World Football Championship 1966

England won the vote to host the 8th World Cup finals on 22nd August 1960, beating off the challenge of West Germany in Rome with 34 votes to 27 after Spain had withdrawn. 1963 was the English Football Association's centenary year and the World Cup was intended to be a part of the celebrations, being the first tournament to be held following that landmark. It was originally planned to schedule the fixtures for June 1966 with all matches being played at night, but this was later changed to July with many games, including the final, kicking-off in the afternoon.
Following Walter Winterbottom's decision to resign as England manager after the 1962 World Cup finals, the F.A. appointed Alf Ramsey on 25th October 1962, effective from 1st May 1963. Ramsey had just taken Ipswich Town from the 3rd tier to the top flight and had won the English league title at the first attempt. He insisted on selecting the England team himself, which had previously been chosen by a committee, and made a bold declaration on television that England would win the World Cup in 1966.

The 1966 championships was the very first to be broadcast to certain parts of the world via satellite, South American viewers were able to watch selected matches as they happened alongside those on the other side of the Atlantic watching live via Eurovision. In Britain, the BBC and ITV's coverage of the tournament was more comprehensive than ever before, a full camera crew covered every match and the two channels shared the same pictures, although not all were shown live as many games kicked-off simultaneously including the Quarter-finals. Frustratingly, the tournament was held just one year before colour television was launched in Britain on BBC2, but the final was at least broadcast on the higher definition 625-line channel as well as being shown on the 405-line services on BBC1 and ITV.

ITV had commentators at every match but had fewer live games than the BBC. The ITV commentators were; Hugh Johns, Gerry Loftus, Barry Davies and John Camkin. The current Wales manager Dave Bowen sat alongside Hugh Johns in the commentary box for the England games, Liverpool boss Bill Shankly joined Gerry Loftus, Phil Woosnam (formerly with West Ham, Aston Villa and Wales) sat with Barry Davies and Jock Stein (the current Scotland and Celtic boss) accompanied John Camkin*. The co-commentators also did a summing up in front of a pitch-side camera at the end of each game. Eamonn Andrews was the presenter, former England captain Billy Wright was the studio pundit.
The BBC commentary team was Ken Wolstenholme, David Coleman (who also doubled up as the BBC's main presenter), Walley Barnes (also a co-commentator for the final) and Frank Bough.
Jimmy Hill, Johnny Haynes, Tommy Docherty, Danny Blanchflower and Ron Greenwood were the BBC summarisers.
A Eurovision title sequence incorporated both the names of the BBC and ITV, but this was probably not seen in British homes. For certain ITV had their own title sequence accompanied by a theme tune entitled "On The Ball" performed by The John Schroeder Orchestra.

*See TVTimes article here which has Barry Davies down as doing the Midlands based matches and John Camkin in the North East, but the reverse turned out to be the case.
The venues had been announced on 17th October 1963, Newcastle's St James' Park was originally selected as one of two grounds to stage the North-East Group matches but was later replaced with Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park following a lack of development at St James' Park due to a political dispute.

Qualification
The qualifying draw was made in Zurich on 31st January 1964.
74 nations originally entered the competition vying for a place among the 16 finalists, two of which were taken by the hosts England and holders Brazil. Europe would have ten countries in the finals (including England), South America four (including Brazil), North & Central America had one and there would now be one guaranteed place for Africa/Asia/Oceania without the need for anybody to pull out over having to meet Israel (or face intercontinental play-off matches against a European or South American team), but this was not enough to satisfy the African nations who, after the draw had been made, all decided to withdraw in protest at being lumped in with Asia & Oceania.
The European entrants were divided into 9 groups of three or four teams, with only the winners going through to the finals. Scotland were placed in Group 8 along with Italy, Poland and Finland, Wales found themselves in Group 7 with Russia, Denmark and Greece. Northern Ireland were thought to have been handed the easiest passage in Group 5 which included Switzerland, the Netherlands (still yet to make any real impression on the international scene) and Albania.
Scotland boss Ian McColl left for Sunderland after the first of their six qualifying games had been played, he was replaced Jock Stein on a part-time basis and his first World Cup match saw the Scots, like Italy, come away from Poland with a draw. Both Scotland and the Italians then won in Finland, the Finns then beat Poland which appeared to rule the Poles out, but disaster struck at Hampden on 13th October 1965 when Scotland lost at home to Poland. The following month, Italy thrashed Poland 6-1 and so the Scots were left needing to win both of the final pair of Group 8 games against Italy, or win one and draw the other to force a play off. Scotland beat the Italians at Hampden, but lost 3-0 in Naples.
Bertie Peacock's Northern Ireland got off to a good start by beating Switzerland, but then lost the return match. The two countries then matched eachother's results against the Dutch and both beat Albania at home, but Northern Ireland squandered the chance of a play-off against Switzerland by failing to beat Albania away in the Group's final fixture on 24th November 1965.
Wales got off to a terrible start, losing their opening games in Denmark and Greece. They went on to win all of their home games, including a 2-1 victory against the Soviet Union, but that proved to be the only match the Soviet Union failed to win and it was they who finished 4 points clear at the summit.
Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland ended up playing a two-leg match with Spain after Syria (placed in the European section along with Israel) withdrew in support of the African cause. As goal average didn't count, a 4-2 aggregate scoreline was not enough for Spain (who'd lost the 1st match 1-0 in Dublin) and so they had to play for a third time in Paris, but Spain won through in the end. The runners-up in the previous tournament, Czechoslovakia, lost out to Portugal who went on to make a big impression on the finals, whilst Yugoslavia and Sweden were other notable failures. West Germany, who had wanted to stage the finals in both 1962 and 1966, made it to England after recovering from a home draw against Sweden by winning the return match in Stockholm.

