HOW’S THAT FOR OPENERS?
The joy and heartbreak of England’s opening World Cup matches
HOW England have fared in their opening match at the World Cup finals – and where they finished.
1950 – England 2 Chile 0 (Rio de Janeiro) It was the fourth World Cup and England’s debut with Stan Mortensen becoming the first Englishman to score in a finals with his 39th-minute opener before Wilf Mannion added the second.
Where did England finish? Group stages 1954 – England 4 Belgium 4 (Basel) An amazing group match which went to extra-time with Ivor Broadis and Nat Lofthouse both scoring twice.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals 1958 – Soviet Union 2 England 2 (Gothenburg)
England trailed 2-0 before Derek Kevan reduced the deficit and then Tom Finney equalised with a penalty five minutes from time.
Where did England finish? Group stages (lost to Soviet Union in a play-off) 1962 – Hungary 2 England 1 (Rancagua) England’s first defeat in an opening match came despite Wolves legend Ron Flowers levelling the scores with a second-half penalty.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals 1966 – England 0 Uruguay 0 (Wembley) Frustration for the hosts in front of over 87,000 fans at Wembley but for England, all’s well that ends well. And it really did. Where did England finish? Winners 1970 – England 1 Romania 0 (Guadalajara) Geoff Hurst carried on where he had left off at Wembley four years earlier by scoring England’s only goal.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals 1982 – England 3 France 1 (Bilbao)
A dream start for England with Bryan Robson’s goal after just 27 seconds before his second restored England’s lead ahead of Paul Mariner scoring the third.
Where did England finish? Second group stage 1986 – Portugal 1 England 0 (Monterrey) Bobby Robson’s side made the worst possible start as Carlos Manuel pounced to score with 15 minutes left.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals
1990 – England 1 Republic of Ireland 1
(Cagliari)
Gary Lineker scored in the ninth minute but Jack Charlton’s Ireland hit back with Kevin Sheedy driving home the equaliser. Where did England finish? Fourth place
1998 – England 2 Tunisia 0 (Marseille)
Alan Shearer eased England concerns by breaking the deadlock three minutes before the break – but they had to wait until the 89th minute for Paul Scholes to seal the win.
Where did England finish? Round of 16
2002 – England 1 Sweden 1 (Saitama) Sol Campbell put England ahead after 24 minutes with a powerful header but Sven Goran Eriksson’s ‘home nation’ equalised through Niclas Alexandersson.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals
2006 – England 1 Paraguay 0 (Frankfurt) England made an unconvincing opening to their campaign, even though they went in front after just three minutes when, from David Beckham’s free-kick, Carlos Gamarra scored an own-goal.
Where did England finish? Quarter-finals
Steven Gerrard scored to put England in front in the fourth minute – but the match is remembered for the wrong reasons for England. Goalkeeper Rob Green’s awful error as he allowed Clint Dempsey’s shot to slip past him.
Where did England finish? Round of 16
2014 – England 1 Italy 2 (Manaus) Behind in the 35th minute to Claudio Marchisio’s goal, Daniel Sturridge equalised two minutes later, before Mario Balotelli won it with a header five minutes after the break.
Where did England finish? Group stages 2018 – Tunisia 1 England 2 (Volgograd) Harry Kane struck twice to give England victory but he left it late with the winner in stoppage time after breaking the deadlock in the 11th minute.
Where did England finish? Fourth place