|
England in the 1949-50 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Walter Winterbottom - result: QUALIFIED (by five
points) |
| The British Championship of
1949-50 was designated Group One of the World Cup qualifying
competition, but as the home nations only played each other once
during each season, Scotland and Wales had two home fixtures
each, whilst England and Ireland had only one each. The top two
teams were to qualify for the final tournament in Brazil, and
after two games each, England and Scotland were guaranteed the
top two placings. England defeated Ireland, 9-2, at Maine Road,
Manchester, on 16 November, 1949 to book their place, as well as
Scotland's, with both leaders having a maximum four points from
their two games each, and Ireland and Wales, with no points,
unable to catch them. All that remained was to decide who would
win the group, and also the British Championship, when Scotland
met England at Hampden Park, Glasgow on 15 April, 1950. The
Scottish Football Association surprisingly declared that they
would only go to Brazil if they were the British Champions, and
true to their word, they declined the invitation after losing to
a single Roy Bentley goal at Hampden. |
|
England in the 1953-54 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Walter Winterbottom - result: QUALIFIED (by four
points) |
| Just as in the previous
competition, the British Championship doubled up as a qualifying
group; this time it was Group Three. Once again, it was Scotland
and Wales that benefited from two home games, with England and
(now Northern) Ireland only playing at home once. England again
qualified as a result of winning their first two games, due to
there being qualification placings for the top two in the group.
They secured their place in Switzerland, when they beat Northern
Ireland, 3-1, at Goodison Park, Liverpool, on 11 November 1953.
Two weeks later, any thoughts they might have had about winning
the competition were surely dispelled when Hungary beat them,
6-3, at Wembley, in a friendly. Four days before Scotland met
England at Hampden, Wales lost at home to Northern Ireland,
guaranteeing Scotland a top-two finish, though they were still a
point behind England and they would have to beat them to win the
group. Scotland took an early lead against England, on 3 April,
1954, but they lost, 4-2. This time, both countries went to the
final tournament, but with the draw having already been made,
England, as British Champions, went into the easier group.
Scotland had to face the defending champions, Uruguay. |
|
England in the 1956-58 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Walter Winterbottom - result: QUALIFIED (by two
points) |
| England were drawn in Group
One of the qualifying competition and faced continental
opposition for the first time, in Denmark, along with
near-neighbours, the Republic of Ireland. This time, they played
both home and away fixtures against their group opponents and
only the group winners would automatically qualify for a place
in Sweden. The competition began a season earlier than in
previous years (1956-57) and ended (for England) at the end of
that season, though other qualifiers continued in the following
season into 1958. After England won their first three games,
only the Republic of Ireland could catch them, if they won their
last two games. The first, on 19 May, 1957, was at Dalymount
Park, Dublin, against England, who knew that a point would be
enough for them to qualify in their last fixture. England had
beaten the Irish, 5-1, at Wembley, eleven days earlier, but they
found themselves a goal down after only four minutes in Dublin.
When all seemed lost, in added time at the end of the game,
England somehow managed to rescue the point they needed, with
John Atyeo's header from Finney's cross.
It was the first qualifier that England had failed to win,
but with the Republic winning their final game in Copenhagen,
five months later, it proved that if England had lost in Dublin,
they would have faced a difficult play-off with the Irish for a
place in the tournament. Tragically, four members of the England
team (Byrne, Edwards, Pegg and Taylor) would not live to see the
World Cup finals, as they were killed in the Munich air disaster
in February 1958. |
|
England in the 1960-62 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Walter Winterbottom - result: QUALIFIED (by four
points) |
| England were paired with
Luxembourg and Portugal in Group Six. With Luxembourg conceding
fifteen goals in their first two games, all seemed set to be
decided on the games between England and Portugal. England were
rather fortunate to escape from Lisbon with a point, thanks to
Ron Flowers' equalizer, eight minutes from the end and they
expected to have to beat Portugal in the final match of the
group, at Wembley, on 25 October, 1961. Less than three weeks
before the decider, Portugal, inexplicably, lost 4-2 in
Luxembourg, and left England needing only a point at Wembley to
qualify. They were two goals up inside ten minutes, and with no
further scoring, England comfortably wrapped up the group.
Strangely, neither of their scorers at Wembley (the Burnley pair
of John Connelly and Ray Pointer), played in the final
tournament, in Chile. |
|
England in the 1962-64 European Nations
Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Walter Winterbottom/Alf Ramsey - result:
eliminated (6-3 on aggregate) |
| England entered the European
Nations Cup for the first time and were drawn against France in
the first round of the knockout competition. It was played over
two legs, almost five months apart, during which time, England
changed their manager. Walter Winterbottom's last meeting with
foreign opposition was a disappointing 1-1 draw at Hillsborough,
Sheffield. The second leg, in Paris, on 27 February, 1963, was Ramsey's first match in
charge and he oversaw his charges outplayed in a 5-2 defeat. He
would have been under no illusions about the size of his task,
but just over three years later, they were champions of the world. |
|
England in the 1966-68 European
Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Sir Alf Ramsey - result: QUALIFIED (by a point
and 3-1 on aggregate) |
| The European Nations Cup was
renamed the European Championship and the qualifying competition
was organized into groups along the lines of the World Cup. As
in the first two World Cups that the home nations had entered,
it was decided that the British Championship would be used as a
group, though this time using two consecutive championships, so
that teams would meet each other both home and away, with only
one team qualifying for the quarter-finals. The newly-crowned
World Champions suffered their first defeat since the World Cup,
when Scotland beat them, 3-2, at Wembley to win
the first of the British Championships. Scotland then lost their
advantage by losing to Northern Ireland in Belfast, six months
later, in their first game of the second British Championship.
