The very first match between the nations took place at the 1950
World Cup and it is the most memorable match between the Nations. The match
took place at Belo Horizonte in Brazil on June 29th, 1950.
USA’s (1-0) win is considered one of the greatest upsets in the
history of the game. At the time, USA were underdogs and England were very much
considered as one of the best teams in the world.
Joseph
Gaetjens’ goal in the 38th minute is one of the most referenced
goals in USA’s World Cup history. At the end of the match, the jubilant
Brazilian crowd entered the field and held the American players on their
shoulders.
England Manager Winterbottom
had wanted to select Stanley Matthews for this match, however the selection
committee refused his request.
The sides would meet
twice more in the decade and by then the natural order of things in Football
terms was established. The English would defeat the USA twice in high scoring
matches. On June 8th, 1953, at the Yankee Stadium in New York City,
England won (6-3) in a match featuring three doubles. Otto Decker for the hosts
and Tom Finney and Nat Lofthouse for the English.
On May 28th,
1959, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, England won (8-1) with Bobby
Charlton scoring a hat trick. It was also England Captain Billy Wright’s final
match for his Nation.
Photo From: IV. Fussball Weltmeisterschaft 1950 in Brasilien, Author
Robert Franta
(June 29,
1950, World Cup, USA 1-England 0)
Photo From : L’Equipe-La Coupe Du Monde, Volume
1, 1930-1970
(June 29,
1950, World Cup, USA 1-England 0)
Photo From : L’Equipe-La Coupe Du Monde, Volume
1, 1930-1970
(June 29,
1950, World Cup, USA 1-England 0)
Photo From: World Soccer, October 1996
(June 29,
1950, World Cup, USA 1-England 0)
1960s
The nations would only meet once in this
decade. On May 27th, 1964, at New York’s Downing Stadium, England
routed the USA (10-0). Roger Hunt scored four goals withFrederick Pickering notching a hat trick, Terry
Paine scoring a double and Bobby Charlton scoring once.
1980s
It would be another two decades before
the sides met. England were on Tour in the June of 1985 to play in the Ciudad
de Mexico Cup / Azteca 2000 Tournament in Mexico. After the Tournament, they
stopped over at Los Angeles at the Memorial Coliseum to face the United States
on June 16th, 1985. It would be another comfortable win for the
English (5-0) with Gary Lineker and Kerry Dixon each scoring twice and Trevor
Steven scoring once.
Photo From: World Soccer,
June 1989
(June 16, 1985, USA 0-England 5)
1990s
By this decade things were changing. USA
were to host the 1994 World Cup. There would be slow improvement with the
Americans. They would no longer suffer the type of heavy defeats suffered in
the previous decades.
The sides met in the US Cup on June 9th,
1993, at Boston, Massachusetts. The US Cup was a Tournament to act as a dress
rehearsal, one year ahead of the actual World Cup. This match would be the
second most memorable match between the Nations as USA once again defeated
England (2-0) in an upset. Thomas Dooley and Alexi Lalas scored the winning
goals. This was the absolute lowest point of England Manager Graham Taylor’s
era. He would be mercilessly attacked by the media and resign by the end of the
year after England had failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.
More than a year later, the sides met at
Wembley on September7th, 1994. This was the first ever match between the
Nations on English soil.
USA were visiting after a relatively successful
World Cup at home. The English team and the Press had revenge on their mind
against a less than match-fit American side. Alan Shearer was the star of the
match, he scored twice in a (2-0) win. The Americans were lethargic in a
disappointing display. The English Press were very critical of the display of
the American Team. There appeared to be residual anger from the defeat from the
previous year.
(Quotes about this match,
September 7, 1994, England 2-USA 0)
2000s
The sides met twice in
this decade in rather low-key end of season friendlies. On May 28th,
2005, at Chicago’s Soldier Field, England defeated USA (2-1) with a double
strike from Kieran Richardson (Clint Dempsey replying for the Americans).
On May 28th,
2008, at Wembley, England defeated USA (2-0) with goals by John Terry and Steven Gerrard.
2010s
For the first time since
1950, the sides met in a World Cup. On June 12th, 2010, at Rustenburg in South Africa, the sides faced off in a Group
match. The match ended as a (1-1) tie. It would be forever remembered for the
error of English goalkeeper Robert Green, who let slip from his grasp, Clint
Dempsey’s long-range shot. Steven Gerrard had opened the scoring for England.
The last
match in the series between the Nations was on November 15th, 2018,
at Wembley. In a match billed as Wayne Rooney’s Farewell Appearance, England
defeated the Americans (3-0) with goals from Jesse Lingard, Trent Alexander-Arnold,
and Callum Wilson.
