England won the1966 FIFA World Cup final on home soil, making them one of eight nations to have won the World Cup. They have qualified for the World Cup sixteen times, with fourth place finishes in the1990 and2018 editions. England have never won the European Championship, with their best performances to date being runners-up finishes in2020 and2024. As a constituentcountry of the United Kingdom, England are not a member of theInternational Olympic Committee (as English athletes compete forGreat Britain), and so do not compete at theOlympic Games. England are the only team to have won the World Cup at senior level but not their major continental title, and the only team representing a non-sovereign country to have won the World Cup.
The England team before a match againstScotland at Richmond in 1893
The England men's national football team is the joint-oldest in the world; it was formed at the same time asScotland. Arepresentative match between England and Scotland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised bythe Football Association.[6] A return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. This match, played atHamilton Crescent in Scotland, is viewed as the first official international football match, because the two teams were independently selected and operated, rather than being the work of a single football association.[7] Over the next 40 years, England played exclusively with the other threeHome Nations—Scotland,Wales andIreland—in theBritish Home Championship.
At first, England had no permanent home stadium. They joinedFIFA in 1906 and played their first games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908.[8]Wembley Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground.[8] The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928, before they rejoined in 1946.[9] As a result, they did not compete in aWorld Cup until1950, in which they were beaten in a1–0 defeat by theUnited States, failing to get past the first round in one of the most embarrassing defeats in the team's history.[10]
Their first defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a2–0 loss toIreland, on 21 September 1949 atGoodison Park.[11] A6–3 loss in 1953 toHungary was their second defeat by a foreign team at Wembley.[12] In the return match inBudapest, Hungary won 7–1. This stands as England's largest ever defeat. After the game, a bewilderedSyd Owen said, "it was like playing men from outer space".[13] In the1954 FIFA World Cup, England reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning championsUruguay.[14]
England qualified automatically for the1970 World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions, and reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2–0 up, but were eventually beaten 3–2 afterextra time.[19] They then failed to qualify forEuro 1972 and the1974 World Cup, leading to Ramsey's dismissal by theFA.[20]
Don Revie, Ron Greenwood and Bobby Robson
Following Ramsey's dismissal,Joe Mercer took immediate temporary charge of England for a seven-match spell untilDon Revie was appointed as new permanent manager in 1974.[21] Under Revie, the team underperformed and failed to qualify for eitherEuro 1976 or the1978 World Cup.[22] Revie resigned in 1977 and was replaced byRon Greenwood, under whom performances improved. The team qualified forEuro 1980 without losing any of their games, but exited in the group stage of the final tournament.[23] They also qualified for the1982 World Cup in Spain; despite not losing a game, they were eliminated at the second group stage.[24][25]
Bobby Robson managed England from 1982 to 1990.[26] Although the team failed to qualify forEuro 1984, they reached the quarter-finals of the1986 World Cup, losing 2–1 toArgentina in agame made famous by two highly contrasting goals scored byDiego Maradona – the first being blatantly knocked in by his hand, prompting his "Hand of God" remark, the second being an outstandingly skilful individual goal, involving high speed dribbling past several opponents.[27][28] England strikerGary Lineker finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.[29]
England went on to lose every match atEuro 1988.[30] They next achieved their second best result in the1990 World Cup by finishing fourth – losing again to West Germany after a closely contested semi-final finishing 1–1 afterextra time, then 3–4 in England's firstpenalty shoot-out.[31] Despite losing toItaly in the third-place play-off, the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians'. Due to the team's good performance at the tournament against general expectations, and the emotional nature of the narrow defeat to West Germany,[32] the team were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets for an open-top bus parade.[33]
Graham Taylor, Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan
The 1990s saw four England managers follow Robson, each in the role for a relatively brief period.Graham Taylor was Robson's immediate successor.[34] England failed to win any matches atEuro 1992, drawing with tournament winnersDenmark and later withFrance, before being eliminated by host nationSweden. The team then failed to qualify for the1994 World Cup after losing a controversial game against theNetherlands in Rotterdam, which resulted in Taylor's resignation. Taylor faced much newspaper criticism during his tenure for his tactics and team selections.[35]