As Scotland had drawn their first game, the previous year,
against Wales, in Cardiff, it meant that England would win the
group, if they could avoid defeat at Hampden in their return
fixture with Scotland on 24 February, 1968. Martin Peters gave
England the lead in the twentieth minute. The Scots were level
before half-time, but it wasn't enough to prevent England
winning the group and regaining the British Championship. In
the quarter-finals, they met defending champions, Spain over two legs. Bobby Charlton
gave them a slender lead to take to Madrid, by scoring the only
goal of the first leg at Wembley, six minutes from the end. Amancio levelled the tie, just after half-time in the second leg
on 8 May, but goals from Martin Peters and Norman Hunter
sent the World Champions through to the final stages of the
tournament in Italy, the following month. |
|
England in the 1970-72 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Sir Alf Ramsey - result: QUALIFIED (by two
points) from group,
eliminated in quarter-finals (3-1 on aggregate) |
| England were drawn in Group
Three with Greece, Malta and Switzerland, and did not begin
their fixtures until February 1971. Of their opponents, they had
only previously met the Swiss, and it was Switzerland who were
their only challengers for a quarter-final place. Both countries
had maximum points when they met in Basel, England winning by
the odd goal in five, thanks to an own-goal winner. Victory in
the return, at Wembley, four weeks later, would put England
through, but they were held to a 1-1 draw. However, they still
had one match remaining, away to Greece, on 1 December 1971 and
they could afford to lose by three goals and still win the group
on goal difference. They won, 2-0, with Geoff Hurst (his last
for England) and Martin Chivers netting in the second half.
England's quarter-final opponents were West Germany, who had
ended England's reign as World Champions in the quarter-final of
the 1970 World Cup. They were, again, to prove England's nemesis
and beat them, 3-1, at Wembley, in the first leg. Two weeks
later, on 13 May, 1972, in the second leg in Berlin, England
tightened up their defence, but could not make any dent in their
aggregate deficit. The game ended goalless, and England were
out. West Germany went on to lift the trophy in Brussels. |
|
England in the 1972-74
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Sir Alf Ramsey - result: eliminated (by a point) |
| Following a World Cup where
they had qualified as hosts, and then one as holders, England
found themselves having to win a World Cup qualification group
for the first time in twelve years. They were paired with Poland
and Wales in Group Five. With little room for error, England
were held to a 1-1 draw at Wembley by the Welsh, after beating
them in Cardiff. They then suffered their first ever World Cup
qualifying defeat; 2-0, in Poland, with Alan Ball being sent
off, but they could still qualify if they could win the return
at Wembley on 17 October, 1973. England threw the kitchen sink
at the Poles, but a combination of near misses, desperate
goal-line clearances and some unorthodox goalkeeping, somehow
kept the score at 1-1 and England were out. Sir Alf Ramsey was
eventually sacked, six months later and Poland went on to finish
third at the World Cup, in Germany. |
|
England in the 1974-76 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Don Revie - result: eliminated (by a point) |
| England faced Cyprus,
Czechoslovakia and Portugal in Group One of Don Revie's first
international competition as England's manager. They made a
great start, beating the Czechs, 3-0, at Wembley and no one
could have guessed that their opponents would be the ones
lifting the trophy in Belgrade in 1976. England ended up playing all of
their three home games first, because the fixture in Cyprus was
postponed due to political unrest on the island. A goalless draw
at Wembley with Portugal would not have been a problem, but
England then lost to the Czechs, after taking the lead in
Bratislava and thus, handed the group initiative to them. The
Czechs could only draw in Portugal, but it was enough to put
them level on points with England, who were ahead on goal
difference by only one goal, with just one game apiece
remaining. England were under great pressure to beat Portugal,
in Lisbon, on 19 November, 1975, knowing that the Czechs only had
to better their score by one goal, when they went to Cyprus,
four days later. Portugal, who could still qualify themselves,
if Cyprus were to somehow beat the Czechs, took an early lead to
pile the pressure on England. Mick Channon equalized, before
half-time, but it ended in a draw, eliminating the Portuguese
and leaving the Czechs needing a single-goal victory in Limassol
on 23 November. They were three goals up at half-time and
cruised into the quarter-finals without further score, formally
ending England's challenge. A 3-0 victory would still have taken
them through if England had won 3-1 in Lisbon. |
|
England in the 1976-78
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Don Revie/Ron Greenwood - result: eliminated (on
goal difference) |
| Finland, Italy and Luxembourg
were England's opponents in Group Two and it was always going to
come down to a two-horse race between the former champions,
England and Italy, neither of whom dropped a point against the
other two nations. Italy drew first blood against England with a
2-0 win in Rome, leaving a better goal difference as England's
only realistic hope to qualify, assuming that they could win the
return against the Italians, at Wembley. Don Revie was
obviously, not hopeful, because he quit at the end of the
1976-77 season. Ron Greenwood took over as caretaker-manager, to
see them through the qualifying campaign. England did not
concede a goal in their three remaining games, but Italy's 6-1
win against Finland in Turin, three days after England could
only score twice in Luxembourg, left them four goals better off
than England. England played magnificently in beating
Italy, 2-0 at Wembley, on 16 November, 1977, to finish their
fixtures, two points clear, and they now had an identical goal
difference to Italy, but frustratingly, it wasn't enough. On 3
December, Italy faced Luxembourg in Rome, and like the Czechs,
two years earlier, needed only a single-goal victory to
eliminate England, and like the Czechs, they scored three
without reply, and booked their place in Argentina. |
|
England in the 1978-80 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Ron Greenwood - result: QUALIFIED (by six points) |
| With Ron Greenwood installed
as the permanent manager, England took on their first five-team
pool. Their opponents in Group One were Bulgaria, Denmark and
(paired together for the first time) Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland. Following a decade of qualification
failures, England sailed through the group, dropping only one
point; against the Republic of Ireland, in Dublin. With two home
matches remaining, only the Republic could catch England, on
goal difference, but England still had a nine-goal advantage.
