The Argentina Match That Helped England Win the 1966 World Cup

England and Argentina’s rivalry did not begin with Diego Maradona’s Hand of God, David Beckham’s red card or England’s revenge in 2002.

Tim Vickery goes further back to uncover the forgotten matches that helped create one of international football’s fiercest rivalries. The story begins with Britain’s enormous influence on the development of football in Argentina and the surprisingly warm relationship between the two countries. In 1951, Argentina became the first team from outside the British Isles to face England at Wembley. Despite losing late, Argentina returned home celebrating a defeat with honour. But by 1964, everything had changed.

Argentina had adopted a tougher and more defensively disciplined style. Their victory over England in Rio profoundly influenced Alf Ramsey and his ideas about what England would need to win the 1966 World Cup. Tim explains how that forgotten encounter planted the seeds for England’s eventual World Cup triumph and the controversial quarter-final between the countries two years later.

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