Between 1994 and 1996,Terry Venables took charge of the team. HostingEuro 1996, they equalled their best performance at aEuropean Championship, reaching the semi-finals as they did in 1968, before exiting via another penalty shoot-out loss to Germany.[36] England strikerAlan Shearer was the tournament's top scorer with five goals.[37] At Euro 96, the song "Three Lions" byBaddiel,Skinner andthe Lightning Seeds became the definitive anthem for fans on the terraces,[38] and popularised the chant "it's coming home".[39] Venables announced before the tournament that he would resign at the end of it, following investigations into his personal financial activities and ahead of upcoming court cases. Due to the controversy around him, the FA stressed that he was the coach, not the manager, of the team.[40][41]
Venables' successor,Glenn Hoddle, took the team to the1998 World Cup — in which England were eliminated in the second round, again by Argentina and again on penalties (after a 2–2 draw).[42] In February 1999, Hoddle was sacked by the FA due to controversial comments he had made about disabled people to a newspaper.[43]Howard Wilkinson took over as caretaker manager for two matches.[44]Kevin Keegan was then appointed as the new permanent manager and took England toEuro 2000, but the team exited in the group stage and he unexpectedly resigned shortly afterwards.[45]
Peter Taylor was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, beforeSven-Göran Eriksson took charge between 2001 and 2006, and was the team's first non-English manager.[46][47] Although England's players in this era were dubbed a "golden generation" and only lost five competitive matches during Eriksson's tenure,[48] they exited at the quarter-finals of the2002 World Cup,Euro 2004 and the2006 World Cup.[49] In January 2006 it was announced that Eriksson would leave the role following that year's World Cup.[50]Steve McClaren was selected to succeed Eriksson, but was sacked on 22 November 2007 after just 18 matches in charge as England failed to qualify forEuro 2008.[51] McClaren was criticised for his team selection in his final game – a decisive qualifier againstCroatia which England lost 3–2 – particularly the decision to select inexperienced goalkeeperScott Carson, whose mistake lead to Croatia's first goal.[52][53]
Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce
On 14 December 2007, Italian managerFabio Capello was appointed as McClaren's successor, becoming only the second foreign coach to take the job.[54] At the2010 World Cup, England were considered favourites to toptheir group[55] but drew their opening two games against the United States andAlgeria; this led to questions about the team's spirit, tactics and ability to handle pressure.[56] Despite this, England progressed to the round of 16, where they were beaten 4–1 byGermany, their heaviest defeat in a World Cup finals tournament match.[57] This match became infamous for aghost goal whenFrank Lampard hit a shot from outside the penalty area that bounced down off the crossbar and over the goal line before being cleared by German goalkeeperManuel Neuer, with neither the referee nor the assistant opting to award a goal. Had it been given, the goal would have tied the game 2–2 with England coming from two goals down. This incident – along with similar mistakes at the tournament – lead to an apology from FIFA presidentSepp Blatter and was a factor in the subsequent decision to introducegoal-line technology into football.[58][59] Capello continued as England manager, leading the team's successfulqualifying campaign forEuro 2012, before resigning from the role in February 2012 following a disagreement with theFA over their request to removeJohn Terry from the team captaincy followingaccusations of racial abuse against the player.[60]
Following Capello's departure,Stuart Pearce was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, after which in May 2012,Roy Hodgson was announced as the new manager, just six weeks before Euro 2012.[61] England managed to finish top oftheir group, but exited the European Championship in the quarter-finals via apenalty shoot-out againstItaly.[62] In the2014 World Cup, England were eliminated at the group stage for the first time since 1958.[63] AtEuro 2016, England were eliminated in the round of 16,losing 2–1 to Iceland[64] in a result that has been described as among their worst ever defeats.[65] Hodgson tendered his resignation shortly after the full-time whistle,[66] withSam Allardyce announced as his successor in July 2016.[67] After one match and only 67 days in charge, Allardyce resigned from his managerial post by mutual agreement following analleged breach of FA rules. This makes Allardyce the shortest serving permanent England manager.[68]
Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel
The England line-up before the last match of group G againstBelgium, 28 June 2018