With England set to face Bulgaria at Wembley on the evening of
21 November, 1979, Northern Ireland notched a historic first goal
and victory against their neighbours, in Belfast, in the
afternoon and England were through to Italy. The Wembley game
was postponed for a day, because of fog, but England secured two
more victories to win the group in style. Northern Ireland
finished runners-up, but only the group winners went through to
the final tournament in Italy. |
|
England in the 1980-82
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Ron Greenwood - result: QUALIFIED (by a point) |
| England went to hell and back
in Group Four, though on paper, it looked simple to finish in
the top two amongst Hungary, Norway, Romania and Switzerland.
Astonishingly, they suffered three defeats; in Romania,
Switzerland, and (most surprisingly) Norway. Having also drawn
with Romania at Wembley, England had one game left and seemingly
little hope as they watched their group opponents play their
games in hand. Romania's last two games were home and away,
against Switzerland. Three points would have taken them beyond
England's reach and if Hungary won their last two home games
(against Switzerland and Norway), they would also qualify,
before they came to Wembley.
The Swiss then re-ignited their own qualification ambitions
by going to Bucharest and winning 2-1, against Romania. This was
a huge boost to England, but there was now only a point between
all five countries, with four fixtures remaining. Hungary took
the opportunity to win their home games convincingly and the
four
points gave them the group and qualification.
When Switzerland lost in Hungary, it also meant that England
now knew that beating Hungary would almost certainly take them
through to Spain, and it got better, just a week before the
final fixture, at Wembley. Switzerland and Romania cancelled
each other out in their last game, in Bern, which ended
goalless. Whilst this eliminated the Swiss, it put Romania a
point clear of England. However, because of their superior goal
difference, England only needed a point against Hungary, at
Wembley, on 18 November, 1981, to secure the runners-up spot
that had seemed highly unlikely, two months earlier.
It was a nervy evening, but Hungary had already qualified and
England joined them by completing the double over them, having
previously beaten them in Budapest. Paul Mariner stumbled as he
slotted home the only goal in the fourteenth minute. Somehow,
England had avoided missing out on their third consecutive World
Cup. |
|
England in the 1982-84 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Bobby Robson - result: eliminated (by a point) |
| England faced Hungary again in
Bobby Robson's first competitive campaign. Denmark, Greece and
Luxembourg were also in Group Three, but only the group winners
would qualify for the final tournament, in France. England were
held to a goalless draw by Greece, at Wembley, but it was
Denmark that became their biggest challengers. The Danes came to
Wembley and shocked England with a 1-0 victory, which put them a
point ahead, with a game in hand. Hungary were already
eliminated, but gave England a glimmer of hope by beating
Denmark, in Budapest. This left Denmark needing to win their
last game, in Greece, to win the group, because if the Greeks
took a point, England could overtake Denmark on goal difference,
by winning in Luxembourg, in their last game.
Both matches were played on 16 November, 1983, but the Danes
kicked off first and won, 2-0, so it was all over. On the same
evening, England's game became a huge anti-climax. They won 4-0. |
|
England in the 1984-86 World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Bobby Robson - result: QUALIFIED (by three
points) |
|
Robson's first World Cup saw England
pitted against Finland, Northern Ireland, Romania and Turkey in Qualifying Group
Three. England always looked comfortable, despite being held by Romania, at
Wembley, just as they had been four years earlier. Two teams were to qualify,
and with two games to go, England led by two points. The only teams that could
catch them were Northern Ireland and Romania, who met in Bucharest on 16
October, 1985, with the Irish surprisingly winning 1-0. Due to their impressive
goal difference, England were now virtually guaranteed a place in Mexico, but
they made it mathematically certain, by beating Turkey, 5-0, at Wembley, that
evening.