Photo From: France Football, Issue 3349, June 15, 2010
(June 12,
2010, World Cup, England 1-USA 1)
Photo From: World Soccer, July 2010
(June 12,
2010, World Cup, England 1-USA 1)
Conclusion
On balance, England holds
an edge, as for decades USA was not a Soccer Nation and suffered heavy defeats
against a top Football Nation like England.
However, USA’s wins in
1950 and 1993 are more significant. The former is as previously mentioned one
of the greatest upsets in World Cup History. While the latter win (in 1993)
marked the renewal and signaled a brighter future for the game in America.
The matches from this
century have relatively been uneventful, and not even the World Cup match in
2010 is memorable (only as an excuse to reference Green’s error).
The upcoming match at the
World Cup in Qatar will be on November 25th, 2022, at Al Khor. This
will be the second match in the Group and chances are much will be riding in
this match.
Note:
1-Please refer to the
video link at the top of this blog upload for the interview.
France National Team matches under Michel
Hidalgo during the 1982 World Cup
June 16, 1982, World Cup,
Bilbao, Spain, England 3- France 1 (Bryan Robson 1 (27 sec), 67, Paul Mariner 83 / Gerard
Soler 26)
June 21, 1982, World Cup,
Valladolid, Spain, France 4-Kuwait 1
(Bernard Genghini 31, Michel Platini 43, Didier Six 48, Maxime Bossis 89 / Abdullah Al-Buloushi 75)
June 24, 1982,World Cup, Valladolid, Spain, France 1-Czechoslovakia
1 (Didier Six 66 / Antonin Panenka 84 pen)
June 28, 1982, World Cup,
Madrid, Spain, France 1-Austria 0 (Bernard
Genghini 39)
(England): Bryan Robson
1 (27 sec), 67, Paul Mariner 83
(France): Gerard Soler 26
Summary of goals:
1:0 (1st
(27 seconds) minute, England): Coppell’s
throw-in from the right side was headed across by Butcher and Robson volleyed.
1:1 (26th
minute, France): From his own half, on the right,,
Giresse lobbed a ball to the left side and Soler volleyed from the edge of the
box.
2:1 (67th
minute, England): Francis’ cross
from the right side was headed in by Robson
3:1 (83rd
minute, England): Francis’ shot was
deflected by Tresor in the path of Mariner who scored.
Lineups:
England:
22- Peter Leslie Shilton
(Nottingham Forest Football Club)
12- Michael Denis ‘Mick’ Mills (Ipswich Town Football Club)
17- Kenneth Graham Sansom (Arsenal
Football Club-London) (14- Phillip George Neal (Liverpool Football Club) 90)
18- Phillip Bernard Thompson (Liverpool Football Club)
4- Terence Ian Butcher (Ipswich Town Football Club)
16- Bryan Robson (Manchester United
Football Club)
5- Stephen James Coppell (Manchester United Football Club)
15- Graeme Rix (Arsenal Football Club-London)
19- Raymond Colin Wilkins (Manchester United Football Club)
11- Paul Mariner (Ipswich Town Football Club)
8- Trevor John Francis (Manchester City
Football Club)
Coach: Ron Greenwood
Booked: Terry Butcher 34
Other
Substitutes:
1-
Raymond Neal Clemence (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London)
9-
Glenn Hoddle (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London)
20-
Peter Withe (Aston Villa Football Club-Birmingham)
21-
Anthony Stewart Woodcock (1.Fussball Club Köln / West Germany)
Team Captain: Michael Denis ‘Mick’ Mills
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Admiral
Uniform Colors: Red Shirts, White Shorts, White Socks
France:
22- Jean-Luc Ettori
(Association Sportive de Monaco)
3-Patrick Battiston (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
4-Maxime Bossis (Football Club de Nantes)
8-Marius Tresor (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
6-Christian Lopez (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
13- Jean-François Larios (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
(14-Jean Tigana (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club) 73)
11-Rene Girard (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
12-Alain Giresse (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
18-Dominique Rocheteau (Paris Saint-Germain Football Club) (19-Didier Six
(Verein für Bewegungspiele Stuttgart 1893 e.V./ West Germany) 71)
10-Michel Platini (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
20-Gerard Soler (Girondins de
Bordeaux Football Club)
Coach: Michel Hidalgo
Other
Substitutes:
1-Dominique Baratelli (Paris
Saint-Germain Football Club)
5-Gerard Janvion (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
16-Alain Couriol (Association Sportive de Monaco)
Team Captain: Michel Platini
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: White Shirts, Blue Shorts, Red Socks
Photo From:
L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(June 16, 1982, World Cup, England 3-France 1)
Photo From: Onze, Hors Serie 14, 1982
(June 16, 1982, World Cup, England 3-France 1)
Photo From: Onze, Hors Serie 14, 1982
(June 16, 1982, World Cup, England 3-France 1)
Photo From: L'Integrale
de L'Equipe de France de Football, Authors J.M. and Pierre Cazal, Michel
Oreggia, 1998
(France squad, June 16, 1982, World Cup, England
3-France 1)
Photo From: Goal, Issue 30, March 1998
(England squad, June 16, 1982, World Cup, England
3-France 1)
Date:June 21, 1982
Competition:FIFA World Cup- Group D
Result: France 4-Kuwait 1
Venue: Valladolid, Nueva Estadio José
Zorilla, Spain
Attendance: 30,000
Referee:
Miroslav Stupar (USSR)
Linesmen: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden), Damir Matovinovic (Yugoslavia)
Kick-off
time: 17:15
Goalscorers:
(France): Bernard Genghini
31, Michel Platini 43, Didier Six 48, Maxime Bossis 89
(Kuwait): Abdullah Al-Buloushi 75
Summary of goals:
1:0 (31st minute, France): Bernard Genghini
scored from a free kick.
2:0 (43rd minute, France): From the middle,
Platini received a pass from Giresse at the edge of box and advanced to score.
3:0 (48th
minute, France): From the middle,
Platini lobbed a pass to Six, who chested, controlled and volleyed.
3:1 (75th
minute, Kuwait): Abdulaziz
Al-Anbari took a free kick quickly to Al
Buloushi on the right who scored.
4:1 (89th
minute, France): Soler was impeded by Abdullah Mayouf. Bossis took
a loose ball on the left side, advanced and from a narrow angle scored.
Lineups:
France:
22- Jean-Luc Ettori
(Association Sportive de Monaco)
4-Maxime Bossis (Football Club de Nantes)
2-Manuel Amoros (Association Sportive de Monaco)
8-Marius Tresor (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
5-Gerard Janvion (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire) (6-Christian
Lopez (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire) 60)
9-Bernard Genghini (Football Club de Sochaux-Montbéliard)
12-Alain Giresse (Girondins
de Bordeaux Football Club)
19-Didier Six (Verein für
Bewegungspiele Stuttgart 1893 e.V./ West Germany)
10-Michel Platini (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire) (11-Rene
Girard (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club) 81)
17-Bernard Lacombe (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
20-Gerard Soler (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
Coach: Michel Hidalgo
Booked: Manuel Amoros 68
Other Substitutes:
21-Jean Castaneda (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
15-Bruno Bellone (Association Sportive de Monaco)
16-Alain Couriol (Association Sportive de Monaco)
Team Captain: Michel Platini
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: White Shirts, Blue Shorts,
Red Socks
Note:
1- Platini scored on his 27th
birthday.
2-Bossis had a goal
disallowed in the 69th minute. He later scored in the 89th
minute. This was his first International goal.
3-Alain Giresse scored a goal
which was initially given in the 82nd minute. However. the Kuwaitis
protested that they had stopped playing after hearing a whistle (which had come
from the crowd.)
Kuwait FA chief Prince fahd
Al-Yaber Al Sabah came onto the field and protested. The referee relented and
disallowed the goal.
For Prince Fahed's
interference an £8.000 fine was imposed on the Kuwaitis by FIFA.
4-France’s first win on foreign soil in three years.
5-There were a number of
changes from the previous match. Battiston, Lopez, Girard, Larios and Rocheteau
were out. Amoros, Janvion (as a stopper), Genghini, Lacombe and Six came in
their place.
1:0 (33rd
minute, France): Platini’s cross
from the right side was shot in by Giresse.
2:0 (46th
minute, France): A long clearance
reached Rocheteau upfield on the left side, and he advanced from the edge of
the box.
3:0 (68th
minute, France): Giresse took a free
kick on the left side, he passed across at the edge of the box to Rocheteau who
dribbled and shot in.
3:1 (75th
minute, France): Whiteside’s cross
from the left side that was deflected by Ettori. It reached Armstrong at the
far-right post who shot in.
4:1 (80th
minute, France): Tigana’s cross from
the right side was headed in by Giresse.
