England national football team
| ENGLAND | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Three Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | The Football Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Steve McClaren |
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| Asst coach | Terry Venables Steve
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| Captain | John Terry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Peter Shilton (125) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Bobby Charlton (49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Wembley Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | ENG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 9 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 4 (Sept 2006/Dec 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 27 (Feb 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 1 (1872-1876 1892-1911 1966-1970 1987-1988) |
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| Lowest Elo ranking | 17 (1928) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Scotland 0 - 0 England  (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) |
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Biggest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) |
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Biggest defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 12 (First in 1950) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners, 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 7 (First in 1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | 1968: Third, 1996 Semi-finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 have won the FIFA World Cup once, in 1966 when they hosted the event, as well as finishing fourth in 1990; out of the seven nations to have won the World Cup, England have made the fewest number of appearances in the top four. They have also reached the semi-final of the UEFA European Championship twice; in 1968 and 1996. Of the Home Nations England recorded the most wins of the British Home Championship (54) before the competition was discontinued in 1984.
Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland.[citation needed] Since regular fixtures against Scotland came to an end in the late 1980s, other rivalries have become more prominent. Matches with Argentina and Germany have produced particularly eventful encounters. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium in London.
Currently, England lay second in their qualifying group for Euro 2008. In order to qualify, they must beat first-placed Croatia at home, and also hope that Israel beat or get a draw against third-placed Russia (who also have an extra game to play against bottom-placed Andorra).
History
The England national football team is the oldest in the world, alongside Scotland. England played their first international match against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872.[2] 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 the Wembley Stadium was opened, England had 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 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 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 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 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 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. Sven-Göran Eriksson took charge of the team between 2001 and 2006 and is notable as the first non-English manager of England.
Recent form
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Steve McClaren is the new head coach, with John Terry his choice to replace David Beckham as captain. The revised management team now features Terry Venables, the former head coach. Beckham was left out of McClaren's first international squad for the friendly match against Greece on 16 August 2006, and was not recalled until the friendly against Brazil on 1 June, 2007, almost a year later.
After a good start with three straight victories against Greece, Andorra, and Macedonia, England had a goalless draw against the same Macedonia side on home ground, followed by a 2–0 defeat to Croatia in Zagreb, which ended Paul Robinson's run of six consecutive clean sheets for his country. This defeat was the worst competitive defeat suffered by England in almost exactly thirteen years, since the loss to Holland by the same score in the qualifying matches for the 1994 World Cup. England's unimpressive form continued as they lost 1–0 to Spain in a friendly match, with the cold and disappointed crowd booing off the home side at the final whistle. England's return to competitive football in March 2007 resulted in a disappointing 0–0 draw in Tel Aviv against Israel with yet another jeering and booing from English fans. Their next match was another poor performance, as they struggled to a 3-0 win over the tiny, semi-professional team of Andorra. England looked uncomfortable during the game and though they dominated possession they failed to produce opportunities in front of goal. England failed to score any goals in the first half and the team suffered heavy booing from fans throughout the game.
On June 1 England took on Brazil at Wembley Stadium, seven years after the old stadium was demolished. McClaren recalled Beckham after 11 months away from the international squad, and after an even first half, captain John Terry latched on to a free-kick from Beckham, his predecessor as skipper, to score the first full international goal at the new Wembley. The Brazilians equalized with just 30 seconds remaining to level the match at 1–1. Following the friendly in Wembley, England met Estonia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers on June 6. Goals by Joe Cole, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen, the latter two assisted by the recalled Beckham, led to a 3–0 victory against Estonia in Tallinn, bringing England back up to 3 points behind Croatia in the group.
After the 2007 summer break, England returned to the qualification campaign with straight 3–0 victories over Israel and Russia at Wembley, despite the omission or withdrawal of Gary Neville, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves and Frank Lampard due to injury. Michael Owen scored three goals in the two matches, enabling him to become the fourth player to reach the 40 mark. In addition, Emile Heskey was recalled after three years away and started both matches, while newer selections like Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright Phillips were also included in the starting eleven. A perceived hangover regarding the selection of the goalkeeper after Paul Robinson's recent indifferent form was overblown as McClaren kept faith in him ahead of David James. England scored another 3-0 win a month later against Estonia, for which Sol Campbell was recalled after almost 18 months out of the team, but then in the return game against Russia in Moscow, England lost 2-1, the first time the defence had conceded in qualification since the loss against Croatia. England's qualification hopes now rest on Russia dropping points in either of their final two qualifiers and England must win their remaining game at wembley against an Croatian team who are unbeaten in the group on 26 points to have any chance of progression to the finals.
