A Look at England’s World Cup Track Record
England have won the World Cup once, in 1966 when they also hosted the event. They first entered the World Cup in 1950, when the tournament was held in Brazil. In that tournament they crashed out in the group stage, but in the following World Cup in 1954, they managed to reach the quarterfinals. They topped the group stage, and faced Uruguay in the quarterfinals, but Uruguay knocked them out in a game that finished 4-2. England would crash out in the group stage in the 1958 World Cup, but once again reach the quarterfinals in the 1962 edition of the tournament. They came second in their group, and faced Brazil in the quarterfinals, who stopped England from reaching any further. In 1966, England hosted the World Cup and won their group. They then had to face Argentina and Portugal before reaching the finals where they played against West Germany. The game was intense, finishing 2-2 at the end of regular time and then going into extra time.
England had to wait until 1982 before they qualified for the World Cup, and in that competition they only reached the second group stage. The English team went into the 1990 World Cup with many of the same players, as well as some fresh faces. The team reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by Germany in a game that went to penalties. England lost the third place playoff to finish fourth. In 2002 and 2006, England reached the quarterfinals but were knocked out by Brazil and Portugal, respectively. They were highly touted to win at least one World Cup but unfortunately, they never managed to.
England’s Qualification Route to the World Cup
For the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, England was drawn into Group I, where they faced Albania, Andorra, Poland, Hungary and San Marino. England topped the group, winning 8 games and drawing 2. They scored a total of 39 goals and only conceded 3, which equates to 3.9 goals per game and only conceding once every three games. In their last game in the qualifiers, England scored a massive 10 goals against San Marino, the smallest nation in the UEFA.
England’s Ranking – Near the Top
When England entered the 2020 qualification round, they were number 4 in the World Rankings. Their rankings would have gone up after their performance in the European Championship, where they finished runners up, but instead their current ranking is 5th. This may be due to the country's performance in the 2022 Nations League, where they finished last in a group with Hungary, Germany and Italy.
World cup Bets on England
There are many betting markets that you can use to back England. You can back the team to go all the way and win the World Cup, or you can take it stage by stage and bet on England to win their group, reach the quarter finals, reach the semi-finals and or re