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England have won the World Cup on only one occasion, in 1966, the year that they hosted the event.
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The 1966 opening match between England and Uruguay was delayed as seven English players had left their identity cards at the hotel. A police motor cyclist was dispatched to collect the identity cards from the hotel.
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England declined to enter the pre-war World Cups over a dispute with FIFA over payments to amateur players. The four British associations quit FIFA in 1928 after a disagreement with FIFA over 'broken time payments' to amateur players. They rejoined FIFA in 1946, and participated in World Cup for the first time in 1950.
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USA beat England 1-0 in the 1950 finals, though some British newspapers reported the result as USA 1, England 10 as the editor believed that the reporter had made a typing mistake. Before the match, both sides believed that it would be an easy win for England, and double-digit goals were expected. This match is now considered by many people as the greatest upset in World Cup history.
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Bobby Moore was jailed in Colombia on his way to the tournament of Mexico 1970, accused of stealing a bracelet. It was believed that he was falsely accused by somebody who feared for his appearance in the 1970 finals.
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Alan Ball, deeply-disappointed after England's defeat in the 1970 Quarterfinals, threw his tournament medal out of his hotel bedroom window. Perhaps this tournament medal was worth nothing compared with his 1966 World Cup winner's medal. In 2005, at the age of 59, Alan Ball finally wanted to sell his winner's medal ‘in order to gain financial security’.
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The first World Cup mascot was a lion-like boy called Willie, used for the England 1966 World Cup.
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TV announcers were confused during a Second Round match on 18 June 1986 between England and Paraguay as there were two Gary Stevens on the English side. The two players, Gary Michael Stevens and Gary Andrew Stevens, were not related.
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Where is England? Check out this map.