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.
In May 1951, Argentina became the first team other than Scotland to be played at Wembley, and by 1960 nearly all of England's home matches were being played there. Between 1966 and 1995, England did not play a single home match anywhere else.
England's last match at the old Wembley was against Germany on 7 October 2000, a game which England lost 1-0. Since then the team has played at 14 venues around the country, with Old Trafford having been the most used. The FA have ruled that England will play all of their home matches at the new Wembley until at least 2036. The main reason for this is financial. The FA did not own the old Wembley stadium, but it does own the new one, and has taken on debts of hundreds of millions of pounds to pay for it. Thus it needs to maximise the revenue from England matches, and does not wish to share it with the owners of other grounds.
The new Wembley held its first international game in March 2007, when England U21s played Italy U21s in front of 55,700 people. The match was drawn 3-3, with David Bentley scoring the first goal in an England shirt at the new stadium. Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini scored the first goal, after just 29 seconds, as well completing the first Wembley hat-trick in the 68th minute.[3]
England on tour
In the seven years between the last game prior to demolition against Germany and the first in the new stadium against Brazil, England played a total of 34 home games at 14 different stadia. Of those, the record was 22 victories, 7 draws and 5 defeats. In competitive games (World Cup and European Championship qualifiers), the record stands at 11 victories and 3 draws from 14 games. The stadia utilised are as follows[4]:
- Old Trafford - 14
- St James' Park - 3
- Anfield - 3
- Villa Park - 3
- City of Manchester Stadium - 2
- Riverside Stadium - 1
- Portman Road - 1
- Pride Park - 1
- Walkers Stadium - 1
- Stadium of Light - 1
- St Mary's - 1
- Elland Road - 1
- Upton Park - 1
- White Hart Lane - 1
Kits
England have traditionally worn white shirts with navy shorts and white socks. Their away kit is red shirts, white shorts and red socks.
Other away kits worn by England have included blue shirts during the 1930s, '40s and '50s and pale blue (first used during the 1970 World Cup and again from 1986-1992 as a rarely-used third choice kit). In 1973 England wore a change kit of yellow shirts and socks with blue shorts, and at Euro '96 an all-grey kit was used as a second choice strip. This deviation from tradition was so unpopular amongst supporters that since then, England's away kit has remained red.[5]
In modern times England's kit has been supplied by Umbro, with the exception of the years 1974 - 1984 when it was manufactured by Admiral.
England rotates its kits every two years, with a new home kit released at the beginning of every odd numbered year and a new away kit released at the beginning of every even numbered year. The previous home kit (used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup) made its final appearance on 15 November, 2006 against the Netherlands. A new kit was released on 5 February, 2007 and was first used on 7 February, 2007 against Spain. The jersey has a single red stripe partially across the front of the shoulders. The crest and gold star appear on the left of the chest, with the Umbro logo, now gold, and the front shirt number appearing on the right. This symmetry also applies to the away jersey. There are now Umbro diamonds on the top of the right shoulder. A navy and white stripe depicting the three lions appears on the sides. The numbering and lettering font and colour is the same as the previous two home jerseys, and continues with silver Umbro diamonds, first seen in 2005.
Player names and numbers
For the first 65 years of competition, England footballers' shirts contained no identifying names or numbers.[6] Numbers were first worn in 1922 in a match against Scotland in Birmingham. They quickly became associated with a certain position, so to describe someone as 'England's number 9' would be to describe a player as the best choice for centre forward.[7] This terminology continues today, and the team has kept to the tradition of numbering players from 1 to 11 (12 upwards for substitutes), outside of major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship, where permanent squad numbers are required.