To win the group, England had only to
avoid a nine-goal thrashing against Northern Ireland, at Wembley on 13 November,
but the match had more significance for Romania, who had to win in Turkey and
hope that England won, to pip Northern Ireland on goal difference for the second
qualifying place. Their suspicions were aroused by the fact that a draw would
give England and Northern Ireland exactly what they needed. Romania won, and the Wembley game was
goalless, so the Irish secured the runners-up spot and for the second successive
World Cup, England denied Romania a place in the finals.
|
|
England in the 1986-88 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Bobby Robson - result: QUALIFIED (by three
points) |
|
England were back in a four-team pool for
the first time in a decade, when they met Northern Ireland, Turkey and
Yugoslavia in Group Four. Yugoslavia were their only real challengers for a
single place in Germany, but England went to a foggy Belgrade for the deciding
match on 11 November, 1987, needing only a point to go through. They were four
goals up after 25 minutes and only conceded once in the second half, to qualify
in style.
|
|
England in the 1988-90 World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Bobby Robson - result: QUALIFIED (by a point) |
|
Another four-team pool pitted England against Albania, Poland and
Sweden in Group Two. For additional drama, two could qualify,
but only if the runners-up had a better record than the second
place in one of the other four-team groups. It was a close
call for England, who dropped a point to Sweden, at Wembley.
With the return also goalless, in Stockholm, it was all down to
both teams having to go to Poland for their final game.
England were six goals better off on goal difference, so victory
in Chorzów on 11 October, 1989 would surely have been enough to
win the group. However, England also knew that a point would be
enough for qualification, as nine points was higher than the
runners-up could win in Group One.
As a result, it was a cautious performance and Peter Shilton
was called upon to make several fine saves to keep his goal
intact, but they hung on for a goalless draw to finish the
campaign at the top of the group, having scored ten goals
without reply in their six matches. Poland hit the bar in the
last minute.
Two weeks later, Sweden won 2-0 in Chorzów, to leapfrog
England and win the group. Meanwhile, in Group One, Romania beat
Denmark to qualify. Denmark would also have qualified, ahead of
England, if Poland had scored and beaten England with the
last-minute effort that hit the woodwork. Then, there would have
been no Italia '90 for us and no Gazza tears! |
|
England in the 1990-92 European Championship Preliminary
Competition |
|
manager: Graham Taylor - result: QUALIFIED (by a point) |
|
Graham Taylor's England were up against
Poland, the Republic of Ireland and Turkey, in Group Seven, with one team going
through to Sweden. This was an extremely tight group, with most games drawn, the
Irish holding England at Wembley.
Going into the final games (played
simultaneously) on 13 November, 1991, England held a two-point advantage over
Poland and the Republic, but the Irish had the best goal difference. England
were again in Poland for their last qualifier, but this time in Poznań. A point
would be enough, as it was two years earlier. Ireland won 3-1 in Turkey, and
Poland were ahead at half-time against England, a scoreline that would have put
the Irish through on goal difference. With thirteen minutes remaining, Gary
Lineker volleyed England level and they again held on to reach the finals.
|
|
England in the 1992-94 World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Graham Taylor - result: eliminated (by two
points) |
|
England were in Group Two with
Netherlands, Norway, Poland (again), San Marino and Turkey; six
teams with two places in the USA up for grabs. Costly errors
were made in drawing at Wembley against Norway and the
Netherlands; the latter after being two goals up, but England
also lost to Norway in Oslo, though they did manage their
customary late point in Poland.
Norway led the group from start to
finish, leaving England to battle with the Netherlands for the
runners-up spot. When England went to Rotterdam, they were
behind the Dutch on goal difference, but they still had to face
San Marino in their last game. Avoiding defeat was essential to
give them every chance, but a controversial incident when Koeman
escaped a red card and then, five minutes later, scored the first goal, proved to be
the turning point and England lost 2-0.
The only hope for England on the
last day (17 November, 1993) was for the Dutch to lose in Poland
and for England to score seven goals against San Marino in
Bologna. England did manage to score seven (despite conceding
one after only eight seconds!), but the Netherlands won 3-1 and
took the runners-up spot. Graham Taylor resigned in the
following week. |
|
England in the 1996-98
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Glenn Hoddle - result: QUALIFIED
(by a point) |
| Glenn
Hoddle's first campaign saw England paired with Poland for the
third consecutive World Cup qualifying competition. Their
opponents in Group Two were Georgia, Italy and Moldova. One team
went through, with the runners-up having to play a two-legged
play-off to reach France. This was England's first qualifying
campaign where three points were awarded for a win. Just as
when England and Italy had been drawn together, twenty years
earlier, this group soon became a two-horse race. In their first
meeting, Italy inflicted on England, their first ever World Cup
home defeat; Chelsea's Zola striking the killer blow at Wembley.
England qualified for, at least, the play-offs, when they beat
Poland in Chorzów, for once, and they even beat Italy, 2-0, in a
friendly tournament in Nantes.