British TV coverage of the 1966 World Cup

ITV games are in white, BBC or non-televised matches are in grey.
All matches were broadcast in black & white.

Qualifiers & Friendlies

Wed 14/Oct/1964    Northern Ireland 1 (Crossan(pen)) Switzerland 0
Qualifier in Belfast
BBC N.IRELAND Highlights
*BBC NI 10:45-11:15pm.

Wed 21/Oct/1964    Denmark 1 (O.Madsen) Wales 0
Qualifier in Copenhagen
*No British TV coverage scheduled. O.Madsen 47

Wed 21/Oct/1964    England 2 (Pickering, Hinton) Belgium 2 (Cornelis, Van Himst)
Friendly at Wembley
BBC 2nd Half LIVE
Ken Wolstenholme
*BBC1 8:25-9:15pm (kick off 7:30pm), Belgium's Jef Jurion played in glasses, it was also the 14th and final cap for Gordon Milne whilst Terry Vanables made his debut. Jean Cornelis gave the visitors the lead on 22, Fred Pickering equalised on 30 in his 3rd and final appearance for England, Paul Van Himst restored Belgiums lead on 43, Alan Hinton's effort was deflected into his own net by Laurent Verbiest on 70 for 2-2.

Wed 21/Oct/1964    Scotland 3 (Law, Chalmers, Gibson) Finland 1 (Peltonen)
Qualifier at Hampden
SCOTTISH Highlights
*STV "Scotsport" highlights 9:45-10:20pm. Ian McColl's Scotland kicked off their World Cup qualifing campaign with a home victory, all three Scotland goals came in the 1st half; Denis Law on 2, Stephen Chalmers on 38 and David Gibson (in his 7th and final international) on 42. Juhani Peltonen netted for Finland on 70.

Sat 14/Nov/1964    Switzerland 2 (Quentin, Kühn) Northern Ireland 1 (Best)
Qualifier in Lausanne
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Quentin put the Swiss ahead on 29, George Best netted his first international goal to equalise on 31, Kühn restored the home side's lead on 34.

Wed 09/Dec/1964    Greece 2 (Papaioannou, Papaemanouil) Wales 0
Qualifier in Athens
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Wed 09/Dec/1964    Netherlands 1 (Moulijn) England 1 (Greaves)
Friendly in Amsterdam
BBC Highlights
*An appearance for England on the higher definition 625 line channel BBC2, 10:35-11:05pm (not scheduled in the Radio Times, so must have been arranged at short notice). A final appearance in goal for Anthony Waiters (his 5th cap), also the end for Bobby Thompson (8 caps), Maurice Norman (23 caps), Frank Wignall (2 caps) and Terry Venables (2 caps) but there was a debut for Alan Mullery. Coen Moulijn put the Dutch ahead on 77, Jimmy Greaves equalised on 86.

Wed 17/Mar/1965    Northern Ireland 2 (Crossan, Neill) Netherlands 1 (Van Henny)
Qualifier in Belfast
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Van Henny 6, Crossan 11, Neill 62.

Wed 17/Mar/1965    Wales 4 (Allchurch 2, England, Vernon) Greece 1 (Papaioannou)
Qualifier in Cardiff
BBC WALES Highlights
*BBC1 WALES 10:40-11:00pm

Wed 07/Apr/1965    Netherlands 0 Northern Ireland 0
Qualifier in Rotterdam
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Sat 01/May/1965    Italy 4 Wales 1 (Godfrey)
Friendly in Florence
*No British TV coverage scheduled (played on same day as FA Cup Final).

Wed 05/May/1965    England 1 (Greaves) Hungary 0
Friendly at Wembley
ITV LIVE
Gerry Loftus & Johnny Haynes
*All ITV regions showed live Rediffusion coverage of this mid-week game at 2:55-4:55pm. Nobby Stiles turned out against foreign opposition for the 1st time, as did Jack Chalton and Barry Bridges (all had made their debut v Scotland the previous month). Jimmy Greaves scored the only goal in this friendly v Hungary on 16 minutes.

