England national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
England
Nickname(s)	The Three Lions;
Association	The Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Gareth Southgate
Captain	Harry Kane
Most caps	Peter Shilton (125)
Top scorer	Wayne Rooney (53)
Home stadium	Wembley Stadium
FIFA code	ENG
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	5 (7 February 2019)
Highest	3 (August 2012)
Lowest	27 (February 1996)
Elo ranking
Current	7 (3 March 2019)
Highest	1 (1872–1876, 1892–1911,; 1966–1970, 1987–1988)
Lowest	17 (11 June 1995)
First international
	Scotland 0–0 England ; (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872)
Biggest win
	England 13–0 Ireland ; (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882)
Biggest defeat
	Hungary 7–1 England ; (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954)
World Cup
Appearances	15 (first in 1950)
Best result	Champions (1966)
European Championship
Appearances	10 (first in 1968)
Best result	Runners-up (2020)
Nations League Finals
Appearances	1 (first in 2019)
Best result	Third place (2019)
Men's football
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship
UEFA Nations League

The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliated with UEFA and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football's governing body FIFA. England competes in the three major international tournaments contested by European nations: the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, and the UEFA Nations League. England is one of eight nations to have won the World Cup.

England is the joint oldest national team in football. It played in the world's first international football match in 1872, against Scotland. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and its training headquarters is St George's Park, Burton upon Trent. The team's manager is Gareth Southgate.

England has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 15 times. It won the 1966 World Cup, when it also hosted the finals, and finished fourth in both 1990 and 2018. England has never won the UEFA European Championship, with its best performance to date being runner-up in 2020. As a constituent country of the United Kingdom, England is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and so does not compete at the Olympic Games.

Team records

Main page: England national football team records and statistics

13–0 vs. Ireland, 18 February 1882

1–7 vs. Hungary, 23 May 1954

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final: Croatia vs England.

Line-ups of the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final: England (white) vs Croatia.

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.

FIFA World Cup finals record

Qualification record

Manager(s)

Year

Round

Pos

Pld

W

D*

L

GF

GA

Squad

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

1930

Not a FIFA member

None

1934

1938

1950

Group stage

8th

3

1

0

2

Squad

3

0

14

3

Winterbottom

1954

Quarter-finals

7th

3

1

8

Squad

3

0

11

4

1958

Group stage

11th

4

0

3

1

4

5

Squad

4

3

1

0

15

5

1962

Quarter-finals

8th

4

1

2

5

6

Squad

4

3

1

0

16

2

1966

Winners

1st

6

5

1

0

11

3

Squad

Qualified as hosts

Ramsey

1970

Quarter-finals

8th

4

2

0

2

4

Squad

Qualified as defending champions

Ramsey

1974

Did not qualify

4

1

2

1

3

4

1978

6

5

0

1

15

4

Revie

1982

Second group stage

6th

5

3

2

0

6

1

Squad

8

4

1

3

13

8

Greenwood

1986

Quarter-finals

8th

5

2

1

2

7

3

Squad

8

4

0

21

2

Robson

1990

Fourth place

4th

7

3

1

8

6

Squad

6

3

0

10

0

1994

Did not qualify

10

5

3

2

26

9

Taylor

1998

Round of 16

9th

4

2

1

7

4

Squad

8

6

1

15

2

Hoddle

2002

Quarter-finals

6th

5

2

1

6

3

Squad

8

5

2

1

16

6

Keegan, Wilkinson, Eriksson

2006

Quarter-finals

7th

5

3

2

0

6

2

Squad

10

8

1

17

5

Eriksson

2010

Round of 16

13th

4

1

2

1

3

5

Squad

10

9

0

1

34

6

Capello

2014

Group stage

26th

3

0

1

2

4

Squad

10

6

4

0

31

4

Hodgson

2018

Fourth place

4th

7

3

1

3

12

8

Squad

10

8

2

0

18

3

Allardyce, Southgate

2022

To be determined

2026

Total

1 title

15/21

69

29

21

19

91

63

—

112

76

25

11

275

67

—

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil. ***England played all of their 2002 matches in Japan.

Correct as of 14 July 2018 after the match against Belgium

UEFA European Championship

England's greatest achievements at the UEFA European Championship have been to finish in third place in 1968 and 1996, and to reach the final in the '2020' championship in 2021. England hosted Euro 96, and have qualified for ten UEFA European Championship finals tournaments, tied for fourth best by number of appearances. The team has also reached the quarter-final on two further occasions, in 2004 and 2012.

The team's worst result in the competition was a first-round elimination in 1980, 1988, 1992 and 2000. The team did not enter in 1960, and failed to qualify for the finals in 1964, 1972, 1976, 1984 and 2008.

UEFA European Championship finals record

Qualification record

Manager(s)

