'Lady Luck' did not smile on England in their vital match against their illustrious opponents from Brazil in what was a superb international. England replaced the injured Keith Newton with Tommy Wright in an otherwise unchanged side.

For the opening ten minutes England dictated and Martin Peters, Alan Ball and Francis Lee kept Félix on his toes, but typically, and without warning, Brazil suddenly struck with a 'venomous' attack in the 11th minute. The dangerous and skilful Jairzinho outpaced Terry Cooper and pitched a superb centre into the middle about seven yards out. Up went Pelé to meet it with a powerful, downward header. It looked a goal all the way but somehow Gordon Banks not only reached the ball with his dive but also managed to flick it up and over the crossbar. It was a magical moment and the whole stadium rose to applaud.

The boiling heat of the midday sun in Guadalajara was a very different atmosphere to that of a grey November day at Wembley, but England adapted well to their task. Brian Labone kept a firm hold on Tostão and Alan Mullery was doing a fine containing-job on Pelé.

The best chance of a pulsating half for England came when Lee had a double-effort saved by Félix. Half-time was reached with the game delicately poised.

In the early part of the second half, Brazil stepped-up a 'gear' and produced a dazzling spell which stretched England to the limit. With clever, passing movements and 'lightning' pace, they suddenly found some gaps in the English defence. A long-range shot by Paulo César was tipped around the post by Banks, and then Pelé set-up Jairzinho, only for Banks to beat him to the pass. 

Brazil, and especially Pelé, began to 'turn the screw' and a superb run which took him past four defenders was stopped only by a brilliant tackle by Mullery. Then, Banks again saved well when he fisted away a 'rocket'-shot by Rivelino. 

This pressure had to tell, and on the hour, the Brazilians finally broke through. Paulo César gave Tostão possession and, at first, it seemed Tostão had nowhere to go as the England defenders closed in, but some clever footwork and tricky body-swerves gave him space to turn 180 degrees  and chip a square ball to Pelé. The magnificent number-ten was soon surrounded but he just held the ball long enough to allow Jairzinho to move up on his right. At the perfect moment, Pelé slid the ball into Jairzinho's path and this time Banks had no chance to save.

It was a tremendous goal and delighted most of the crowd but to England's eternal credit they came back strongly after this setback and in the final half-hour were desperately unlucky not to equalize. Sir Alf Ramsey tried new tactics, bringing on Colin Ball and Jeff Astle, and then pumping long, high crosses to the far post. The tactic worked and it put Brazil under new pressure. Astle climbed to meet the crosses, nodding them down to oncoming players and creating several chances. Ball completely missed his kick from a clear opening and then the best chance of the match fell to Astle. How he missed with only the 'keeper to beat from 12 yards out, no one could imagine, but miss he did and several of the England players held their heads in disbelief.

The final disappointment came with ten minutes to go when Ball hit a glorious shot which cannoned back off the crossbar. So Brazil ended 1-0 winners. It was a fine game played in a superb spirit and there was so much mutual respect on the faces of the players as they swapped shirts at the end of the match.
  

An astonishing save by Gordon Banks from a header by Pelé inspired England and found its way into the land of footballing legend. The game was staged in the heat of the mid-day sun on a scorching Sunday that was ideally suited for a siesta rather than soccer.  Only mad dogs and footballers would have gone out in such sweltering 98-degree conditions, and at a thin-air altitude that made walking, let alone running, a challenge. The match was just ten minutes old and goalless when the master of all strikers - Pelé - came face-to-face with a genius among goalkeepers - Gordon Banks - in a 'High Noon' duel. Carlos Alberto, Brazilian right-back and captain, pushed a carefully-calculated pass down the right wing into the path of the skilled Jairzinho, who suddenly and dramatically accelerated past Terry Cooper to the by-line. He then stabbed a centre into the goalmouth that seemed to hang invitingly for Pelé, who had instinctively read the situation as only he could. He had got himself perfectly positioned beyond his marker Alan Mullery to meet the ball.  The master climbed above the ball and headed it with ferocious power down - and so he thought - into the net. Mullery later reported that Pelé shouted 'Goal!' as the ball flew off his head. So did most spectators in the stadium, including the commentators sending their descriptive phrases around the world to millions of television viewers and radio listeners. Banks looked rooted on the wrong side of goal but suddenly, with the blurring speed of a panther, sprinted and then dived to his right and somehow managed to get an outstretched hand under the ball to flick it up and away over the bar. Pelé stopped dead in mid-celebration to mourn what had somehow become a missed chance. This moment of astounding gymnastics from Banks inspired England to give the eventual world champions their hardest match of the tournament, but after a magnificent battle they finally succumbed to a superbly-drilled shot by Jairzinho on the hour. He cut in from the right to score after an arrowing Tostão pass and a deft, perfectly-delivered pass from Pelé had ripped open the middle of the England defence. Jeff Astle had a gilt-edged chance to equalise within moments of coming on as a substitute but - yes, even in those heatwave conditions  - he was caught cold and shot tamely-wide.  A lasting memory of the match for all those lucky enough to have witnessed the classic confrontation is of Bobby Moore and Pelé cuddling each other before swapping jerseys, two masters of the game recognising each other's genius. Evidence that the England players had given their all is that several of them lost up to ten pounds in weight after running round in the mid-day sun so that the World Cup organizers could satisfy the deadline demands of the great god of world-wide television. The millions tuned into the match will always recall it for having seen one of the saves of the century.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Actual TV footage, courtesy of ESPN
Official FIFA Match Report
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG