page_title: England national football team
section_title: FIFA World Cup
hierarchical_section_title: England national football team / Competitive record / FIFA World Cup
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of the 2018 World Cup Semifinal between England and Croatia. This picture was taken minutes before the commencement of the national anthems.
context_page_description: The England national football team represents England in men's international football and is governed by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. It competes in the three major international tournaments; the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. England, as a country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore the national team does not compete at the Olympic Games.
  England is the oldest national team in football. They played in the world's first international football match in 1872, against Scotland. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and their headquarters is at St George's Park, Burton upon Trent. The team's manager is Gareth Southgate.
  Since first entering the tournament in 1950, England has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 15 times. They won the 1966 World Cup, when they hosted the finals, and finished fourth in 1990 and 2018. Since first entering in 1964, England have never won the UEFA European Championship, with their best performances being third-place finishes in 1968 and 1996, the latter as hosts.
context_section_description: England first appeared at the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and have subsequently qualified for a total of 15 FIFA World Cup finals tournaments, tied for sixth best by number of appearances. They are also tied for sixth by number of wins, alongside Spain. The national team is one of eight national teams to have won at least one FIFA World Cup title. The England team won their first and only World Cup title in 1966. The tournament was played on home soil, and England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final. In 1990, England finished in fourth place, losing 2–1 to host nation Italy in the third place play-off, after losing on penalties to champions West Germany in the semi-final. They also finished in fourth place in 2018, after losing 2–0 to Belgium in the third place play-off and 2–1 to Croatia in the semi-final after extra time. The team also reached the quarter-final stage in 1954, 1962, 1970, 1986, 2002 and 2006.
  England failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1974, 1978 and 1994. The team's earliest exit in the finals tournament was its elimination in the first round in 1950, 1958 and, most recently, the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was after being defeated in both their opening two matches for the first time, against Italy and Uruguay in Group D. In 1950, four teams remained after the first round, in 1958 eight teams remained and in 2014 sixteen teams remained. In 2010, England suffered its most resounding World Cup defeat, 4–1 to Germany, in the Round of 16 stage. This came after drawing with the United States and Algeria, and defeating Slovenia 1–0 in the group stage.
caption: 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final: Croatia vs England.
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