Year

Round

Pos

Pld

W

D*

L

GF

GA

Squad

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

1960

Did not enter

1964

Did not qualify

2

0

1

3

6

Winterbottom, Ramsey

1968

Third place

3rd

2

1

0

1

2

1

Squad

8

6

1

18

6

Ramsey

1972

Did not qualify

8

5

2

1

16

6

Ramsey

1976

Did not qualify

6

3

2

1

11

3

Revie

1980

Group stage

6th

3

1

3

Squad

8

7

1

0

22

5

Greenwood

1984

Did not qualify

8

5

2

1

23

3

Robson

1988

Group stage

7th

3

0

3

2

7

Squad

6

5

1

0

19

1

1992

Group stage

7th

3

0

2

1

2

Squad

6

3

0

7

3

Taylor

1996

Semi-finals

3rd

5

2

3

0

8

3

Squad

Qualified as hosts

Venables

2000

Group stage

11th

3

1

0

2

5

6

Squad

10

4

2

16

5

Hoddle, Keegan

2004

Quarter-finals

5th

4

2

1

10

6

Squad

8

6

2

0

14

5

Eriksson

2008

Did not qualify

12

7

2

3

24

7

McClaren

2012

Quarter-finals

5th

4

2

0

5

3

Squad

8

5

3

0

17

5

Capello, Hodgson

2016

Round of 16

12th

4

1

2

1

4

Squad

10

0

31

3

Hodgson

2020

Runners-up

2nd

7

5

2

0

11

2

Squad

8

7

0

1

37

6

Southgate

2024

To be determined

Total

Runners-up

10/16

38

15

13

10

51

37

—

108

73

24

11

248

64

—

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil. ***Third place includes all tournaments where England reached the semi-finals following Euro 1980 as the third place play-offs were scrapped from the following editions of the tournament.

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record

Manager(s)

Season**

Division

Group

Pld

W

D*

L

GF

GA

P/R

Rank

2018–19

A

4

6

2

7

8

3rd

Southgate

2020–21

A

2

6

3

1

2

7

4

9th

Southgate

2022–23

A

TBA

To be determined

Total

12

5

3

4

14

12

3rd

—

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage.

Correct as of 18 November 2020 after the match against Iceland

Minor tournaments

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1964 Taça de Nações	Group stage	3rd	3	0	1	2	2	7
1976 USA Bicentennial Cup Tournament	Group stage	2nd	3	2	0	1	6	4
1985 Rous Cup	One match	2nd	1	0	0	1	0	1
1985 Ciudad de México Cup Tournament	Group stage	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	3
1985 Azteca 2000 Tournament	Group stage	2nd	2	1	0	1	3	1
1986 Rous Cup	Winners, one match	1st	1	1	0	0	2	1
1987 Rous Cup	Group stage	2nd	2	0	2	0	1	1
1988 Rous Cup	Winners, group stage	1st	2	1	1	0	2	1
1989 Rous Cup	Winners, group stage	1st	2	1	1	0	2	0
1991 England Challenge Cup	Winners, group stage	1st	2	1	1	0	5	3
1993 U.S. Cup	Group stage	4th	3	0	1	2	2	5
1995 Umbro Cup	Group stage	2nd	3	1	1	1	6	7
1997 Tournoi de France	Winners, group stage	1st	3	2	0	1	3	1
1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament	Group stage	2nd	2	1	1	0	1	0
2004 FA Summer Tournament	Winners, group stage	1st	2	1	1	0	7	2
Total		6 titles	33	12	10	11	43	37

FIFA Rankings

Last update was on 21 December 2020. Source:

Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover


Rank	Year	Games Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Best		Worst
Rank	Year	Games Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Rank	Move	Rank	Move
4	2020	8	5	2	1	4	—	4	—
4	2019	10	7	1	2	4	1	5	—
5	2018	17	10	3	4	5	6	16	1
15	2017	10	5	3	2	12	3	15	3
13	2016	14	8	4	2	9	1	13	2
9	2015	10	7	2	1	8	6	17	2
13	2014	13	8	3	2	10	7	20	10
13	2013	12	6	4	2	4	7	17	6
6	2012	13	7	4	2	3	2	7	2
5	2011	9	6	3	0	4	2	8	4
6	2010	12	7	3	2	6	1	9	1
9	2009	11	7	1	3	6	2	9	2
8	2008	10	8	1	1	8	4	15	6
12	2007	12	6	2	4	6	3	12	4
5	2006	14	9	4	1	4	5	10	1
9	2005	11	8	1	2	6	2	11	4
8	2004	14	7	4	3	6	5	13	4
8	2003	11	8	1	2	6	2	10	2
7	2002	13	4	7	2	6	4	12	2
10	2001	10	7	2	1	9	6	17	2
17	2000	11	3	4	4	11	2	17	3
12	1999	10	4	4	2	10	2	14	2
9	1998	14	6	5	3	5	2	11	5
4	1997	11	8	1	2	4	6	14	2
12	1996	12	8	4	0	12	11	27	3
21	1995	9	2	5	2	18	4	22	4
18	1994	6	4	2	0	12	1	18	4
11	1993	11	4	3	4	5	6	11	6

Honours

The England team (red) that won the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany

Major:

FIFA World Cup
- Champions: 1966
- Fourth place: 1990, 2018
UEFA European Championship
- Runners-up: 2020
- Third place: 1968
- Semi-finals: 1996
UEFA Nations League
- Third place: 2018–19

Regional:

British Home Championship
- Winners (54): (including 20 shared)
Rous Cup:
- Winners: 1986, 1988, 1989

Other:

FIFA Fair Play Trophy:
- Winners: 1990, 1998

Exhibition Tournaments:

England Challenge Cup: 1991
Tournament of France: 1997
FA Summer Tournament: 2004

Summary:

Competition	1	2	3	Total
World Cup	1	0	0	1
European Championship	0	1	2	3
Nations League	0	0	1	1
Total	1	1	3	5

Images for kids

The England team before a match against Scotland at Richmond in 1893
Elizabeth II presenting England captain Bobby Moore with the Jules Rimet trophy following England's 4–2 victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final
The England team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The England line-up before the last match of group G against Belgium, 28 June 2018
England shirt for the 1966 World Cup final
Wembley Stadium during a friendly match between England and Germany
Goalkeeper Peter Shilton is the most capped player in the history of England with 125 caps.
Wayne Rooney is England's top scorer with 53 goals.
2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final: Croatia vs England.

England national football team facts for kids

Contents

Team records

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Nations League

Minor tournaments

FIFA Rankings

Honours

Images for kids