Fri 07/May/1965    Northern Ireland 4 (Crossan 3(1pen), Best) Albania 1 (Jashari)
Qualifier in Belfast
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Sat 08/May/1965    Scotland 0 Spain 0
Friendly at Hampden
SCOTTISH Highlights
*STV 10:10-11:05pm. Ian McColl's last match in charge before he left for the Sunderland job. Billy Bremner of Leeds United made his Scotland debut, as did Celtic's John Hughes. Severino Reija was Sent-Off for Spain.

Sun 09/May/1965    Yugoslavia 1 (Kovacevic) England 1 (Bridges)
Friendly in Belgrade
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Alan Ball (3 days short of his 20th birthday) made his England debut. Vladimir Kovacevic put the home side ahead on 15, Barry Bridges equalised on 20.

Wed 12/May/1965    West Germany 0 England 1 (Paine)
Friendly in Nurenburg
BBC LIVE 2nd Half
Ken Wolstenholme
*BBC1 6:55-7:50pm (not Scotland). Mick Jones made his England debut and Derek Temple won his only cap, Terry Paine netted the only goal on 37.

Sun 16/May/1965    Sweden 1 England 2 (Ball, Connelly)
Friendly in Gothenburg
BBC LIVE
Ken Wolstenholme
*Live on BBC1 4:00-5:45pm with a break for "Captian Pugwash" at half-time! Alan Ball put England ahead on 19, Leif Eriksson equalised on 38, John Connelly netted the winner on 73.

Sun 23/May/1965    Poland 1 (Letner) Scotland 1 (Law)
Qualifier in Chorzow
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Former Dumfermline and Hibernian boss and current Celtic manager Jock Stein's first match as part-time manager of Scotland. Bobby Collins made his 31st and final appearance in a Scotland shirt, Roman Lentner put Poland ahead on 50, Denis Law equalised on 75.

Thu 27/May/1965    Finland 1 (Hyvarinen) Scotland 2 (Wilson, Greig)
Qualifier in Helsinki
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Martti Hyvarinen put Finland ahead on 5, Denis Law missed a penalty on 15 but David Wilson (in his 22nd and final international) equalised on 37. John Greig scored the 2nd half winner on 50.

Sun 30/May/1965    Soviet Union 2 (Iwanov, Williams(og)) Wales 1 (Davies)
Qualifier in Moscow
*No British TV coverage scheduled. V.Iwanov 39, Williams(og)48, R.Davies 69.

Wed 13/Oct/1965    Scotland 1 (McNeil) Poland 2 (Liberda, Sadek)
Qualifier at Hampden
*No British TV coverage scheduled. A 16th and final cap for Paddy Crerand, Rangers Willie Johnston made his debut. Billy McNeil put the Scots ahead on 13, but they were beaten by two late goals by Jan Liberda on 85 and Jerzy Sadek on 87.

Wed 20/Oct/1965    England 2 (R.Charlton, Connelly) Austria 3 (Fritsch 2, Flögel)
Friendly at Wembley
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus
*ITV 10:34-11:19pm (Scottish showed the programme just after midnight). This was the 4th and final international appearance for Barry Bridges. Bobby Charlton put England ahead on 4, Rudi Flögel equalised on 52, John Connelly restored England's lead on 60 but Toni Fritsch then scored twice on 75 and 81 and Austria became only the 3rd continental team to beat England at home (following Hungary in 1953 and Sweden in 1959). Sadly, the hastily compiled highlights excluded the winning goal due to a tape cutting error.

Wed 27/Oct/1965    Wales 2 (Vernon, Allchurch) Soviet Union 1 (Banishevski)
Qualifier in Cardiff
BBC Highlights
*BBC1 10:45-11:15pm (not scheduled in the Radio Times, so must have been arranged at short notice). Banishevski 17, Vernon 20, Allchurch 77,

Tue 09/Nov/1965    Scotland 1 (Greig) Italy 0
Qualifier at Hampden
SCOTTISH Highlights
*STV 10:05-10:50pm. BBC Scotland also covered the game and the full programme apparently survives. Bobby Murdoch and Ron McKinnon made their debuts whilst keeper Bill Brown made his 28th and final international appearance between the sticks. John Greig scored the winner late in the game on 88.

Wed 24/Nov/1965    Albania 1 (Haxhiu) Northern Ireland 1 (Irvine)
Qualifier in Tirana
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Wed 01/Dec/1965    Wales 4 (W.Davies, Vernon 2, Rees) Denmark 2 (Poulsen, Fritsen)
Qualifier in Wrexham
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Wales - W.Davies 2, Vernon 11, 79, Rees 18, Denmark - Poulsen 4, Fritsen 48

Tue 07/Dec/1965    Italy 3 (Pascutti, Facchetti, Mora) Scotland 0
Qualifier in Naples
SCOTTISH, GRAMPIAN, BORDER, ULSTER LIVE
*This was shown live in four ITV regions at 1:00-3:15pm. STV, Grampian and Border also showed highlights at 9:10-10:05pm. Scotland fielded an inexperienced team with 9 players having played only 4 or less internationals. Ezio Pascutti 38, Giacinto Facchetti 74, Bruno Mora 89. Jock Stein would now concentrate on his position at Celtic full-time.