Numbers are traditionally associated with a certain position, but there are no set rules. Furthermore, established players will tend to use the same number whenever they play.[8]
The first time that England wore names on their jerseys was at EURO 92 in Sweden. They have since worn player names on their jerseys at every major tournament. However, it was nine more years before names were worn outside major tournaments. This was due to the fact that England would issue new numbers (and therefore new jerseys) for every game. Outside the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship, England first wore player names for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 6 October, 2001 against Greece at Old Trafford, Manchester. With new technology, player names can now be affixed to the jerseys as late as the day of the match[9], although occasionally with the odd error, such as when Peter Crouch wore 21 (his squad number) on the front of his shirt and shorts, and 12 (erroneously) on his back for a game against Uruguay in early 2006.[10]
Results and fixtures
see England national football team results
Forthcoming fixtures
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Friendly: Austria v England, 16 November 2007 at Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria (Live on Sky Sports 1)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- England v Croatia, 21 November
2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England (Live on
BBC One , BBCi & BBC HD)
- England v Croatia, 21 November
2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England (Live on
Recent results
This is a list of match results from the past year. Goal scorers in brackets.
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Russia 2-1 England, 17 October 2007 at Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia (England: Rooney 31)
- England 3-0 Estonia, 13 October 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Wright-Phillips 11 Rooney 32 Rahn o.g 33)
- England 3-0 Russia, 12 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Owen 7, 31, Ferdinand 84)
- England 3-0 Israel, 8 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Wright-Phillips 20, Owen 49, Richards 66)
- Friendly: England 1-2 Germany, 22 August at Wembley Stadium (England: Lampard 9; Germany: Kuranyi 26, Pander 40)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Friendly: England 1-1 Brazil, 1 June at Wembley Stadium (England: Terry 68; Brazil: Diego 92)
- Friendly: England (B team) 3-1 Albania, 25 May at Turf Moor (England: Smith 34, Downing 37, 58; Albania: Berisha 44)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Andorra 0-3 England, 28 March at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (England: Gerrard 54, 76, Nugent 90)
- Israel 0-0 England, 24 March at Ramat Gan Stadium
- Friendly: England 0-1 Spain, 7 February at Old Trafford (Spain: Iniesta 63)
- Friendly: Netherlands 1-1 England, 15 November at Amsterdam Arena (Netherlands: van der Vaart 86; England: Rooney 37)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Croatia 2-0 England, 11 October at Maksimir Stadium (Croatia: Da Silva 60, Neville o.g. 68)
- England 0-0 Republic of Macedonia, 7 October at Old Trafford
- Republic of Macedonia 0-1 England, 6 September at Skopje City Stadium (Crouch 46)
- England 5-0 Andorra, 2 September at Old Trafford, Manchester (Crouch 5, 66, Defoe 38, 47 Gerrard 13)
England squad
Latest squad selected
Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months:
- Goalkeepers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut | Most recent callup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Foster | April 31983 (age 24) | Manchester United |
1 (0) | v Spain, 7 February 2007 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
| Chris Kirkland | May 21981 (age 26) | Wigan Athletic |
1 (0) | v Greece, 16 August 2006 |
v Spain, February 2007 |
- Defenders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut | Most recent callup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Neville | February 181975 (age 32) | Manchester United |
85 (0) | v Japan 3 June 1995 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
| Luke Young | July 191979 (age 28) | Middlesbrough |
7 (0) | v USA, 28 May 2005 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
| Jonathan Woodgate | January 221980 (age 27) | Middlesbrough |
6 (0) | v Bulgaria, 9 June 1999 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
| Michael Dawson | November 191983 (age 23) | Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) | N/A | v Brazil / Estonia May 2007 |
| Steven Taylor | January 23 1986 (age 21) | Newcastle United |
0 (0) | N/A | v Germany August 2007 |
- Midfielders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut | Most recent callup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Beckham | May 2 1975 (age 32) | 
LA Galaxy |
97 (17) | v Moldova 1 September 1996 |
v Germany August 22 2007 |
| Owen Hargreaves | January 20 1981 (age 26) | Manchester United |
39 (0) | v Netherlands 15 August 2001 |
v Israel / Russia September 2007 |
| Michael Carrick | July 281981 (age 26) | Manchester United |
14 (0) | v Mexico 25 May 2001 |
v Israel / Russia September 2007 |
| Aaron Lennon | April 161987 (age 20) | Tottenham Hotspur |
9 (0) | v Jamaica 3 June 2006 |
v Brazil / Estonia May 2007 |
| Kieran Richardson | October 211984 (age 22) | Sunderland |
8 (2) | v USA 28 May 2005 |
v Netherlands November 2006 |
| Scott Parker | October 131980 (age 26) | West Ham United |
3 (0) | v Denmark 16 November 2003 |
v Israel / |