England at the FIFA World Cup the first World Cup finals take place in North America and England qualified automatically for the tournament by winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup. England were drawn in a group with Romania, former world champions Brazil and Czechoslovakia. Each of the matches only saw one goal, with England defeating Romania and Czechoslovakia, and losing to Brazil. The quarter-final saw a repeat of the 1966 final, with England playing West Germany. England were hampered by the fact that first-choice goalkeeper Gordon Banks was ill, and Peter Bonetti played instead. England led 2–0 with goals by Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, but
History of the FIFA World Cup Villa led the squad in scoring with five goals. In a final which saw a record number of yellow cards distributed and what some considered violent play from the Dutch side, the ten-man Netherlands squad were defeated 1–0 in the 116th minute of extra time by an Andrés Iniesta goal. The 2014 World Cup was held in Brazil, marking the second time that Brazil hosted the competition. The cup was won by Germany, who beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. The Netherlands defeated Brazil (who lost to the eventual winners, Germany, 7-1 in the semifinals) 3–0 in the bronze medal