After Allardyce's resignation,Gareth Southgate, then the coach of theEngland under-21 team, was put in temporary charge of the national team until November 2016,[69] before being given the position on a permanent basis at the end of that period.[70] At the2018 World Cup, England reached the semi-finals for the third time. After finishing second in their group, England facedColombia in the round of 16 where they won on penalties for the first time at a World Cup, before beatingSweden in the quarter-finals.[71][72][73] In the semi-final, they were beaten 2–1 in extra time byCroatia and finished fourth after losing the third-place play-off match againstBelgium.[74][75] England strikerHarry Kane finished the tournament as top scorer with six goals and was awarded thegolden boot.[76]
England cap awarded toHarry Kane for his appearance against Germany at Euro 2020, his 58th overall
At the delayedEuro 2020, England reached their first European Championship final, and their first final at a major tournament since 1966.[79] After finishing top of their group above Croatia,Czechia, and Scotland, the Three Lions beat Germany,Ukraine andDenmark in the knockout rounds to advance to thefinal.[80] In the final held at Wembley, England were defeated by Italy on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[81]
At the2022 World Cup, England defeatedIran and Wales in the group stage to qualify for the round of 16.[82][83] In the round of 16, the Three Lions defeatedSenegal 3–0,[84] but were then eliminated by reigning world champions France in the quarter-finals, 2–1.[85] In that match, Harry Kane scored his 53rd goal for England, equalling the all-time record at the time.[86]
AtEuro 2024, England finished top oftheir group above Denmark,Slovenia, andSerbia. In the round of 16, England defeatedSlovakia 2–1 after extra time, withJude Bellingham scoring a spectacularbicycle kick in second-half stoppage time to equalise the match.[87] In the quarter-final, England beatSwitzerland on penalties after the game finished 1–1.[88] The Three Lions reached their second consecutive European Championship final after defeating theNetherlands 2–1 in the semi-final.[89] In thefinal, England were defeated 2–1 bySpain, becoming the first team to lose consecutive European Championship finals.[90] With three goals, Harry Kane was the joint top scorer at the tournament and shared thegolden boot with five other players.[91]
Whilst the FA were willing to extend his contract further, Southgate announced his resignation as England manager on 16 July 2024, saying that it was "time for change, and for a new chapter".[92] Under-21 managerLee Carsley was subsequently appointed interim head coach of the senior team.[93] On 16 October 2024, the FA announced that German managerThomas Tuchel would take over as manager from 1 January 2025, becoming the third foreign coach to take up the position.[94]
Under Tuchel, England became the first European nation to secure qualification for the2026 FIFA World Cup after winning all six of their qualification matches as of 14 October 2025.[95]
The lionpassant guardant used in the logo of the England national football team
The motif of the England national football team has three lionspassant guardant, the emblem of KingRichard I, who reigned from 1189 to 1199.[106] In 1872, English players wore white jerseys emblazoned with the three lions crest of the Football Association.[107] The lions, often blue, have had minor changes to colour and appearance.[108] Initially topped by a crown, this was removed in 1949 when the FA was given an official coat of arms by theCollege of Arms; this introduced tenTudor roses, one for each of the regional branches of the FA.[107][109] Since 2003, England top their logo with astar to recognise their World Cup win in 1966; this was first embroidered onto the left sleeve of the home kit, and a year later was moved to its current position, first on the away shirt.[110]
England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy blue shorts and white or black socks. The team has periodically worn an all-white kit.
Although England's firstaway kits were blue, England's traditional away colours are red shirts, white shorts and red socks. In 1996, England's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was only worn three times, including againstGermany in the semi-final ofEuro 1996 but the deviation from the traditional red was unpopular with supporters and the England away kit remained red until 2011, when a navy blue away kit was introduced. The away kit is also sometimes worn during home matches, when a new edition has been released to promote it.
England have occasionally had a third kit. At the 1970 World Cup, England wore a third kit with pale blue shirts, shorts and socks againstCzechoslovakia. They had a kit similar toBrazil's, with yellow shirts, yellow socks and blue shorts which they wore in the summer of 1973. For the 1986 World Cup, England had a third kit of pale blue, imitating that worn in Mexico 16 years earlier and England retained pale blue third kits until 1992, but they were rarely used.