The Italians were perhaps, a little over-cautious. They only
conceded one goal in their eight matches (in Moldova), but two
goalless draws, in Poland and Georgia, meant that England, who
kept on winning, moved ahead of the Italians by a point,
with one game left. That game was the return fixture in Rome, on
11 October, 1997.
A terrific defensive display kept the scoreline blank and
England had pipped the unbeaten Italians, without managing a
goal against them. Italy beat Russia, 2-1 on aggregate, in the
play-offs and joined England in the finals. |
|
England in the
1998-2000 European Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Glenn Hoddle/Kevin Keegan - result: QUALIFIED
(3-1 on aggregate from group, and 2-1 on aggregate) |
| Incredibly, England faced
Poland in their fifth successive qualifying competition.
Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Sweden joined them in Group Five, with
one place in the finals at stake, and the runners-up heading to
the play-offs. England suffered a post-World Cup hangover,
losing the opening match to Sweden, in Stockholm, with Paul Ince
being dismissed and then being
held to a draw at Wembley, by Bulgaria. The Swedes ran away with
the group and England (now under Kevin Keegan) had to fend off
their old friends, Poland for the runners-up spot. They beat
them 3-1 at Wembley in Keegan's first match, but England then
dropped points, though they did become the only team to take a
point from Sweden, in a goalless draw that saw Paul Scholes
become the only England player ever to be sent off at the old
Wembley Stadium.
When England went to Warsaw, on 8 September, 1999, for their
last match in the group, they were level on points with the
Poles, but ahead by virtue of the new head-to-head rule (3-1 on
aggregate). However, Poland also had another match, away to
Sweden, who had already qualified. They could knock England out
by beating them, or by drawing both games. England would also be
through to the play-offs if they could win, because then Poland,
even by winning in Sweden, could not overhaul England on
aggregate.
Understandably, it wasn't a classic. David Batty received
England's third red card of a forgettable campaign, six minutes
from the end, but England held out for a goalless draw (yet
another tense finish in Poland!) and they then had to wait for a
month for their fate to be decided. Fortunately, Sweden beat
Poland, 2-0, in Stockholm, on 9 October, and England took their
place in the play-off draw, having finished nine points behind
the group winners.
Scotland were drawn against England. Paul Scholes settled the
first leg with two first-half goals at Hampden, but with
qualification almost assured, England then proceeded to play
dismally in the second leg, at Wembley, four days later, on 17
November. Scotland pulled a goal back and restored some pride by
holding out for a 1-0 win. England qualified for Belgium and the
Netherlands, but it was difficult to understand how they had
managed it. |
|
England in the 2000-02
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Kevin Keegan/Howard Wilkinson/Sven-Göran
Eriksson - result: QUALIFIED (on goal difference) |
| Avoiding Poland in a
qualifying competition for the first time since the 1988
European Championship, England were up against Albania, Finland,
Germany and Greece in Group Nine and yet again, they were
playing catch-up, after a bad start. Germany beat them in the
old Wembley's last fixture, prompting Keegan to resign. Howard
Wilkinson came in for the next game (a goalless draw in Finland)
in a caretaker capacity, before Eriksson became their third
different coach in their first three games. Catching Germany
seemed highly unlikely when England went to Munich for the
return, six points behind them, and four goals behind on goal
difference (FIFA still used goal difference when teams were
level, rather than the head-to-head rule used in UEFA
competitions). One of the greatest performances in England's
history, an astonishing 5-1 victory, turned the group on its
head, and England beat Albania, four days later, to go top on
goal difference, with one game remaining, having also made sure
of a play-off place, at worst.
To qualify, England had to match Germany's result at home to
Finland, when Greece came to Old Trafford on 6 October, 2001. As
it turned out, Germany were held to a goalless draw, so England
only needed a point, but a rejuvenated Greek side (that would go
on to win the European Championship, three years later) twice
took the lead and it took a dramatic David Beckham free-kick, in
the third minute of added time to send England to Japan, on the
back of a 2-2 draw.
Germany beat Ukraine, 5-2 on aggregate in the play-offs and
then bettered England by reaching the final. |
|
England in the
2002-04 European Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Sven-Göran Eriksson - result: QUALIFIED
(by a point) |
| Liechtenstein, Macedonia,
Slovakia and Turkey joined England in Group Seven. Turkey had
just reached the World Cup semi-finals and they were expected to
be England's biggest threat, though England slipped up in a 2-2
draw with Macedonia, at Southampton. They beat Turkey, 2-0, at
Sunderland and maintained their advantage going into the last
game, having beaten Slovakia to secure, at least, a play-off
berth. The final match saw England go to Istanbul on 11 October,
2003, needing a point to secure their trip to Portugal, with
Turkey having to win. In a volatile atmosphere, David Beckham
missed an early penalty, but the Turks were unable to score
their first ever goal against England and it ended in a draw.
Turkey failed to make the finals, after Latvia, surprisingly,
beat them 3-2 on aggregate, in the play-offs. |
|
England in the 2004-06
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Sven-Göran
Eriksson - result: QUALIFIED (by four points) |
| Eriksson's last qualifying
campaign was Group Six, competing with Austria, Azerbaijan,
Northern Ireland, Poland and Wales. England were in good form in
the 2004-05 season, but they stumbled at the beginning of the
following season, losing to Northern Ireland, in Belfast. They
had already done enough to secure, at least, a play-off place,
however. With two games left, they were five points behind
Poland, who had only one game to play; at Old Trafford, against
England. There were also one of the two best runner-up places
to play for from the eight European groups and England knew that
they would have a great chance of guaranteeing one of them, just
by beating Austria in their penultimate game, at Old Trafford on
8 October, 2005. A Frank Lampard penalty gave them the points,
though David Beckham was sent off in the second half. England
then had to wait a few hours, before the Netherlands beat the
Czech Republic, 2-0, in Prague in Group One. This meant that
whoever finished runners-up in that group could not better
England's record. So, with the joy of mathematics, England and
Poland were both on their way to Germany.