Wed 08/Dec/1965    Spain 0 England 2 (Baker, Hunt)
Friendly in Madrid
BBC Highlights
Ken Wolstenholme
*BBC1 10:55-11:25pm. Norman Hunter became the first England player to make his debut as a substitute. Joe Baker netted the opening goal on 8, Roger Hunt got the 2nd on 60. Baker was the first to play for England whilst employed by a team outside the country (Hibernian).

Wed 05/Jan/1966    England 1 (Moore) Poland 1 (Sadek)
Friendly at Goodison Park
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus
*All regions showed Granada's coverage from Everton's ground at 10:12-10:57pm. Gordon Harris won his one and only cap in England's first ever fixture v Poland. Jerzy Sadek put the Poles ahead on 42, Bobby Moore equalised on 77.

Thu 06/Jan/1966    World Cup Draw
BBC / Some ITV Regions
*BBC1 6:25-7:05pm from the Royal Garden Hotel in London. Rediffusion, Westward, Tyne Tees, Ulster, Border, Scottish and Grampian had a late night programme "The World Cup - England To Win?" at 11:37-11:57pm. This was the first World Cup Finals draw to be televised in Britain. England, West Germany, Brazil and Italy were the seeded teams.

Wed 23/Feb/1966    England 1 (Stiles) West Germany 0
Friendly at Wembley
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies
*All regions showed Rediffusion's highlights at 10:10-10:55pm (except Scottish who had their own "Scotsport"). It was only Barry Davies' 2nd TV commentary. England debuts for Keith Newton and Geoff Hurst in this friendly, Nobby Stiles scored the only goal shortly before HT on 42.

Wed 04/May/1966    England 2 (Greaves, R.Charlton) Yugoslavia 0
Friendly at Wembley
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus
*Rediffusion coverage, all regions showed it at 10:30-11:18pm (except Scottish who had "Scotsport"). Martin Peters made his debut, Bobby Tambling played for the first time in three years but this was his 3rd and final cap. Both goals came in the first half, Jimmy Greaves on 9 and Bobby Charlton on 34.

Sat 07/May/1966    Northern Ireland 0 West Germany 2 (Seeler, Heiß)
Friendly in Belfast
*No British TV coverage scheduled. Seeler 21, Heiß 57.

Wed 11/May/1966    Scotland 0 Netherlands 3 (Nuninga, Van der Kuylen, Van der Kuylen)
Friendly at Hampden
?SCOTTISH Highlights?
*Probably highlights on "Scotsport" Scottish region only, 10:38-11:13pm. Former Arbroath and Clyde boss John Prentice was now in charge of Scotland, Hibs Pat Stanton made his debut (as did 3 other players who's international careers failed to take off). Klaas Nuninga gave the Dutch a HT lead with a goal on 14, Willy van der Kuylen added two more goals for the visitors on 52 &84.

Sat 14/May/1966    Brazil 3 Wales 1 (R.Davies)
Friendly in Rio de Janeiro
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Wed 18/May/1966    Brazil 1 Wales 0
Friendly in Belo Horizonte
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Sun 22/May/1966     Chile 2 Wales 0
Friendly in Santiago
*No British TV coverage scheduled.

Sat 18/Jun/1966    Scotland 0 Portugal 1 (Torres)
Friendly at Hampden
SCOTTISH & GRAMPIAN Highlights
*STV possibly showed brief highlights on STV's "Scotsport Special" at 10:10-10:20pm, then both STV and Grampian had a 30 minute highlights show late Sunday afternoon. Scotland may have failed to qualify for the World Cup in England, but this did at least give the Hampden faithful the opportunity to witness two top nations preparing for the finals. First up were Portugal, who included Eusebio, winning with a goal by Jose Seneca Torres on 72. This was the 8th and final international for Everton's Alex Young.

Tue 21/Jun/1966    "World Cup Challenge"
BBC
*BBC1 9:30-10:15pm. First in a three part series delaing with the worldwide preparations made by the finalists for the 1966 World Cup. Part 1 looked at "The Favourites - Brazil", Part 2 was shown on 28/Jun/1966 at 9:40-10:25pm and looked at "The Challengers", Part 3 was tx'd on 05/Jul/1966 at 9:30-10:15pm.

Wed 22/Jun/1966    Northern Ireland 4 (Johnston, Elder, Nicholson, Ferguson) Mexico 1 (Pena(pen))
Friendly in Belfast
*No known coverage.

Sat 25/Jun/1966    Scotland 1 (Chalmers) Brazil 1 (Servilio)
Friendly at Hampden
ITV Highlights
*Probably brief highlights on STV's "Scotsport Special" on Saturday night at 10:05-10:15pm. Most ITV regions then showed Sunday afternoon highlights at 2:05-2:45pm (Grampian at 4:30-5pm, Scottish at 5:05-5:30pm). BBC1 also showed highlights across the UK on Sunday afternoon at 2:15-2:50pm (arranged at short notice, no details in the Radio Times). Everton's Alex Scott made his 16th and final appearance, Hibs Peter Cormack made his debut. Stephen Chalmers put Scotland ahead against the world champions in the opening minute, Servilio equalised on 15.

