on to achieve their second best result in the 1990 World Cup by finishing fourth – losing again to West Germany in a semi-final finishing 1–1 after extra time, then 3–4 in England's first penalty shoot-out. Despite finishing fourth the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians. The England team of 1990 were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets for a spectacular open-top bus parade.
The 1990s saw four England managers, each in the role for a relatively brief period. Graham Taylor was Robson's successor, but left after England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. At Euro 96, held in England, Terry Venables led England to their best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semifinals. He resigned following investigations into his financial activities and his successor, Glenn Hoddle, similarly left the job for non-footballing reasons after just one international tournament – the 1998 World Cup — in which England were eliminated in the second round again by Argentina and again on penalties (after a 2–2 draw). Following Hoddle's departure, Kevin Keegan took England to Euro 2000, but performances were disappointing and he resigned shortly afterwards.
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, Eriksson was consistently popular with the majority of fans. He guided England to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and 2006 World Cup. He lost only five competitive matches during his tenure and England rose to a No.4 world ranking under his guidance. His contract was extended by the Football Association by two years, however it was terminated by them at the 2006 World Cup's conclusion.
Steve McClaren was appointed as head coach. His reign yielded little success, with England failing to qualify for Euro 2008. McClaren was sacked unanimously by The Football Association on 22 November 2007 after only 16 months in charge. This made him the shortest-lasting full-time England manager since the inauguration of the post in 1946. He was replaced on 14 December 2007 by the former Real Madrid and FC Juventus manager Fabio Capello. Capello took charge of his first game on 6 February 2008 against Switzerland, in which England won 2–1. Under Capello, England won all but one of their qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup. A 5–1 victory over Croatia at Wembley ensured the team qualified for the final tournament with two games to spare, a feat that had never been achieved before.
At the 2010 World Cup itself England drew their opening two games leading to questions about the team's spirit, tactics and ability to handle pressure.[5] They progressed to the next round, where they were beaten 4–1 by Germany, their heaviest defeat in a World Cup.
In February 2012, Fabio Capello resigned from his role as England manager, following a disagreement with the FA over their request to remove John Terry from team captaincy after accusations of racial abuse concerning the player.[6] On 1 May 2012, Roy Hodgson was revealed as the new manager, just six weeks before Euro 2012.[7] England managed to finish top of their group, winning two and drawing one of their fixtures, but exited the Championships in the quarter-finals with yet another penalty shoot-out defeat, this time to Italy.[8]
Home stadium
For the first fifty years of their existence, England played their home matches all around the country. They initially used cricket grounds before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. The original Empire Stadium was built in Wembley, London, for the British Empire Exhibition. England played their first match at the stadium in 1924 against Scotland and for the next 27 years Wembley was used as a venue for matches against Scotland only. The stadium later became known simply as Wembley Stadium and it became England's permanent home stadium during the 1950s. This stadium was demolished in 2001 and work began to completely rebuild it. During this time, England played at a number of different venues across the country, though by the time of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers this had largely settled down to having Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium as the primary venue, with Newcastle United's St. James' Park used on occasions where Old Trafford was unavailable. They returned to the new Wembley Stadium in 2007. The stadium is now owned by the Football Association via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited.
Media coverage
All England matches are broadcast with full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. From the 2008–09 season until the 2017–18 season, England's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away are broadcast live on ITV. England's away qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup were shown on Setanta Sports until that company's collapse. As a result of Setanta Sports's demise, England's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 was shown in the UK on a pay-per-view basis via the internet only. This one-off event was the first time an England game had been screened in such a way. The number of subscribers, paying between £4.99 and £11.99 each, was estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000 and the total number of viewers at around 500,000.[9]
Colours
England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy blue shorts and white or black socks. The team has periodically worn an all-white kit. Adidas, Umbro and Admiral have been the main designer of the England kits, although Nike took over as kit supplier in 2013.
Although England's first away kits were blue, England's traditional away colours are red shirts, white shorts and red socks. In 1996, England's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was only worn three times, including against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 96 but the deviation from the traditional red was unpopular with supporters and the England away kit remained red until 2011, when a navy blue away kit was introduced. The away kit is also sometimes worn during home matches, when a new edition has been released to promote it.
England have occasionally had a third kit. At the 1970 World Cup England wore a third kit with pale blue shirts, shorts and socks against Czechoslovakia. They had a kit similar to Brazil's, with yellow shirts, yellow socks and blue shorts which they wore in the summer of 1973. For the World Cup in 1986 England had a third kit of pale blue, imitating that worn in Mexico sixteen years before and England retained pale blue third kits until 1992, but they were rarely used.
