Since lifting the World Cup in 1966, England have become renowned for heartbreaking defeats – and because we love to wallow in our own misery, we’ve ranked the 12 most galling of all.
We often tell ourselves not to expect too much from the England team at major tournaments, but it’s still hard not to get a little carried away when one finally comes around.
Unfortunately, that almost certainly means we’ll be adding to this list for years to come…
13. England 2 Romania 3 – Euro 2000
After spectacularly blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Portugal in the opener, then beating a poor Germany team but a Germany team nonetheless, nobody quite knew what to expect when England went into their final Group A encounter against Romania needing only a point to progress.
All looked hunky dory at half-time with England 2-1 up, but Nigel Martyn – a last-minute replacement for the injured David Seaman – flapped at a cross and gifted Romania a leveller. A draw was still enough for England, but they couldn’t keep hold of it, with Phil Neville offering himself up as the fabled national scapegoat by conceding a last-minute penalty.
12. England 1 Iceland 2 – Euro 2016
“Another wretched night for England at a major tournament,” declared Clive Tyldsley upon the Three Lions’ latest embarrassment. Arguably, it was their most dismal performance, but though few expected much from Roy Hodgson’s men, they still managed to bring shame upon the shirt, so spineless was their surrender.
Only Marcus Rashford offered any level of composure or incisiveness – and he came off the bench with four minutes remaining.
The picture at full-time summed up the England shambles, with players strewn around the Iceland penalty area after a late corner came to nothing. Joe Hart was among them, using his chocolate hands to ‘front up’ and gesture the kind of apology he weirdly seems to enjoy making.
11. Norway 2 England 0 – World Cup 1994 qualifying
Graham Taylor took England to Norway safe in the knowledge the Three Lions had not lost a World Cup qualifier for 12 years.
That defeat came also in Norway, when commentator Bjorge Lillelien brilliantly gave it the big one: ”Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana… we have beaten them all, we have beaten them all! Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher … your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!”
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