Sun 26/Jun/1966    Finland 0 England 3 (Peters, Hunt, J.Charlton)
Friendly in Helsinki
BBC Highlights
*Monday night highlights on BBC1 at 10:45-11:15pm (arranged at short notice, no details in the Radio Times). A 43rd and final cap for Jimmy Armfield, Ian Callaghan made his debut. Alan Ball had a penalty saved on 14, but England scored twice before HT through Martin Peters on 42 and Roger Hunt on 44. Jack Charlton added a 3rd on 89.

Wed 29/Jun/1966    Norway 1 (Sunde) England 6 (Greaves 4, Connelly, Moore)
Friendly in Oslo
BBC Highlights
*BBC1 10:40-11:10pm (arranged at short notice, no details in the Radio Times). Two long serving England players made what turned out to be their final international appearances ahead of the World Cup in Norway, Ron Flowers finishing on 49 caps and Ron Springett on 33, there was also a 2nd and final try-out for Gerald Byrne. Harald Sunde put Norway ahead on 4 minutes, Jimmy Greaves equalised on 20 and it was 3-1 within a matter of minutes - John Connelly putting England ahead on 22 and Greaves adding another on 23. Bobby Moore made it 4-1 on 40 and Jimmy Greaves then completed his record breaking 6th hat-trick for England on 42 for a 5-1 HT score. England added just the one further goal in the 2nd half, Greaves getting his 4th for 6-1 on the hour mark.

Sun 03/Jul/1966    Denmark 0 England 2 (J.Charlton, Eastham)
Friendly in Copenhagen
BBC Highlights
Ken Wolstenholme
*625-line HD highlights on BBC2 10:10-10:40pm. A debut for goalkeeper Peter Bonetti in this one, Jack Charlton netted the opening goal just before HT on 44, George Eastham (junior) got the 2nd goal on 61.

Tue 05/Jul/1966    Poland 0 England 1 (Hunt)
Friendly in Chorzow
BBC Highlights
Frank Bough
*BBC1 10:45-11:115pm. England's final match in preparation for the world cup saw England field an 11 that would ultimately play in the final - with one exception, there was no Geoff Hurst. Roger Hunt scored the only goal of the game on 13 minutes.
 

World Cup '66 Finals

First Round
Game 1

Mon 11/Jul/1966    England 0 Uruguay 0
Group 1 (7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*Eamonn Andrews presented ITV coverage from 7:25-9:15pm, but it was not shown on Channel TV (who didn't take any ITV coverage throughout the tournament) whilst Scottish only showed the start and end of the match (they had "Love Story" at 8-8:55pm). Ken Wolstenholme commentated for BBC1 who also showed it LIVE from 6:50pm and therefore included the opening ceremony (including a speech by the Queen).

Tue 12/07/1966    Brazil 2 (Pelé, Garrincha) Bulgaria 0
Group 3 (7:30pm bst)
Goodison Park
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*This match was LIVE on BBC1 at 7:00-9:30pm with Ken Wolstenholme commentating, Pelé netted the World Champions first goal of the tournament on 15, Garrincha added a 2nd on 63. BBC1 had reports from the other games at half-time and full-time plus a highlights programme which went out at 11:00-11:30pm. ITV also had a highlights programme but didn't show any live coverage today.

Tue 12/Jul/1966    West Germany 5 (Held, Haller 2(1pen), Beckenbauer 2) Switzerland 0
Group 2 (7:30pm bst)
Hillsborough
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*ITV's highlights programme went out at 10:37-11:22pm (except Channel TV). Held put the Germans ahead on 16, Haller made it 2-0 on 21, Beckenbauer scored twice either side of half-time on 40 and 52 to make it 4-0 and Haller rounded off the scoring with a 5th from the penalty spot on 77. Walley Barnes was at this match for BBC1.

Tue 12/07/1966    Soviet Union 3 (Malofeyev 2, Banishevskiy) North Korea 0
Group 4 (7:30pm bst)
Ayresome Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Malofeyev scored twice on 31 and 88, inbetween time Banishevskiy netted on 33. Frank Bough commentated for BBC1.

Wed 13/Jul/1966    France 1 (Hausser) Mexico 1 (Borja)
Group 1 (7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV Highlights
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*LIVE on BBC1, 7:00-9:30pm, with David Coleman commentating. Borja put Mexico ahead on 48, Hausser equalised on 62. The BBC had a highlights show at 11:10-11:40pm. ITV also had highlights....

Wed 13/Jul/1966    Argentina 2 (Artime 2) Spain 1 (Roma(og))
Group 2 (7:30pm bst)
Villa Park
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*ITV's highlights of today's fixtures were broadcast at 10:40-11:25pm (from midnight on Scottish). Artime netted for Argentina on 65 but Roma put through his own net to level the score at 1-1 on 71, Artime got his 2nd and Argentina's winner on 77. Walley Barnes for BBC1.