Four days later, on 12 October, England were back at Old
Trafford for the small matter of deciding the group winners.
Frank Lampard again scored the winner, with ten minutes left.
The 2-1 victory was enough to lift England above the Poles, who
had needed a point to win the group. |
|
England in the
2006-08 European Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
coach: Steve McClaren - result: eliminated
(by a point) |
| With a new boss at the helm,
England were placed in a seven-team pool for the first time.
Their opponents in Group E were Andorra, Croatia, Estonia,
Israel, Macedonia and Russia. There were no play-offs this time,
with the top two teams qualifying automatically for the finals
in Austria and Switzerland. England were
held to a goalless draw by Macedonia at Old Trafford and then
lost, 2-0, to Croatia, in Zagreb. They then recorded five
successive 3-0 victories to put themselves back in contention.
When England went to Moscow to face Russia, they were three
points behind Croatia, but five ahead of Russia. Though they led
at half-time, the Russians came back to win 2-1, and with two
games remaining for both Croatia and Russia, to England's one,
qualification was now out of their hands.
Four days before England's final game (which was against
Croatia at the new Wembley Stadium), they were thrown a
lifeline. Not only did Croatia lose in Macedonia, to stay within
England's reach, but Russia lost in Israel to a goal scored in
added time. This left them two points behind England, who now,
miraculously, only needed a point against Croatia to qualify
(thanks to their 4-2 aggregate lead against the Russians),
whilst a 2-0 victory would even win them the group on goal
difference, by making their head-to-head record with Croatia 2-2
on aggregate. Furthermore, the Croatians had now qualified,
thanks to Russia's defeat in Tel Aviv.
It was all too good to be true. On 21 November, 2007, England
were two goals down inside 14 minutes. They recovered to
draw level, but the Croatians were always dangerous and Petrić's
winner, 13 minutes from the end, meant that Croatia became
the first country to beat England both home and away in a
qualifying competition. They won the group and even though
Russia could only muster one goal in Andorra, it was enough to
take them above England into the runners-up spot.
Steve McClaren was sacked on the following day. |
|
England in the 2008-10
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Fabio Capello - result: QUALIFIED
(by six points) |
| England's new Italian manager
took England through Group Six, against Andorra, Belarus,
Croatia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Croatia were the obvious
concern, but they were disposed of very efficiently, with a 4-1
beating in Zagreb, going some way to vindicating the previous
competition's results. In truth, it turned out to be an easy
group for England. Their eighth successive victory, a 5-1
thrashing of Croatia at Wembley, on 9 September, 2009, took them
through to South Africa as group winners, with two games to
spare. They lost their next game, to Ukraine, with goalkeeper,
Robert Green sent off in Dnepropetrovsk. This was vital to
Ukraine's chances, for it put them ahead of Croatia, and they
held on to take second place and qualify for the play-offs,
though they lost 1-0 to Greece on aggregate and failed to join
England in the finals. England finished the campaign with a
ninth win out of ten games, against Belarus, at Wembley. |
|
England in the
2010-12 European Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Fabio Capello - result: QUALIFIED
(by six points) |
| Fabio Capello took England
through another relatively comfortable qualification, from Group
G, ahead of Bulgaria, Montenegro, Switzerland and Wales. They
remained unbeaten, but they did drop points at Wembley to both
Montenegro and Switzerland; the Swiss taking a two-goal lead
before England fought back to draw. England beat Wales at
Wembley to give them the safety net of the play-offs if they did
not win the group, but they went to Podgorica, to face
Montenegro in their final match on 7 October, 2011, needing a
point to secure qualification. Just after the half-hour mark,
they were two goals up and cruising, but a rush of blood saw
Wayne Rooney sent off and Montenegro drew level in added time.
Although the dropped points denied Montenegro a shot at winning
the group (they still had one game left), the result did secure them a
place in the play-offs, as Wales beat Switzerland in Swansea to
end the Swiss challenge. However, the Czech Republic beat
Montenegro, 3-0 on aggregate in the play-offs.
