History of the England national football team History of the England national football team The history of the England national football team begins with the first ever international football match in 1870. They have won one World Cup, in 1966 on home soil, and qualified fourteen times for the tournament onwards from 1950. England staged Euro 1996 (European Championship). However, the team has never made it to the final of the competition; their best performances being a semi final in Euro 1968 and Euro 1996. England's first ever international representative matches were arranged by influential sports' administrator CW Alcock under the auspices of the Football Association. The
Cuthbert Ottaway two of his three finals. In 1874 he captained Oxford and helped to pin the Engineers back in their own half for long periods with extended excursions into opposition territory. He also participated in a three-man dribble that took the ball almost the whole length of the pitch and resulted in the scoring of his team's second and decisive goal. In 1875, Ottaway represented Old Etonians in a match notable chiefly because it was played in a "howling gale". The conditions considerably favoured the Eton team, which had the wind at its backs for all but 10 minutes of the