Historic kits
| WC 1950 | WC 1954 | WC 1958 | WC 1962 | |||||
|
Away
|
  Home
|
Away
|
 Home
|
 Away
|
Home
|
Home/Away
|
Away
| |
| vs Chile and Spain |
vs United States | All the matches | not used | All the matches | not used | vs Argentina | vs Bulgaria | vs Hungary |
| WC 1966 | Euro 1968 | WC 1970 | Euro 1980 | |||||
|
Home
|
Home 2
|
Away
|
Home
|
Home
|
 Third
|
Away
|
    Home
| |
| vs Uruguay, Mexico, France and Portugal |
vs Argentina | vs West Germany | vs Yugoslavia and USSR |
vs Romania and Brazil |
vs Czechoslovakia | vs West Germany | All the matches | |
| WC 1982 | WC 1986 | Euro 1988 | WC 1990 and Euro 1992 | |||||
|
Home
|
     Away
|
     Home
|
 Home 2
|
     Away
|
    Home
|
     Home
|
   Away
| |
| vs Czechoslovakia, Kuwait and Spain |
vs West Germany and France |
vs all except Argentina |
vs Argentina | not used | All the matches | All the matches | not used | |
| Euro 1996 | WC 1998 | Euro 2000 | WC 2002 | |||||
   Home
|
     Away
|
 Home
|
Home 2
|
 Away
|
    Home
|
   Away
|
   Home
|
Away
|
| vs all except Germany |
vs Germany | vs Tunisia and Romania |
vs Argentina | vs Colombia | vs Romania and Portugal |
vs Germany | vs Sweden, Denmark and Brazil |
vs Argentina and Nigeria |
| Euro 2004 | WC 2006 | WC 2010 | Euro 2012 | |||||
   Home
|
Away
|
  Home
|
  Away
|
 Home
|
   Away
|
 Home
|
 Away
| |
| vs all except Croatia |
vs Croatia | vs all except Sweden |
vs Sweden | vs United States and Algeria |
vs Slovenia and Germany |
vs all except Sweden |
vs Sweden | |
Coaching staff
| Manager | Roy Hodgson |
| Assistant manager | Ray Lewington |
| First Team Coach | Gary Neville |
| Goalkeeping coach | David Watson> Dave Beasant |
| Fitness Coach | Chris Neville |
| Kitman | Tom McKechnie |
| Masseur | Mark Sertori |
| Physiotherapist | Gary Lewin |
| Other backroom staff | Dan Hitch Roger Narbett Steve Slattery Lewis Kelton Rod Thornley Ian Beasley |
Squad
Current squad
The following players have been called up to the squad for the friendly matches against Chile on 15 November 2013 and Germany on 19 November 2013.
Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2013.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Joe Hart | 19 April 1987 | 38 | 0 | Manchester City
| ||
| 13 | GK | John Ruddy | 24 October 1986 | 1 | 0 | Norwich City
| ||
| 23 | GK | Fraser Forster | 17 March 1988 | 1 | 0 | Celtic
| ||
| 3 | DF | Ashley Cole | 20 December 1980 | 106 | 0 | Chelsea
| ||
| 12 | DF | Glen Johnson | 23 August 1984 | 49 | 1 | Liverpool
| ||
| 6 | DF | Phil Jagielka | 17 August 1982 | 24 | 1 | Everton
| ||
| 14 | DF | Leighton Baines | 11 December 1984 | 22 | 1 | Everton
| ||
| 16 | DF | Gary Cahill | 19 December 1985 | 22 | 2 | Chelsea
| ||
| 2 | DF | Kyle Walker | 28 May 1990 | 10 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur
| ||
| 5 | DF | Chris Smalling | 22 November 1989 | 9 | 0 | Manchester United
| ||
| 26 | DF | Phil Jones | 21 February 1992 | 9 | 0 | Manchester United
| ||
| 15 | DF | Kieran Gibbs | 26 September 1989 | 3 | 0 | Arsenal
| ||
| 4 | MF | Steven Gerrard | 30 May 1980 | 108 | 21 | Liverpool
| ||
| 18 | MF | Frank Lampard | 20 June 1978 | 103 | 29 | Chelsea
| ||
| 17 | MF | James Milner | 4 January 1986 | 44 | 1 | Manchester City
| ||
| 20 | MF | Jack Wilshere | 1 January 1992 | 14 | 0 | Arsenal
| ||
| 8 | MF | Tom Cleverley | 12 August 1989 | 13 | 0 | Manchester United
| ||
| 21 | MF | Jordan Henderson | 17 June 1990 | 7 | 0 | Liverpool
| ||
| 11 | MF | Andros Townsend | 16 July 1991 | 4 | 1 | Tottenham Hotspur
| ||
| 19 | MF | Ross Barkley | 5 December 1993 | 3 | 0 | Everton
| ||
| 7 | MF | Adam Lallana | 10 May 1988 | 2 | 0 | Southampton
| ||
| 10 | FW | Wayne Rooney | 24 October 1985 | 88 | 38 | Manchester United
| ||
| 24 | FW | Jermain Defoe | 7 October 1982 | 55 | 19 | Tottenham Hotspur
| ||
| 9 | FW | Daniel Sturridge | 1 September 1989 | 9 | 2 | Liverpool
| ||
| 22 | FW | Rickie Lambert | 16 February 1982 | 4 | 2 | Southampton
| ||
| 25 | FW | Jay Rodriguez | 29 July 1989 | 1 | 0 | Southampton
| ||
Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Ben Foster | 3 April 1983 | 6 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion
|
v Scotland, 14 August 2013
| |||
| GK | Alex McCarthy | 3 December 1989 | 0 | 0 | Reading
|
v  Brazil, 2 June 2013
| |||
