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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" making up the United Kingdom are each represented separately in most international tournaments.
England are one of the most successful footballing teams ever being one of only seven countries to ever win the FIFA World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They beat Germany 4 goals to 2 in extra time. However since then they have never made it past the semi-finals. Never-the-less 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 oldest in the world, formed 6 months before 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 were 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. A 6-3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was England's first ever defeat to a non-British 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.
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.
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 home team (ie. England's opposition who are at home) for both qualifiers and friendlies, although it tends be either the BBC and especially Sky Sports that purchase 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.
All matches are broadcast with full commentary on BBC Radio Five Live.
Colours
Home Colours
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| England's traditional home colours |
England have always worn white as their home colours, except for one game, against Turkey in 1991, where it was dappled blue.
Away Colours
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| England's traditional away colours, as well as being the kit they wore in the 1966 World Cup Final, their only victory in the competition |
The traditional England away colour is red, although England did not need a non-away kit until they played against a non-British side. From 1945 to 1952, England wore a blue away kit. The away shirts remained red until 1992, when England wore light blue with the three lions in dark blue from the right shoulder diagonnally downwards, as well as light blue shorts, for two matches against Czechoslovakia and Spain. In 1996, England went blue again, with light blue and medium blue striped shirt and shorts. This kit was worn against Bulgaria, Germany and Georgia. Since then, the kit has remained red.
Third Kit
England have occasionally had a third kit as well. In 1959 this was blue with white shorts, worn against Peru. 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. At the 1986 World Cup, England had an unused third kit, light blue, but wore the white shirt for every game. However, against Argentina, they wore the light blue shorts from this kit. Another unused third kit is from the 1990 World Cup, which was a dappled blue kit with the inscription "FIFA WORLD CUP ITALIA 90". This was England's last third kit.
England squad
Provisional squad to face the United States and Trinidad and Tobago
Players in the provisional 30-man squad for the upcoming matches against United States and Trinidad and Tobago.[4]
| Name |
DOB |
Club |
Caps (goals) |
Debut |
| Goalkeepers |
| David James |
August 1, 1970 (age 37) |
 Portsmouth |
37 (0) |
v Mexico, 29 March 1997 |
| Joe Hart |
April 19, 1987 (age 21) |
Manchester City |
0 (0) |
|
| Chris Kirkland |
May 2, 1981 (age 26) |
Wigan Athletic |
1 (0) |
v Greece, 16 August 2006 |
| Defenders |
| Rio Ferdinand |
November 7, 1978 (age 29) |
Manchester United |
66 (2) |
v Cameroon, 15 November 1997 |
| John Terry |
December 7, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea F.C |
43 (3) |
v Serbia and Montenegro, 15 November 2003 |
| Ashley Cole |
December 20, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea |
63 (0) |
v Albania, 28 March 2001 |
| Wayne Bridge |
August 5, 1980 (age 27) |
Chelsea |
28 (1) |
v Netherlands, 13 February 2002 |
| Jonathan Woodgate |
January 22, 1980 (age 28) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
6 (0) |
v Bulgaria, 9 June 1999 |
| Glen Johnson |
August 23, 1984 (age 23) |
Portsmouth |
6 (0) |
v Denmark, November 2003 |
| Wes Brown |
October 13, 1979 (age 28) |
Manchester United |
16 (0) |
v Hungary, 28 April 1999 |
| David Wheater |
February 4, 1987 (age 21) |
Middlesbrough |
0 (0) |
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| Phil Jagielka |
August 17, 1982 (age 25) |
Everton |
0 (0) |
|
| Stephen Warnock |
December 12, 1981 (age 26) |
Blackburn Rovers |
0 (0) |
|
| Midfielders |
| David Beckham |
May 2, 1975 (age 33) |
 LA Galaxy |
100 (17) |
v Moldova, 1 September 1996 |
| Steven Gerrard |
May 30, 1980 (age 27) |
Liverpool |
65 (12) |
v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 |
| Frank Lampard |
June 20, 1978 (age 29) |
Chelsea |
60 (14) |
v Belgium, October 10, 1999 |
| Joe Cole |
November 8, 1981 (age 26) |
Chelsea |
49 (7) |
v Mexico, 25 May 2001 |
| Owen Hargreaves |
January 20, 1981 (age 27) |
Manchester United |
41 (0) |
v Netherlands, 15 August 2001 |
| Gareth Barry |
February 23, 1981 (age 27) |
Aston Villa |
18 (0) |
v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 |
| Stewart Downing |
July 22, 1984 (age 23) |
Middlesbrough |
17 (0) |
v Netherlands, 9 February 2005 |
| David Bentley |
August 27, 1984 (age 23) |
Blackburn Rovers |
4 (0) |
v Israel, 8 September 2007 |
| Jermaine Jenas |
February 18, 1983 (age 25) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
18 (1) |
v Australia, 12 February 2003 |
| Tom Huddlestone |
December 28, 1986 (age 21) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) |
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| Ashley Young |
July 9, 1985 (age 22) |
Aston Villa |
2 (0) |
v Austria, 16 November 2007 |
| Strikers |
| Michael Owen |
December 14, 1979 (age 28) |
Newcastle United |
89 (40) |
v Chile, February 11, 1998 |
| Wayne Rooney |
October 24, 1985 (age 22) |
Manchester United |
42 (14) |
v Australia, 12 February 2003 |
| Peter Crouch |
January 30, 1981 (age 27) |
Liverpool |
26 (14) |
v Colombia, 31 May 2005 |
| Dean Ashton |
November 24, 1983 (age 24) |
West Ham United |
0 (0) |
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| Jermain Defoe |
October 7, 1982 (age 25) |
Portsmouth |
26 (3) |
v Sweden, 31 March 2004 |
| Theo Walcott |
March 16, 1989 (age 19) |
Arsenal |
1 (0) |
v Hungary, 30 May 2006 |
| Gabriel Agbonlahor |
October 13, 1986 (age 21) |
Aston Villa |
0 (0) |
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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 |
| Scott Carson |
September 3, 1985 (age 22) |
Aston Villa (on loan from Liverpool) |
2 (0) |
v Austria,
16 November 2007 |
v France,
March 2008 |
| Defenders |
| Sol Campbell |
September 18, 1974 (age 33) |
Portsmouth |
73 (1) |
v Hungary,
18 May 1996 |
v Croatia,
21 November 2007 |
| Phil Neville |
January 21, 1977 (age 31) |
Everton |
59(0) |
v China,
23 May 1996 |
v Estonia,
13 October 2007 |
| Jamie Carragher |
January 28, 1978 (age 30) |
Liverpool |
34 (0) |
v Hungary,
28 April 1999 |
v Brazil,
1 June 2007 |
| Ledley King |
October 12, 1980 (age 27) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
19 (1) |
v Italy,
27 March 2002 |
v Estonia,
6 June 2007 |
| 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 |
| Michael Dawson |
November 19, 1983 (age 24) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) |
N/A |
v Brazil / Estonia,
May 2007 |
| Steven Taylor |
January 23, 1986 (age 22) |
Newcastle United |
0 (0) |
N/A |
v Germany,
August 2007 |
| Midfielders |
| 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 |
| Aaron Lennon |
April 16, 1987 (age 20) |
Tottenham Hotspur |
9 (0) |
v Jamaica,
3 June 2006 |
v Brazil / Estonia,
May 2007 |
| Strikers |
| Emile Heskey |
January 11, 1978 (age 29) |
Wigan Athletic |
45 (5) |
v Hungary,
28 April 1999 |
v Russia,
12 September 2007 |
| 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 |
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 |
11 |
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 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 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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