National Teams

The English national men's football team represents England in international men's football. more...

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Controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England, they are one of the highest-ranking national teams in Europe and are currently ranked 5th in the world as of November 2006.

England are the most successful of the four Home Nations, having won the British Home Championship 34 times and the FIFA World Cup once.

Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland. England's most recent meeting with Scotland was a Euro 2000 play-off in November 1999, which Scotland won 1-0 at Wembley Stadium. Since regular fixtures against the Scots came to an end in the late 1980s, other rivalries have become more prominent. England–Argentina and England–Germany are rivalries that have produced particularly eventful encounters.

History

Early years

England, captained by Cuthbert Ottaway, played in the first international football match, against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872. The result was 0-0; England had to wait until the following year to record their first win, 4-2, over Scotland at the Kennington Oval.

England only played Scotland, Wales and (what was then) Ireland for nearly 40 years - partly due to the dominance of the UK in international football, as well as the problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace. England first played continental opposition in a 1908 tour of Central Europe, recording wins over Austria, Hungary and Bohemia. England's first defeat to a team outside the British Isles came in 1929, when they lost 4-3 to Spain in Madrid.

The FA had joined FIFA in 1906, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught, and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three World Cups. However they did defeat 1934 World Cup winners Italy in the \"Battle of Highbury\" in November 1934.

Post-war

The FA rejoined FIFA in 1946, the same year they appointed the first dedicated team manager, Walter Winterbottom (although the team was picked by a committee). England lost their first match at home to non-British opposition when they were defeated 0-2 by the Republic of Ireland in 1949 at Goodison Park, Liverpool. England's World Cup debut came in 1950; however, they suffered an infamous 1-0 defeat by the United States and failed to get beyond the first group stage.

Read more at Wikipedia.org