| GK | Jack Butland | 10 March 1993 | 1 | 0 | Barnsley
|
v Brazil, 6 February 2013
| |||
| DF | Steven Caulker | 29 December 1991 | 1 | 1 |  Cardiff City
|
v  Moldova, 6 September 2013
| |||
| DF | Joleon Lescott | 16 August 1982 | 26 | 1 | Manchester City
|
v Brazil, 2 June 2013
| |||
| DF | Steven Taylor | 23 January 1986 | 0 | 0 | Newcastle United
|
v  Montenegro, 26 March 2013
| |||
| DF | Michael Dawson | 18 November 1983 | 4 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur
|
v  San Marino, 22 March 2013
| |||
| MF | Michael Carrick | 28 July 1981 | 31 | 0 | Manchester United
|
v  Chile, 15 November 2013
| |||
| MF | Raheem Sterling | 8 December 1994 | 1 | 0 | Liverpool
|
v Montenegro, 11 October 2013
| |||
| MF | Ashley Young | 9 July 1985 | 30 | 7 | Manchester United
|
v  Ukraine, 10 September 2013
| |||
| MF | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | 15 August 1993 | 13 | 3 | Arsenal
|
v Scotland, 14 August 2013
| |||
| MF | Jack Rodwell | 11 March 1991 | 3 | 0 | Manchester City
|
v Brazil, 2 June 2013
| |||
| MF | Scott Parker | 13 October 1980 | 18 | 0 | Fulham
|
v Montenegro, 26 March 2013
| |||
| MF | Leon Osman | 17 May 1981 | 2 | 0 | Everton
|
v Montenegro, 26 March 2013
| |||
| MF | Aaron Lennon | 16 April 1987 | 21 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur
|
v San Marino, 22 March 2013
| |||
| FW | Danny Welbeck | 26 November 1990 | 20 | 8 | Manchester United
|
v Chile, 15 November 2013
| |||
| FW | Theo Walcott | 16 March 1989 | 36 | 5 | Arsenal
|
v Ukraine, 10 September 2013
| |||
| FW | Wilfried Zaha | 10 November 1992 | 2 | 0 | Manchester United
|
v Scotland, 14 August 2013
| |||
| FW | Andy Carroll | 6 January 1989 | 9 | 2 | West Ham United
|
v  Republic of Ireland, 29 May 2013
| |||
Previous squads
Competitive record
FIFA World CupEngland first appeared at the 1950 FIFA World Cup and have appeared in 13 FIFA World Cups, tied for sixth-best. The national team is one of eight national teams to have won at least one FIFA World Cup title. The England team won their first and only World Cup title in 1966. The tournament was played on home soil and England defeated Germany 4–2 in the final match. In 1990, England finished in fourth place, losing 2–1 to host nation Italy in the third place play-off. This after losing on penalties to champions Germany in the semi-final. The team has also reached the quarter final on two recent occasions in 2002 and 2006. Previously, they reached this stage in 1954, 1962, 1970 and 1986. The team's worst result in the competition was a Round of 16 elimination in 1998 and 2010. In 1998, the team suffered an unexpected loss to Argentina and Romania, and departed the tournament nearly a fortnight before the final. In 2010, England suffered its worst WC defeat (4–1) to Germany in the Round of 16, after drawing with the United States and Algeria, and defeating Slovenia 1–0 in the group stage. In both 1950 and 1958, the team exited the competition at the first group stage: In 1950, four teams remained after the first round and in 1958 eight teams remained.
UEFA European ChampionshipEngland is quite a successful nation at the UEFA European Football Championship, having finished in third place in 1968 and reached the semi final in 1996. England hosted Euro '96 and have appeared in eight UEFA European Championship Finals tournaments, tied for ninth-best. The team has also reached the quarter final on two recent occasions in 2004 and 2012. The team's worst result in the competition was a first-round elimination in 1988, 1992 and 2000.
Minor tournaments
All-time team recordThe following table shows England's all-time international record, correct as of 15 November 2013.[21]
Recent results and forthcoming fixtures
HonoursMajor honours
Regional honours
Minor honours
Other honoursPlayer historyPlayers in bold are still active. As of 19 November 2013. Most capped playersPlayers with an equal number of caps are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone.
Top goalscorersGoalscorers with an equal number of goals are ranked with the highest to lowest goals per game ratio.
Managers
See alsoNotesReferences
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to England national football team.
Template:FIFA Worldcup Host nations
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