Umbro first agreed to manufacture the kit in 1954 and since then has supplied most of the kits, the exceptions being from 1959 to 1965 withBukta and 1974–1984 withAdmiral.Nike purchased Umbro in 2008 and took over as kit supplier in 2013 following their sale of the Umbro brand.[111]
For the first 50 years of their existence, England played their home matches all around the country. They initially usedcricket grounds before later moving on to football club stadiums. The originalEmpire Stadium was built inWembley, London, for theBritish Empire Exhibition.[112][113]
England played their first match at the stadium in 1924 against Scotland[114] and for the next 27 years Wembley was used as a venue for matches against Scotland only. The stadium later became known simply as Wembley Stadium and it became England's permanent home stadium during the 1950s. In October 2000, the stadium closed its doors, ending with adefeat against Germany.[115]
This stadium was demolished during the period of 2002–03, and work began to completely rebuild it.[116] During this time, England played at venues across the country, though by the time of the2006 World Cup qualification, this had largely settled down to havingManchester United'sOld Trafford stadium as the primary venue, withNewcastle United'sSt. James' Park used on occasions when Old Trafford was unavailable.[117]
Their first match in the newWembley Stadium was in March 2007 when they drew with Brazil.[118] The stadium is now owned by the Football Association, via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited.[119]
England's rivalry with Scotland is one of the fiercest international rivalries that exists.[124][125] It is the oldest international fixture in the world,first played in 1872 atHamilton Crescent, Glasgow.[126] Thehistory of the British Isles has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests.Scottish nationalism has also been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with Scottishsports journalists traditionally referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy".[127] The footballing rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since the annual fixture stopped in 1989. For England, games against Germany and Argentina are now considered to be more important than the historic rivalry with Scotland.[128]
England's rivalry with Germany is considered to be mainly an English phenomenon—in the run-up to any competition match between the two teams, many UK newspapers will print articles detailing results of previous encounters, such as England's win in the1966 World Cup final and the semi-final penalty shoot-out defeats of the1990 World Cup andEuro 96.[129][130] This rivalry has diminished significantly in recent years.[131] Germans considerItaly, theNetherlands and France to be their greater rivals, andBarney Ronay ofThe Guardian wrote in 2021 that the rivalry with England "isn't a close rivalry at all, not if we accept the standard definition that both sides need to be aware that it exists. Germany have won seven major tournaments. Germany have reached 15 semi-finals since the 'one World Cup' of 1966."[132]
England's rivalry with Argentina is highly competitive. Games between the two teams, even those that are onlyfriendly matches, are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents such as thehand of God in1986.[133][134] The rivalry is unusual in that it is an intercontinental one; typically such footballing rivalries exist between bordering nations. England is regarded in Argentina as one of the major rivals of the national football team, matched only byBrazil andUruguay.[134] The rivalry is, to a lesser extent reciprocal in England, locally described as agrudge match although matches against Germany carry a greater significance in popular perception. The rivalry emerged across several games during the latter half of the 20th century, even though as of 2008 the teams have played each other on only 14 occasions in full internationals.[135] The rivalry was intensified, particularly in Argentina, by non-footballing events, especially the 1982Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom.[136] England and Argentina have not met since a friendly in November 2005.[135]
Numerous songs have been released about the England national football team.