Wed 13/Jul/1966    Portugal 3 (José Augusto 2, Torres) Hungary 1 (Bene)
Group 3 (7:30pm bst)
Old Trafford
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*José Augusto scored in the opening minute of the game for Portugal, Bene equalised on 60 but Augusto soon restored the lead with his 2nd goal on 67, Torres sealed the victory on 90. Ken Wolstenholme described the game for BBC1.

Wed 13/Jul/1966    Italy 2 (Mazzola, Barison) Chile 0
Group 4 (7:30pm bst)
Roker Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Mazzola gave Italy an early lead on 8 and it remained 1-0 until the 88th minute when Barison made it two. Frank Bough commentated for BBC1. There were no fixtures on Thursday but BBC1 had a 30 minute "World Cup Report" at 7:00-7:30pm and "World Cup Preview" at 10:50-11:05pm.

Game 2

Fri 15/Jul/1966    Brazil 1 (Tostão) Hungary 3 (Bene, Farkas, Mészöly(pen))
Group 3 (7:30pm bst)
Goodison Park
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*LIVE on BBC1 at 7:00-9:30pm with Ken Wolstenholme commentating. Bene put Hungary ahead on 2, Tostão equalised on 14, Farkas made it 2-1 to Hungary on 64 and a penalty by Mészöly made it 3-1 on 73.

Fri 15/Jul/1966    Uruguay 2 (Rocha, Cortés) France 1 (De Bourgoing(pen))
Group 1 (7:30pm bst)
White City Stadium, London
ITV Highlights
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV showed highlights of today's games at 10:35-11:20pm. France went ahead with a penalty converted by De Bourgoing on 15, Rocha equalised on 26, Cortés then put Uruguay 2-1 in front on 31. Alan Weeks was at this match for BBC1 who had highlights of the day's events at 10:50-11:20pm - Danny Blanchflower was the BBC's co-commentator and mentioned that the game was "better than it looks.".

Fri 15/Jul/1966    Spain 2 (Sanchís, Amancio) Switzerland 1 (Quentin)
Group 2 (7:30pm bst)
Hillsborough
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*The Swiss led at HT through a Quentin goal on 31, but Spain came back with goals by Sanchís on 57 and Amancio on 75. Walley Barnes commentated for BBC1.

Fri 15/Jul/1966    Chile 1 (Marcos(pen)) North Korea 1 (Pak Seung-Zin)
Group 4 (7:30pm bst)
Ayresome Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Marcos put Chile ahead from the penalty spot on 26, North Korea netted a late equaliser through Pak Seung-Zin on 88. Frank Bough voiced the game for BBC1.

Sat 16/Jul/1966    Portugal 3 (Vutsov(og), Eusébio, Torres) Bulgaria 0
Group 3 (3pm bst)
Old Trafford
ITV LIVE
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*"World of Sport" included live coverage of this match from 2:45-4:45pm, there was also a round-up at 5:05-5:15pm. Vutsov netted an own goal on 17, Eusébio made it 2-0 on 38, Torres scored Portugal's 3rd goal on 81. Walley Barnes commentated for highlights on BBC1.

Sat 16/Jul/1966    West Germany 0 Argentina 0
Group 2 (3pm bst)
Villa Park
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*This was LIVE on BBC1 (at the same time ITV were showing Portugal v Bulgaria) with David Coleman & Jimmy Hill commentating..

Sat 16/Jul/1966    Italy 0 Soviet Union 1 (Chislenko)
Group 4 (3pm bst)
Roker Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*ITV most likely showed highlights of this game during HT of the England match, Chislenko scored the only goal on 57. Frank Bough was the commentator for BBC1.

Sat 16/Jul/1966    England 2 (R.Charlton, Hunt) Mexico 0
Group 1 (7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*7:25-9:20pm, 2nd half only on ABC, Westward, Southern,Ulster and Scottish regions. Also LIVE on BBC1 from 7:00-9:20pm with Ken Wolstenholme commentating. Bobby Charlton scored with a classic thunderbolt strike on 37, Roger Hunt made it 2-0 on 75. BBC1 had a late night highlights programme at 10:50-11:50pm.

Sun 17/Jul/1966    "World Cup Report"
*Some ITV regions had a Sunday "World Cup Report", ABC Midlands & North showed it first at 2:15-2:50pm, ATV London, TWW, Westward, Grampian & Scottish showed it at 3:00-3:35pm. BBC1 also had a Sunday afternoon show, "World Cup Match of the Week" at 3:05-4:05pm.  BBC1 were the only channel to have a Monday programme, "World Cup Report" at 7:00-7:30pm.

Game 3

Tue 19/Jul/1966    Mexico 0 Uruguay 0
Group 1 (4:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV Highlights
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*LIVE on BBC1 at 4:15-6:15pm with Ken Wolstenholme commentating.