When England arrived in Ukraine for the tournament (from
their base in Poland), Capello had resigned and Roy Hodgson had
taken over. |
|
England in the 2012-14
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Roy Hodgson - result:
QUALIFIED (by a point) |
| England were in Group H, with
Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, San Marino and Ukraine. Their
biggest rival was Ukraine, who held them to a 1-1 draw at
Wembley, but England's 4-1 win over Montenegro at Wembley in
their penultimate match kept them a point ahead and guaranteed
them a play-off place at worst. Four nights later, on 15
October, 2013, only Ukraine could deny them a place in Brazil as
group winners, as they won, 8-0, in San Marino. England had,
therefore, to beat
Poland at Wembley. A goal in each half (from Wayne Rooney and
Steven Gerrard) maintained their unbeaten record and won them
the group. It was the sixth time that they had faced the
Poles in a final qualification match. Only the first (forty
years earlier) had been unsuccessful. Just as in the previous
World Cup, Ukraine finished runners-up to England and then lost
in the play-offs. This time, they failed to hold on to a 2-0
first-leg lead and went down, 3-2 on aggregate, to France. |
|
England in the
2014-16 European Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
manager:
Roy Hodgson - result: QUALIFIED
(by fourteen points) |
| England qualified from Group E
with three games to spare. Their opponents were Estonia,
Lithuania, San Marino, Slovenia and Switzerland. It looked an
easy group on paper and that is exactly how it turned out. Their
seventh consecutive win, 6-0 against San Marino in Serravalle, on 5 September, 2015
made them the first team to qualify for the final tournament,
after hosts, France. Three nights later, a 2-0 victory against
Switzerland at Wembley, with Wayne Rooney becoming the first
player to score fifty goals for England, won them the group.
They went on to win the two remaining games and completed a 100%
record of ten wins for the first time. With the tournament
being extended to 24 qualifiers, there was already a big safety
net for the top teams. Two qualified from each group, plus the
best third-placed team, whilst the other third-placed teams went
into the play-offs. Slovenia were the only team to score, and
lead, against England, but Switzerland took the runners-up spot,
nine points behind England, with Slovenia in the play-offs,
where they were beaten, 3-1 on aggregate, by Ukraine. |
|
England in the 2016-18 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager:
Sam Allardyce/Gareth Southgate - result:
QUALIFIED (by eight points) |
| Sam Allardyce lasted only one
game in charge of England, but it was a victory in Slovakia in
the opening match of Group F which also included Lithuania,
Malta, Scotland and Slovenia, with only one team going through
automatically to Russia. Southgate took over and England won the group
with a 94th minute Harry Kane goal against Slovenia at Wembley
on 5 October, 2017. It was the third time in the campaign that
England had secured points beyond the ninetieth minute. The
victory in Slovakia had been by virtue of a 95th minute goal and
Kane had also cropped up in the 93rd minute against Scotland at
Hampden to rescue a point, after two late free-kick goals had
left England facing a likely defeat to their oldest rivals.
Slovenia were the only team to prevent England scoring, in
Ljubljana, but
it was Slovakia who held off a late charge by Scotland to secure
second place on goal difference, though it left them with an
inferior record to every one of the other eight European group
runners-up and wasn't enough for them to qualify. England
completed the campaign having stretched their unbeaten
qualifying record to 39 games and eight years in both the World
Cup and the European Championship. |
|
England in the 2018-19 Nations League
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Gareth Southgate - result:
QUALIFIED (by a point) |
| After unexpected success in
finishing fourth at the World Cup, England were immediately
plunged into an extremely tough group for the inaugural UEFA
Nations League. Group A4 in the top league also featured Croatia
(the team that had beaten them in the World Cup semi-final) and
Spain, one of the favourites to win the competition. With only
four games each to play, and relegation to League B for the team
finishing bottom of the group, there was very little room for
error and England got off to the worst possible start by losing
to Spain at Wembley. Then, when Spain thrashed Croatia, 6-0 in
Elche, it looked like England were left with a relegation battle
against the team that had outfought them in the World Cup. There
was a big surprise in store, however.
England went to Seville and were three goals up against Spain
at half-time. The expected second-half onslaught did not
disappoint, but England held on for a famous 3-2 victory and,
all of a sudden, they were in with a shout, but they needed
Croatia to help them out. Exactly a month later, there was an
equally dramatic encounter in Zagreb, where Croatia twice
responded to Spanish equalisers to win 3-2 with a 98th-minute
winner. Defeat left Spain still top of the group, but they had
now completed their fixtures.
Wembley hosted the final game on 18 November, 2018, whereby
the winner secured a semi-final place and a draw gave it to
Spain. There was also the small matter of a goalless game
relegating Croatia on goal difference and a score draw sending
England into League B on away goals. So, with absolutely
everything balanced on a knife edge, Croatia took a 57th-minute
lead, against the run of play, and it was all beginning to look
like a repeat of, not only, the World Cup semi-final, but also
the defeat against Croatia, eleven years earlier, that dumped
England out of the European Championship in the same arena.