Media coverage
All England matches are broadcast with full commentary onTalksport andBBC Radio 5 Live. From the2008–09 season until the 2017–18 season, England's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live onITV Sport (often with the exception ofSTV, the ITV franchisee in central and northern Scotland). England's away qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup were shown onSetanta Sports until that company's collapse. As a result of Setanta Sports's demise, England's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 was shown in the United Kingdom on a pay-per-view basis via the internet only. This one-off event was the first time an England game had been screened in such a way. The number of subscribers, paying between £4.99 and £11.99 each, was estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000 and the total number of viewers at around 500,000.[137] In 2018,Sky Sports broadcast the England UEFA Nations League and in-season friendlies, until 2021 andITV Sport broadcast the European qualifiers for Euro-World Cups and pre-tournament friendlies (after the Nations League group matches end), until 2022.[138] In April 2022,Channel 4 won the rights for England matches until June 2024, including2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches,Euro 2024 qualifying games, and friendlies. 2022 World Cup rights remained with the BBC and ITV.[139]
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
2018 World Cup semi-final: England vs. Croatia1966 World Cup final lineups: England (red) vs. West Germany
England first appeared at the1950 FIFA World Cup, and have subsequently qualified for a total of 16 World Cup tournaments, tied for sixth best bynumber of appearances.[161][162] They are also placed sixth by number of wins, with 32. The national team is one of only eight nations to have won at least one FIFA World Cup title.[163] The England team won their first and only World Cup title in1966.[164] The tournament was played on home soil, and England defeatedWest Germany 4–2 in thefinal.[164] In1990, England finished in fourth place, losing 2–1 to host nationItaly in the third-place play-off, following defeat on penalties, after extra time, to championsWest Germany in the semi-final.[165] They also finished in fourth place in2018, losing 2–0 toBelgium in the third-place play-off, following a 2–1 defeat toCroatia, again after extra time, in the semi-final.[166] The team also reached the quarter-final stage in1954,1962,1970,1986,2002,2006 and2022.[167]
England failed to qualify for the World Cup in1974,1978 and1994.[168] The team's earliest exit in the finals tournament was elimination in the first round in1950,1958 and, most recently,2014.[169][170] This was after being defeated in both their opening two matches for the first time, againstItaly andUruguay in Group D.[170] In 1950, four teams remained after the first round, in 1958 eight teams remained and in 2014 sixteen teams remained. In2010, England suffered its most resounding World Cup defeat, 4–1 toGermany, in the round of 16 stage.[171]
Euro 2020 final lineups: England (white) vs. ItalyEuro 2024 final lineups: England (white) vs. Spain
England first entered theUEFA European Championship in 1964,[173] and have since qualified for eleven tournaments,[173] tied forfourth-best by number of finals appearances. England's best results at the tournament were finishing as runners-up in both the2020 (held in 2021) and2024 editions, followed by a third-place finish in1968[174] and reaching the semi-finals of1996, a tournament they hosted.[175] In addition, England have reached the quarter-finals on two further occasions, in2004 and2012.[174]
England's worst results in the finals tournament to date have been first round eliminations in1980,1988,1992 and2000, whilst they failed to qualify for the finals in1964,1972,1976,1984 and2008.[173]
England have competed in theUEFA Nations League since its inaugural season in 2018–19, when they qualified for the2019 finals and finished third overall. To date, this is their only appearance in the finals and their best performance in the competition.
^England's two largest victories (13–0 away and then 13–2 at home) coincidentally both occurred on 18 February, againstIreland. Four of England's five largest margins of victory occurred away from home. As well as the 13–0 victory, they defeatedAustria 11–1 in 1908,Portugal 10–0 in 1947,United States 10–0 in 1964 andSan Marino 10–0 in 2021.
^Kevin Keegan and Howard Wilkinson managed one qualifying match each: Sven-Göran Eriksson managed the remaining qualification matches and the finals campaign.
^Sam Allardyce managed one qualifying match: Gareth Southgate managed the remaining qualification matches and the finals campaign.
^Additional matches are scheduled to be played inArgentina,Paraguay, andUruguay in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of thefirst world cup, however they are not considered to be official hosts of the tournament.[172]
^England were defeated by France in a two-legged elimination round. Alf Ramsey took over from Walter Winterbottom between the two legs.
^Although England did not qualify for the finals, they reached the last eight of the competition. Only the last four teams progressed to the finals.
^Glenn Hoddle managed the first three qualifiers, while Kevin Keegan managed the remaining qualification matches and the finals campaign.
^Fabio Capello managed the qualification campaign. He resigned before the final tournament and was replaced by Roy Hodgson.
^The tournament was held in 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries. London'sWembley Stadium hosted all of England's games except for their quarter-final match which was hosted at theStadio Olimpico in Rome.
^League phase is played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals.
^"Venables is also the only England manager ever to resign from his post because of the muddy personal details set to be showcased in a high-profile trial related to financial irregularities."V is for Venables.When Saturday Comes. 3 August 2006.ISBN9780141927039. Retrieved10 September 2014.