Tue 19/Jul/1966    Brazil 1 (Rildo) Portugal 3 (Simöes, Eusébio 2)
Group 3 (7:30pm bst)
Goodison Park
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*LIVE on BBC1 at 7:00-9:30pm with David Coleman & Ron Greenwood commentating. Simöes put Portugal ahead on 15, Eusébio made it 2-0 on 27, Rildo pulled one back for Brazil on 70 but Eusébio finished off the holders with his 2nd goal for 3-1 on 85.

Tue 19/Jul/1966    Argentina 2 (Artime, Onega) Switzerland 0
Group 2 (7:30pm bst)
Hillsborough
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*ITV's Tuesday highlights, now billed in the Times as "The World Cup Star Match", were shown at 10:35-11:22pm. Artime scored on 52, Onega made it 2-0 on 79. Walley Barnes was at this game for BBC1.

Tue 19/Jul/1966    Italy 0 North Korea 1 (Pak Doo-Ik)
Group 4 (7:30pm bst)
Ayresome Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Pak Doo-Ik's goal on 42 was enough to secure the shock result of the tournament, Frank Bough commentated for BBC1 who's late night highlights were broadcast at 11:00-11:30pm.

Wed 20/Jul/1966    England 2 (Hunt 2) France 0
Group 1 (7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV Part LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV's coverage only began at 8pm, so they missed the first 30 minutes or so (Scottish didn't join the feed until 8:55pm). BBC1 showed the whole match live from 7:15pm with Ken Wolstenholme & Johnny Haynes commentating. Two goals for Roger Hunt on 38 and 75.

Group 1 Final Table
1. England        5
2. Uruguay        4
3. Mexico         2
4. France         1

Wed 20/Jul/1966    West Germany 2 (Emmerich, Seeler) Spain 1 (Fusté)
Group 2 (7:30pm bst)
Villa Park
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*Fusté put Spain ahead on 23, Emmerich equalised on 39, Seeler got the German winner on 84. Walley Barnes called the match for BBC1.

Group 2 Final Table
1. West Germany   5
2. Argentina      5
3. Spain          2
4. Switzerland    0

Wed 20/Jul/1966    Hungary 3 (Davidov(og), Mészöly, Bene) Bulgaria 1 (Asparuhov)
Group 3 (7:30pm bst)
Old Trafford
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*Asparuhov put Bulgaria ahead on 15, Hungary scored twice in the two minutes leading up to half-time, equalising through a Davidov own goal on 43 and then going ahead courtesy of Mészöly on 45, Bene made it 3-1 to Hungary on 54. Alan Weeks commentated for BBC1.

Group 3 Final Table
1. Portugal       6
2. Hungary        4
3. Brazil         2
4. Bulgaria       0

Wed 20/Jul/1966    Soviet Union 2 (Porkujan 2) Chile 1 (Marcos)
Group 4 (7:30pm bst)
Roker Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Porkujan put the Soviets ahead on 28, Chile equalised soon afterwards through Marcos on 32, the Soviets got a late winner with Porkujan netting his 2nd goal on 85. ITV highlights of the day's events went out at 10:37-11:22pm, BBC1 showed their highlights (with Frank Bough commentating on the Soviet Union game) at 11:00-11:30pm. There were no programmes on either channel on Thursday, but BBC1 did have a "World Cup Report" on Friday at 7:00-7:30pm.

Group 4 Final Table
1. Soviet Union   6
2. North Korea    3
3. Italy          2
4. Chile          1

Quarter-Finals

Sat 23/Jul/1966    England 1 (Hurst) Argentina 0
(3pm bst)
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV showed England's QF live as part of "World Of Sport", coverage from Wembley began at 2:45pm with Wrestling due to follow as soon as the game finished and then "World Cup Round Up" at 5:05-5:15pm. England's match was also LIVE on BBC1 with Ken Wolstenholme & Jimmy Hill commentating. Antonio Ratin was sent off by West German referee Rudolf Kreitlein on 35 and Ratin refused to leave the field, Geoff Hurst scored the only goal on 78 minutes. Alf Ramsey described the Argentina team as 'Animals'

Sat 23/Jul/1966    West Germany 4 (Haller 2, Beckenbauer, Seeler) Uruguay 0
(3pm bst)
Hillsborough
ITV Highlights
John Camkin & Jock Stein
*Walley Barnes for BBC1. West Germany led 1-0 for most of the game after a goal by Haller on 11, the Germans added three further goals in the last twenty minutes, Beckenbauer on 70, Seeler on 75 and another by Haller on 83.

Sat 23/Jul/1966    Portugal 5 (Eusébio 4(2pens), José Augusto) North Korea 3 (Pak Seung-Zin, Lee Dong-Woon, Yang Sung-Kook)
(3pm bst)
Goodison Park
ITV Highlights
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*David Coleman for BBC1. North Korea led 3-0 through Pak Seung-Zin 1, Lee Dong-Woon  22 and Yang Sung-Kook  25. Portugal fought back with four goals by Eusébio on 27, a penalty on 43, 56 and another penalty on 59, José Augusto got the 5th on 80.

