page_title: Paul Gascoigne
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Paul Gascoigne / International career
caption_attribution_description: Titelles de Paul Gascoigne i Gary Lineker, utilitzades al programa Spitting Image
context_page_description: Paul John Gascoigne is an English former professional football player and manager. He is also known by his nickname, Gazza. An attacking midfielder, he earned 57 caps during his England career. The National Football Museum stated that he is "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation".
  Born and raised in Gateshead, Gascoigne signed schoolboy terms with Newcastle United, before turning professional with the top tier club in 1985. Three years later he was sold on to Tottenham Hotspur for a £2.2 million fee. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, before being sold to Italian club Lazio for £5.5 million the following year. In July 1995, he was transferred to Rangers for £4.3 million and helped the club to two league titles and two trophies. He returned to England in a £3.4 million move to Middlesbrough in March 1998. He made his debut in the Premier League in the 1998–99 season, having already featured in the 1998 Football League Cup Final. He switched to Everton in July 2000, and later had spells with Burnley, Gansu Tianma, and Boston United.
context_section_description: Gascoigne was called up to the England under-21 side in summer 1987, and scored with a free-kick in his debut in a 2–0 win over Morocco. He went on to win 12 caps for the under-21s under Dave Sexton. The team were semi finalists at the UEFA U-21 Euros and finalists at the Toulon Tournament beaten on both occasions by France in 1988.
  Gascoigne was first called up to the full England squad by Bobby Robson for a friendly against Denmark on 14 September 1988, and came on as a late substitute for Peter Beardsley in a 1–0 win. He scored his first goal for England in a 5–0 victory over Albania at Wembley on 26 April 1989. He made his first start in the following game against Chile, and kept his first team place for most matches in the run in to the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He also played four games for the England B team. He secured his place in the World Cup squad in a 4–2 win against Czechoslovakia when he scored one goal and was a key component in the other three.
  Gascoigne went to the 1990 World Cup in Italy having never started a competitive international. He played in all three of the group games and England topped Group F, Gascoigne providing the assist for Mark Wright's winner against Egypt. In the first knockout game against Belgium, he made another assist after chipping a free-kick into the penalty area, where David Platt volleyed the ball into the net. Gascoigne was at the centre of the action again in the quarter-final clash with Cameroon when he gave away a penalty, which Cameroon converted. In extra-time, he made a successful through-ball pass from which Gary Lineker won and subsequently scored a penalty, which proved to be the winning goal.
  On 4 July 1990, England played West Germany in a World Cup semi-final match at Juventus's Stadio delle Alpi in Turin. Gascoigne, having already received a yellow card during England's 1–0 victory over Belgium in the second round, was booked for a foul on Thomas Berthold, which meant that he would be suspended for the final if England won the match. Television cameras showed that he had tears in his eyes following the yellow card and made Gascoigne a highly popular figure with the sympathetic British public. The match culminated in a penalty shoot-out, which the Germans won after Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed their penalties.	
  Robson quit the England job after the tournament, and his successor Graham Taylor dropped Gascoigne in favour of 32-year-old Gordon Cowans in a Euro '92 qualifier against Ireland in November 1990, citing tactical reasons. He returned to the starting eleven for a friendly against Cameroon the following February, before an injury in the FA Cup final three months later caused him to miss the next 21 England fixtures, including all of UEFA Euro 1992, where England failed to progress beyond the group stages.
  Gascoigne returned to fitness in time for the opening qualifying game against Norway in October 1992, and before playing in the 1–1 draw he responded to a Norwegian television crew's request to say 'a few words to Norway' by saying "fuck off Norway". His message was broadcast on Norwegian television and he was forced to apologise for the remark. The following month he scored two goals in a 4–0 victory over Turkey. Qualification ended badly for England, as they ended in third place behind Norway and the Netherlands and missed out on a place in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
  
  A broken leg in 1994 meant Gascoigne was unable to play for 15 months, but by the time he returned to fitness, Terry Venables – his former manager at Spurs – had been appointed as England manager. As England were hosting UEFA Euro 1996 they did not have to go through the qualification process, so they instead played numerous friendlies, most of which featured Gascoigne in the starting line-up. The last of these games was played in Hong Kong, after which numerous England players were photographed on a night out in which Gascoigne and several others having drinks poured into their mouths whilst sitting in the "dentist's chair". The tournament opened with a 1–1 draw with Switzerland, during 
caption: His tears in the national limelight made Gascoigne famous enough to be lampooned on Spitting Image. His puppet, which employed projectile tears, is now on display at the National Football Museum.[134]
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