With twelve minutes left, England needed two goals to both
escape relegation and win the group. Incredibly, they got them,
through Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane, who left it until the 85th
minute to book England's trip to Portugal in one of the most
dramatic of all endings. Spain finished runners-up and Croatia
were relegated to League B (though they were given a reprieve
when League A was increased to 16 teams for the next
Nations League in 2020). |
|
England in the 2019-21 European
Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
manager:
Gareth Southgate - result: QUALIFIED
(by ten points) |
| England were drawn in Group A
with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kosovo and Montenegro, and
proceeded to ruthlessly smash the opposition out of sight by
scoring an incredible 37 goals in the eight games. They scored,
at least, four times in seven of the games; the exception being
in a 2-1 defeat to Czech Republic, who finished runners-up, six
points behind England, and also qualified for the continent-wide
finals. The solitary loss came after 43 games undefeated in
World Cup and European Championship qualifiers stretching back
ten years to 2009. Qualification was assured with a 7-0
Wembley trouncing of Montenegro on 14 November, 2019 in
England's thousandth international, though it would be 19 months
before they took their place in the tournament, due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Bulgaria and Kosovo (who scored three
times against England at Southampton, conceding five) entered
the play-offs by virtue of their rankings from the previous
year's Nations League, but both lost in the semi-finals;
Bulgaria losing 3-1 at home to Hungary and Kosovo going down 2-1
in North Macedonia. |
|
England in the 2020-21 Nations League
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Gareth Southgate - result:
eliminated (by five points) |
| England were placed in Group
A2 with Belgium, newly-promoted Denmark, and Iceland as League A was extended to
16 teams and four groups of four, with again only one going
through to the semi-finals, which would be in Italy. At the
halfway stage it was going well for England. They had conceded
their first goal from the penalty spot, but recovered to beat
Belgium at Wembley and go top of the group, but then, it all
fell apart. On a sour night at Wembley, England surrendered
their initiative and lost to Denmark. Harry Maguire was sent off
and the only goal came from a highly-dubious penalty. Reece
James also received the red card for arguing with the referee
after the final whistle. This left England, realistically,
needing to win in Belgium, on 15 November, 2020, where they were
two goals down after 23 minutes and heading out of the
competition. A 4-0 win against Iceland in their last game wasn't
even enough to win them the runners-up spot, as Denmark's
Wembley penalty had given them a superior head-to-head record
against England. Belgium were comfortable winners of the group. |
|
England in the 2021-22 World Cup
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager:
Gareth Southgate - result:
QUALIFIED (by six points) |
| Another comfortable qualifying
campaign for England, who won Group I ahead of Albania, Andorra,
Hungary, Poland and San Marino. England won all but two of the
ten games, scoring 39 goals in the process, more than any other
team in the European qualifying groups. Poland, who snatched a
point in Warsaw with a 92nd-minute equaliser, finished runners-up,
and Hungary were the other side to stop England from winning,
after taking the lead at Wembley with a penalty given for
dangerous kicking by Luke Shaw, when his opponent appeared to
feign injury, despite the lack of contact. Both of these games
were 1-1 draws.
A 5-0 Wembley win against Albania, in their penultimate game,
with all of the goals coming in the first half, secured a
play-off place, at the very least for England, but it was not
until their last game, three nights later, on 15 November, 2021,
that they won the group. It was achieved in emphatic style in
Serravalle, as they hit double figures for the first time since
1964, against a woeful San Marino side that shouldn't really
have been on the same pitch. Poland headed for the play-offs
where a 2-0 home win against Sweden took them to Qatar. |
|
England in the 2022-23 Nations League
Preliminary Competition |
|
manager: Gareth Southgate - result:
eliminated (by eight points, relegated by four points) |
A disastrous Nations League
campaign saw England relegated from the top league after an
inexplicably appalling run of results following directly on from a
22-match unbeaten run (excluding the penalty shootout in the
European Championship Final).
Group A3 saw England paired
with Germany, Hungary (who had achieved two successive promotions
after starting in League C) and European champions, Italy (who had
surprisingly failed to qualify for their second successive World
Cup finals).
With the first four fixtures being played in
June 2022, England failed to get any kind of momentum, scoring
only from a Harry Kane penalty in Germany which won them a point.
They also took a point at home to Italy, but lost home and away to
Hungary, culminating in a four-goal defeat at Molineux, England's
heaviest loss since 1964 and the first time that they had conceded
four goals at home since a rather more famous Hungarian team had
hit them for six in 1953. John Stones's sending off merely added
to the incredulity of the situation.
Three months later, on
23 September, 2022, Italy put England out of their misery by
relegating them to League B with a single-goal victory and they
went on to win the group by also winning their last game, in
Hungary. A last day 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley, including an
England fightback from two goals down to lead, before conceding a
late equaliser, gave the fans hope that they could still mount a
strong World Cup challenge in the next two months, but it all
painted a very grim picture after such a glorious period of
success. |
|
England in the 2023-24 European
Championship Preliminary Competition |
|
manager:
Gareth Southgate - result: QUALIFIED
(by six points) |
England's opponents in Group C
were Italy, Malta, North Macedonia and Ukraine. Italy had beaten
England on penalties in the final, less than two years earlier,
and had then relegated England in the Nations League, but England
had their revenge, completing the double over them to qualify for
the finals in Germany, and winning the group at the same time. The
3-1 victory at Wembley, on 17 October, 2023, was on the fiftieth
anniversary of England's most traumatic qualification match
against Poland at the same site, but this time they were
convincing winners.
England were held to 1-1 draws by Ukraine,
in a game that took place in Poland, because of the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, and in North Macedonia in the last game of
the group. Italy secured the second qualification spot after
holding off the challenge, by 2-1 on aggregate, of Ukraine, who
went on to the play-offs for the eighth time in their last eleven
qualifying competitions where play-offs were part of the format.
They were successful for only the second time, defeating Iceland
2-1 in Poland. |
|
England
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