Sat 23/Jul/1966    Soviet Union 2 (Chislenko, Porkujan) Hungary 1 (Bene)
(3pm bst)
Roker Park
ITV Highlights
Barry Davies & Phil Woosnam
*Frank Bough for BBC1. The Soviets went 2-0 up with goals by Chislenko on 5 and Porkujan on 46, Hungary pulled one back through Bene on 57. BBC1 was the only channel to have Saturday night hjighlights of the quarter-finals which they showed ar 10:40-11:40pm.

Sun 24/Jul/1966    "World Cup Report"
*ATV London had highlights from the week at 3:00-3:35pm, the programme was also taken by TWW, Westward, Scottish and Grampian. Curiously it was not scheduled for ABC viewers. BBC1 had "World Cup Match of the Week" at 2:45-3:35pm.

Semi-Finals

Mon 25/Jul/1966    West Germany 2 (Haller, Beckenbauer) Soviet Union 1 (Malofeyev)
(7:30pm bst)
Goodison Park
ITV Part LIVE
Gerry Loftus & Bill Shankly
*ITV coverage began at 8pm (therefore missing the opening 30 minutes or so, Scottish only joined at 8:55pm), the whole match was live on BBC1 with Ken Wolstenholme & Walley Barnes commentating. Haller gave West Germany the lead just before on 42, Malofeyev equalised a minute later on 43. The Soviets were down to 10 men early in the 2nd half when Igor Chislenko was sent off on 47, Beckenbauer restored the Germans lead on 67. BBC1 showed highlights of the game too at 10:50-11:20pm.

Tue 26/Jul/1966    England 2 (R.Charlton 2) Portugal 1 (Eusébio(pen))
(7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV coverage began at 7pm and was due to end at 9:20pm. Scottish took the whole game this time, but Channel TV continued to opt out altogether. The match was also LIVE on BBC1 with the same start time of 7pm, Ken Wolstenholme & Tommy Docherty were the commentators. Bobby Charlton netted both England goals on 30 and 80 minutes, Eusébio pulled one back from the penalty spot on 82. BBC1 were the only channel to have late night highlights of the game at 11:05-11:55pm, they also had "World Cup Preview" on Wednesday at 11:05-11:35pm.

3rd/4th place play off

Thu 28/Jul/1966    Portugal 2 (Eusébio(pen), Torres) Soviet Union 1 (Malofeyev)
(7:30pm bst)
Wembley
ITV Highlights
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV had highlights at 10:35-11:20pm, but it was LIVE on BBC1 from 7:00-9:20pm with Ken Wolstenholme & Walley Barnes commentating. Eusébio netted yet another Portuguese penalty on 12, Malofeyev equalised on 43, Torres grabbed 3rd place for Portugal with a late goal on 89. BBC1 showed highlights too at 11:00-11:30pm. BBC1 were the only channel scheduled to preview the final on Friday, "World Cup Report" going out at 7:00-7:30pm.

The Final

Sat 30/Jul/1966    England 4 (Hurst 3, Peters) West Germany 2 (Haller, Weber) [AET]
(3pm bst)
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Hugh Johns & Dave Bowen
*ITV's "World of Sport" began at 1:00pm and they repeated a film of the February clash between England and West Germany at 1:50-2:10pm, a Muhammad Ali interview followed and then "Alf Ramsey Story" was shown at 2:15pm, "Team Run Down" was at 2:25pm and live "Wembley scenes" from 2:30pm. BBC1's "Grandstand" began at 12noon, they previewed the final inbetween snatches of cricket, "The Wembley Scene" was at 12:30, "How They Got There" at 1:30, "People at the Match" at 1:45 and "Meet the Teams" at 1:55. The BBC commentators were Ken Wolstenholme & Walley Barnes. Haller put the Germans ahead on 12, Geoff Hurst soon levelled for the hosts on 18 and Martin Peters appeared to have won the match with a goal on 78 until Weber equalised with virtually the last kick in normal time. Geoff Hurst saw his shot on 101 mins bounce down off the crossbar and onto the goal-line, Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst consulted his Azerbaijani linesman Tofik Bakhramov who judged the whole of the ball to have crossed the line for 3-2. Hurst made sure with his hat-trick on 120 with some spectators running onto the pitch in the belief that the referee had already blown for time, the goal was allowed to stand for a result of 4-2 and England were World Champions. BBC1 showed Saturday night highlights at 10:20-11:20pm. Channel TV had no coverage of the final whatsoever.

Sun 31/Jul/1966    "The Way to the Cup"
*ITV's Sunday highlights went out at 2:20-3:35pm, some list it as "World Cup Verdict" (perhaps 'Way To The Cup' was ABC's presentation whilst ATV had their own show). Not all regions were originally scheduled to screen Sunday highlights, but presumably they did so in light of the result. The England team were given a champaign lunch at ATV's studios in Boreham Wood on Sunday, so maybe something was shown from that. BBC1 showed highlights as "World Cup Match of the Year" at 2:55-3:55pm.