Tom Finney sparred with the Soviets, the ‘golden generation’ raised hopes – and the heroes of ‘66 were booed off at Wembley

1950 England 2 Chile 0

Goals from Stan Mortensen and Wilf Mannion helped England secure a comfortable victory over Chile in Rio, only for them to lose their next two matches against USA and Spain and head home early.

1954 England 4 Belgium 4

The meeting with Belgium in Basel ended in a thrilling draw after extra time. Two goals each for Ivor Broadis and Nat Lofthouse set the tone but England were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals by Uruguay.

1958 England 2 Soviet Union 2

Trailing 2-0 to the Soviet Union with 65 minutes gone in Gothenburg, Derek Kevan was England’s unlikely saviour as the West Brom striker pulled one back before Tom Finney’s late penalty earned a point. A 1-0 defeat in a play-off saw the Soviets gain revenge.

1962 England 1 Hungary 2

Taking part in his fourth World Cup as manager, Walter Winterbottom saw his side go behind to Hungary after 17 minutes in Chile before Ron Flowers equalised from the spot. Flórián Albert’s winner condemned England to second place and a meeting with holders Brazil.

1966 England 0 Uruguay 0

Alf Ramsey’s “wingless wonders” gave little indication of what was to come against a disciplined Uruguay team as a drab match ended in stalemate. The Wembley crowd jeered the players off the pitch.

1970 England 1 Romania 0

Geoff Hurst continued where he left off four years earlier with the only goal of the game against Romania in Guadalajara. England ended up second in the group behind Brazil and were knocked out by West Germany in the next round.

1982 England 3 France 1

After a 12-year absence from the finals, Bryan Robson took just 27 seconds to open the scoring against France in Bilbao. A Robson header and a late goal from Paul Mariner rounded off a 3-1 win.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bryan Robson of England is lifted off the ground by team-mate Terry Butcher after scoring an early goal against France in 1982. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

1986 England 0 Portugal 1

In the stifling heat of Monterrey, Portugal’s Carlos Manuel inflicted England’s second defeat in an opening match. But Bobby Robson’s side had the last laugh as they went through after beating Poland.

1990 England 1 Republic of Ireland 1

Gary Lineker put England ahead in the ninth minute in Cagliari before Kevin Sheedy rescued a point for the Republic of Ireland. Lineker later admitted to defecating on the pitch due to a stomach bug.

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1998 England 2 Tunisia 0

Amid unpleasant crowd trouble in Marseille, England defeated Tunisia thanks to goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes. Glenn Hoddle’s side made it through to a last-16 tie against Argentina, only for it all to end in penalty heartache.

2002 England 1 Sweden 1

Sol Campbell gave England the dream start against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s home country but a mistake from Danny Mills allowed Niclas Alexandersson to secure a point for Sweden. A quarter-final defeat to 10-man Brazil ensued.

2006 England 1 Paraguay 0

Carlos Gamarra’s own goal in the third minute gifted England the lead against Paraguay in Frankfurt and Eriksson’s side hung on to claim a narrow victory on their way to topping the group. This time, it was Portugal who inflicted penalty shootout agony in the last eight.

2010 England 1 USA 1

Yet another quick start courtesy of Steven Gerrard’s fourth-minute goal – not seen by ITV HD viewers, who were shown an advert instead – ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw after Rob Green’s clanger allowed Clint Dempsey to equalise.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Steven Gerrard of England celebrates after scoring his goal during the 2010 FIFA World Cup group match against USA. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

2014 England 1 Italy 2

Despite Daniel Sturridge cancelling out Claudio Marchisio’s opener, England’s trip to the Amazonian jungle ended in a defeat against Italy thanks to a header from Mario Balotelli. Another loss to Uruguay saw Roy Hodgson’s side crash out.