ENGLAND suffered a devastating blow before the kick-off in this vital match when Tom Finney was ruled out because of injury. Alan A'Court came into the side for a game where it was very important that England did not lose. The mighty Brazilians were already showing all the signs of being a fine team.

Despite the final scoreline the game was a thriller. Full of open and attacking football it was very much a case of contrasting styles with the subtle skills of the smooth Brazilians pitched against the typical English game of hard tackling and swift counter attacks. The control of the South Americans was breathtaking at times with Didi and [Mazzola] outstanding. The ease at which they killed the ball from any angle and then laid off accurate passes was beautiful to watch.

England, meanwhile, battled like tigers. A'Court proved a capable deputy and although he did not have the extra class of Finney, he more than held his own.  On 11 minutes, A'Court put Derek Kevan through, only for Gilmar to make a fine diving save. Then Colin McDonald, superb throughout, made an equally good save when he sprang to catch a header from [Mazzola]. The end to end action was continuous and Gilmar then made an even better save when he touched a tremendous shot from Johnny Haynes around the post.

The big crowd were delighted at the excitement on the pitch with the England lads enjoying the full vocal backing of a contingent from the British Navy. The player who stood out for England was, once again, Billy Wright. The captain was magnificent and he spurred his colleagues on with an immaculate display. Don Howe, Eddie Clamp and Blll Slater gave him admirable support in what was a very good team effort.

After half an hour, England had an escape when a brilliant 20-yard shot by the impressive Vavá crashed back into play off the crossbar.  But the swift tackling of the whole England side began to have its effect on Brail and soon Wright and his men were controlling the game. For most of the second half the match belonged to them as the pressure on Gilmar's goal intensified all through the half.

Kevan was only stopped at the expense of a corner. A superb move between Haynes and Bobby Robson produced another corner and then A'Court, Slater and Kevan combined for Robson to just miss again. Yet another corner.

It was great stuff and England deserved a goal. However, Brazil also had their moments, a side as skilful as they are can never totally subdued. Didi and Vavá both tested the faultless McDonald to the full. It was a pulsating game which only lacked one thing and that was a goal.

Each of the England players were heroes with Howe in fine form. Clamp and Slater showed everyone the form they displayed every week at Molineux and Wright was inspiration personified. And one other thing, Kevan had put up with a good deal of criticism during his England career but in this match he gave an excellent display of powerhouse centre-forward play. But for the agility and skill of Gilmar, the West Brom player could have been the hero of a nation.

England now had a great chance of reaching the next round provided they could beat Austria in their final group match.
  

This was the only World Cup match in which eventual champions Brazil failed to score, and it was due mainly to the defensive tactics worked out by Walter Winterbottom's assistant Bill Nicholson, who had watched their opening match against Austria. The Brazilians were not allowed to get into their smooth rhythm. The nearest they got to breaking down the disciplined England defence was when Vavá rocked the crossbar with a shot from twenty yards. Bill Slater played a key role in what was a triumph for England, sticking close to their ball master Didi and not giving him room to produce his devastating passes. The result forced the Brazilians to re-think, and they were persuaded to call up two exceptional but untested individualists: Garrincha and Pelé. The rest is World Cup history!  Slater finished the match with bruises on the inside of both knees where he had kept banging them together to stop Didi pulling off his favourite trick of threading the ball through an opponent's legs - now known as the nutmeg.