Lineups:
France:
22- Jean-Luc Ettori
(Association Sportive de Monaco)
4-Maxime Bossis (Football Club de Nantes)
2-Manuel Amoros (Association Sportive de Monaco)
5-Gerard Janvion (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
8-Marius Tresor (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
12-Alain Giresse (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
14-Jean Tigana (Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club)
9-Bernard Genghini (Football Club de Sochaux-Montbéliard)
20-Gerard Soler (Girondins de
Bordeaux Football Club) (19-Didier Six (Verein für Bewegungspiele Stuttgart
1893 e.V./ West Germany) 63)
10-Michel Platini (captain) (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne
Loire)
18-Dominique Rocheteau (Paris Saint-Germain Football Club) (16-Alain
Couriol (Association Sportive de Monaco) 84)
Coach: Michel Hidalgo
Booked: Jean Tigana 57
Other Substitutes:
3- Patrick Battiston (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
6-Christian Lopez (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
21-Jean Castaneda (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire)
Team Captain: Michel Platini
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: Blue Shirts, White Shorts, Red Socks
Note:
1-France employed a 4-4-2 formation with Rocheteau and Soler as
strikers.
Northern Ireland:
1- Patrick Anthony Jennings
(Arsenal Football Club-London / England)
2- James Michael Nicholl (Toronto
Blizzard / Canada)
3- Malachy Martin Donaghy
(Luton Town Football Club / England)
5- Christopher John Nicholl
(Southampton Football Club / England)
12- John McClelland (Rangers
Football Club-Glasgow / Scotland)
10- Samuel Baxter McIlroy (Stoke
City Football Club / England)
8- Martin Hugh Michael
O'Neill (Norwich City Football Club / England)
4- David McCreery (Tulsa
Roughnecks / USA) (6- John Patrick O'Neill (Leicester City Football Club /
England) 86)
9- Gerard Joseph Armstrong
(Watford Football Club / England)
11- William Robert Hamilton
(Burnley Football Club / England)
16- Norman Whiteside
(Manchester United Football Club / England)
Coach: William Laurence
Bingham
Booked: William Robert
Hamilton 59
Other Substitutes:
14-Thomas Cassidy (Burnley
Football Club / England)
15-Thomas Finney (Cambridge
United Football Club / England)
17-James Archibald Platt
(Middlesbrough Football Club / England)
20-James Cleary (Glentoran
Football Club-Belfast)
Team Captain: Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: White Shirts, Green Shorts, White Socks
Note:
1- Martin O’Neill scored a goal which was disallowed for
offside, while the match was still scoreless. Television replays later revealed
that he was onside.
Photo From:
L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(July 4, 1982, World Cup, France 4-Northern
Ireland 1)
Photo From: Onze, Issue 79, July 1982
(July 4, 1982, World Cup, France 4-Northern
Ireland 1)
Photo From: Onze, Issue 79, July 1982
(July 4, 1982, World Cup, France 4-Northern
Ireland 1)
Photo From: Onze, Issue 79, July 1982
(July 4, 1982, World Cup, France 4-Northern
Ireland 1)
Photo From: Onze, Issue 79, July 1982
(July 4, 1982, World Cup, France 4-Northern
Ireland 1)
Venue: Seville, Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Spain
Attendance: 63,000
Referee: Charles G. R.
Corver (Holland)
Linesmen: Bob Valentine (Scotland), Bruno Galler (Switzerland)
Kick-off time: 21:00
Goalscorers:
(West Germany): Pierre Littbarski 17, Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge 102, Klaus Fischer 108
(France): Michel Platini 26 pen,
MariusTresor 92, Alain Giresse 98
Summary of goals:
1:0 (17th
minute, West Germany): Ettori could only
parry an attempt by Fischer; the deflected ball reached Pierre Littbarski who
scored from outside of the box, on the right.
1:1 (26th
minute, France): France were awarded
a penalty kick after Bernd Forster
fouled Rocheteau in the box. Michel Platini scored from the ensuing penalty
kick.
1:2 (92nd minute, France): Giresse took a free
kick on the right side and crossed it near the penalty kick spot to Marius
Tresor, who had been remarkably unmarked. He smashed a volley into the net.
1:3 (98th
minute, France): Platini passed to Didier
Six on the left side, who in turn passed it to the onrushing Alain Giresse
whose long-distance shot deflected off the post into the net.
2:3 (102nd
minute, West Germany): Rummenigge pounced
on a cross from Littbarski from the left side.
3:3 (108th
minute, West Germany): A cross from
Littbarski on the left was headed across the goal by Hrubesch and Klaus Fischer
tied up the match with an overhead kick.
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