THE WORST OF ENGLAND

 

Date 15^th June 2022. England has scored one goal in the past 4 internationals, a penalty from Harry Kane against Germany, salvaging a 1-1 draw, avoiding four defeats on the trot. This is the first time that this has happened to England, since 2014.

Gareth Southgate’s earlier success, culminating in the creditable loss in the last World Cup semi-final and a penalty shoot-out loss in the recent Euros. These have been forgotten by England’s supporters, following The Lions latest failures. Southgate has much to ponder in the upcoming “break” from matches, about the role he took over in 2016. Here are a few disappointments:

12. Yesterday (14/6/2022), England 0-4 lost to Hungary, at Molineux, in a Nations’ League game, viewed as an experiment by manager Gareth Southgate. Below are some of the worst defeats recorded by England, expressed by a “news’ item” today. Here’s one to start.... from March 1928 when England were over run 1-5 by the “Wee Wizards” from Scotland on “home soil”.

11. England slumped to a new low as their European Championship campaign came to an end at the last-16 stage following a shock 2-1 defeat by Iceland on 27th June 2016. Roy Hodgson and his players were beaten by a nation with a population of 323,000, in Nice. But it wasn't the first time the Three Lions have been humiliated on the international stage.

10.  England 0-1 Scotland, Euro 2000 qualifying play-off second leg, November 1999, England held a 2-0 lead after a brace from Paul Scholes in the first leg at Hampden Park four days earlier, but they didn't make life easy for themselves with this underwhelming performance against their old enemies at Wembley. Don Hutchison grabbed the only goal in the 39th minute, as Kevin Keegan's men were left to hold on and just confirm their spot at Euro 2000 in less-than-convincing style. 

9. Sweden 2-1 England, Euro 1992 group stage: June 1992. England needed a win in Stockholm- or at least a high-scoring draw - to make it through to the knockout stages, but they found themselves on the end of a defeat as the hosts made the semi-finals. David Platt struck early for the Three Lions before Jan Eriksson and Tomas Brolin turned the game on its head and Graham Taylor made the surprising decision to take off captain, Gary Lineker. Sweden striker Tomas Brolin (you m just remember him!) wheeled away in celebration after netting his side's second goal against England. 

8. Northern Ireland 1-0 England, September 2005. The only defeat England suffered in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup came against lowly Northern Ireland, a country they had not lost to since way back in 1972. David Healy was the hero at Windsor Park, scoring the only goal in the 73rd minute as Sven Goran Eriksson's men went down with a whimper. 

7. England 0-1 Republic of Ireland, Euro 1988 group stage, in Stuttgart, June 1988 Ray Houghton's early strike gave the Republic of Ireland victory in their first-ever tournament match, as England's campaign got off to the worst possible start.  To make matters worse, Bobby Robson's team then lost their next two group games before heading home humiliated.

6. England 1-3 Soviet Union, Euro 1988 group stage, 18^th June. England had already been eliminated from Euro 1988, when they met the Soviet Union in their final group game, but they could not even salvage some pride before flying home. Tony Adams equalised after Sergei Aleinikov's third-minute opener before goals from Oleksiy Mykhailychenko and Viktor Pasulko condemned Robson's men to a third straight defeat.

5. Norway 2 England 1, 1982 World Cup qualifier, September 1981 Defeat in Oslo was not a disaster as England still qualified for the World Cup in Spain. But the 2-1 loss to Norway - who finished bottom of the qualifying group - is better remembered for Bjorge Lillelien's superb commentary at the full-time whistle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDrwyuWYkIU

'Lord Nelson! Lord Beaverbrook! Sir Winston Churchill! Sir Anthony Eden! Clement Attlee! Henry Cooper! Lady Diana! Maggie Thatcher - can you hear me, Maggie Thatcher! Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating,' he bellowed.

Bryan Robson had given Ron Greenwood's side the lead, before Tom Lund and Hallvar Thoresen turned the game in favour of the hosts.

4. Germany 4-1 England, World Cup 2010, last 16, June. Despite Frank Lampard having a perfectly good goal disallowed when the officials failed to spot the ball had crossed the line (remember that volley?), England were comprehensively beaten by Germany in Bloemfontein. Goals from Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and a double from Thomas Muller sent the superior Germans through to the quarter-finals, as Fabio Capello's men faced up to another early exit.

3. England 2 Croatia 3, Euro 2008 qualifier, November 2007. A damp night in north London brought the curtain down on Steve McClaren's ill-fated reign as England coach as Croatia's victory saw the Three Lions miss out on Euro 2008.  Defeats in Croatia and Russia, as well as a damaging goalless draw at home to Macedonia, meant McClaren's men were at risk of not qualifying for the event in Austria and Switzerland.

And so it came to pass as Scott Carson fumbled Niko Kranjcar's effort and Ivica Olic made it 2-0 inside 15 minutes. McClaren, watching on from underneath an umbrella on the touchline, saw his side rally as Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch scored - only for Mladen Petric to claim a winner for Slaven Bilic's Croatia. The Wally with the brolly?

2. United States 1 England 0, 1950 World Cup group stage, June 1950 Entering their first-ever World Cup as favourites, England's squad in Brazil boasted names such as Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and Billy Wright.  But Walter Winterbottom's side were shocked in Belo Horizonte as, despite dominating possession and hitting a post, they were beaten by Joe Gaetjens' effort, with the USA's team of amateurs, postmen and funeral directors pulling off the biggest upset in the history of the sport at the time.

1. England 1-2 Iceland, Euro 2016 last-16, June 2016 The worst in the list of embarrassing defeats. Iceland's deserved victory in Nice capped off a miserable tournament for Hodgson and his underachieving squad, who just never got going. Wayne Rooney's early penalty seemed to have England on course for a quarter-final against hosts France, but they had no answer after goals from Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.12. England 0-4 losing to Hungary at Molineux in a Nations League game, viewed as an experiment by manager Gareth Southgate. Below are some of the worst defeats recorded by England, expressed by a “news item” today. Here’s another one from 1928 when England were over run 1-5 by the “Wee wizards” from Scotland on “home soil”.