England’s record at World Cups is a ferris wheel of ups and downs. Despite being the country that created the sport and having one of the most important national leagues on the planet, the team’s performance in the World Cup is marked by a huge dose of drama, frustrated expectations and just an isolated title.
Because they consider themselves the “masters of the game”, the English boycotted FIFA and decided not to participate in the first three editions of the World Cups1930, 1934 and 1938. The debut only came in 1950, in Brazil, and it was a disaster. England was eliminated in the first phasesuffering a humiliating 1-0 defeat to the United States, with a team made up mainly of workers and amateurs.
The only time that the English lifted the cup in 1966playing at home, in a final against West Germany that ended 4-2 in extra time, marked by the historic and controversial “ghost goal” by Geoff Hurst, that to this day it is not known whether the ball crossed the line or not. Hurst also made history as the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup finala feat that was only repeated with Mbappé, in 2022.
2014: The Bottom of the Well in Brazil
A Cup of 2014 was one of the biggest embarrassments in the history of English football. Under the command of Roy Hodgson and still counting on stars at the end of their cycle, such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, England fell into the “Group of Death” with Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
England 2014 campaign
- Group stage: England 1 x 2 Italy
- Group stage: England 1 x 2 Uruguay
- Group stage: England 0 x 0 Costa Rica
With two defeats and a draw, England was eliminated in the group stage, with just 1 point, the worst participation in the country’s history in the world championships.
2018: The Renaissance in Russia
With Gareth Southgate promoted from the Under-21 team and the embarrassment in Brazil in 2014, England arrived in Russia without the feeling of superiority of the past, betting on a young team focused on set pieces. The English were in Group G in 2018, competing for a place against Tunisia, Panama and Belgium.
The team managed to advance from the first stagebroke the historic curse of penalties against Colombia in the round of 16, beat Sweden in the quarters, but had their campaign stopped in the semi-final, losing to Croatia.
England 2018 campaign
- Group stage: England 2 x 1 Tunisia
- Group stage: England 6 x 1 Panama
- Group stage: England 0 x 1 Belgica
- Round of 16: England (4) 1 x 1 (3) Colombia
- Quarterfinals: England 2 x 0 Sweden
- Semi-final: England 1 x 2 Croatia
- Dispute for 3rd: England 0 x 2 Belgium
With the defeat in the semi, the English won 4th place in Russia, but they took home the Golden Bootwith the championship’s top scorer being achieved by Harry Kane, who scored 6 times in the competition.
2022: maturity and young talents
In the 2022 World Cup, England arrived consolidated as one of the powers of European footballcoming off a runner-up finish at Euro 2020. The English arrived in Qatar with a much more mature squad filled with young stars like Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka.
The team started the World Cup in Group B, alongside Wales, the United States and Iran, finishing as leader of the first stage of the competition, with two wins and a draw, managing to reach the quarter-finals.
- Group stage: England 6 x 2 Iran
- Group stage: England 0 x 0 United States
- Group stage: England 3 x 0 Wales
- Round of 16: England 3 x 0 Senegal
- Quarter-finals: England 2 x 1 France
In the final match of the 2022 World Cup against France, who at the time were the defending champions after winning in 2018, England almost managed to equalize at the end of the game, but the Team captain Harry Kane cleared the penalty and wasted the opportunity. Despite the early decline due to the size of the football they played, the English team’s performance was praised for its competitiveness.
And in 2026?
England arrives at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as one of the big favorites for the title, with the winning second place in the 2024 Euro Cup with manager Gareth Southgate. Following the coach’s departure, the English Federation decided to hire the German Thomas Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelseawith the mission of transforming “almosts” into cups.
The classification campaign in Europe was simply historical. In Group K, alongside Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra, England had 100% success. There were 8 wins in 8 games, 22 goals scored and no goals conceded.
The new coach also surprised the country by leaving out giant names in English football, such as Cole Palmer (Chelsea) e Phil Foden (Manchester City), which divided opinions in the British press.
History in Cups
Year – Final Placement
- 1950 – 8th place
- 1954 – 6th place
- 1958 – 11th place
- 1962 – 8th place
- 1966 – 1st place
- 1970 – 8th place
- 1982 – 6th place
- 1986 – 8th place
- 1990 – 4th place
- 1998 – 9th place
- 2002 – 7th place
- 2006 – 7th place
- 2010 – 13th place
- 2014 – 26th place
- 2018 – 4th place
- 2022 – 6th place
Statistical Summary in Cups
- Total participation: 16
- Games played: 74
- Wins: 32
- Draws: 22
- Losses: 20
- Goals scored: 104
- Goals conceded: 68
- Finals played: 1 (1966)
- Titles: 1 (1966)
- Times in Top 4: 3 (1966, 1990 and 2018)
England is in Group Lnext to Croatia, Ghana and Panamadebuting on June 17th against the Croatians, who eliminated them in 2018. With a reference defense and an attack led by Kane, the internal demand is that, this time, football really “comes home”.
