World Cup qual. - England's home discomfort

Eurosport - Fri, 10 Oct 09:17:00 2008

Kazakhstan are ranked 131 in the world and have nobody you've ever heard of. Surely England can't slip up at Wembley on Saturday. Can they?

2007 England Steve McClaren wally with the brolly - 0

Eurosport-Yahoo! attempts to ward off complacency by plumbing the depths of England's murky past to find the worst home performances of all-time.

The conclusion? No matter how mediocre the opposition, England can cock it up big time. Fabio Capello beware.

England's roll of shame

England 0-2 Ireland - Goodison Park, 1949

This was England's first home defeat to anyone outside the UK and set the trend for decades of failure to follow. Walter Winterbottom's men made a dominant start but failed to score, then sat back and got walloped. Con Martin scored the opener, Peter Farrell finished the job five minutes from time.

England 3-6 Hungary - Wembley, 1953

"Look at that little fat chap," said one England player as they lined up for the anthems against the Magyars. "We'll murder this lot." The little fat chap was Ferenc Puskas, and it was he that did the murdering. Puskas scored twice, Nandor Hidegkuti grabbed a hat-trick and England were humbled. Hungary, it turns out, were good.

England 1-1 Poland - Wembley, 1973

Brian Clough never got the England job, but got some revenge when he infamously called Polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski "a clown" before this must-win 1974 World Cup qualifier. The thing about clowns is they have big hands, and Tomaszewski used them to great effect, ensuring England did not qualify.

England 1-2 Scotland - Wembley, 1977

Of all England's home defeats at the Tartan Army (and there have been 18), this is probably the most humiliating. Goals from Gordon McQueen and Kenny Dalglish secured the Home Championship and the visiting fans celebrated by ripping up the pitch and breaking a crossbar - which now resides in Rod Stewart's garden.

England 1-2 Uruguay - Wembley, 1990

Given how Italia '90 went, it is hard to recall the sense of depression that hung over England going into the World Cup. England produced a god-awful performance in their final home pre-tournament friendly against Uruguay. It was so bad it might have caused a riot had Wembley not been less than half full.

England 0-1 Germany - Wembley, 2000

Germany's visit presented England with the perfect chance to give the original Wembley Stadium a rousing send-off, but instead it descended into a soggy farce. Amid torrential rain, Didi Hamann beat David Seaman with a long-range free-kick and Kevin Keegan resigned during his post-match interview. Shambolic.

England 2-2 Macedonia - St Mary's, 2002

If there really are 'no easy games' left in international football, it's only because of the major countries' rank incompetence. David Seaman had a nightmare, England trailed twice and then, having drawn level, spent a futile hour trying and failing to break through a paper-thin Macedonian back line.

England 1-3 Australia - Upton Park, 2003

Nothing hurts like a sporting defeat to the Aussies, particularly when it is a sport at which they are meant to be rubbish. England's capitulation came in humiliating fashion and featured 11 substitutions at half-time when trailing 2-0. Still at least Francis Jeffers got his international career off to a great start with a goal.

England 0-0 Macedonia - Old Trafford, 2006

Ah, this lot again. This was the moment when the nation realised Steve McClaren's appointment might not have been the masterstroke it appeared when England thrashed Greece 4-0 in a meaningless friendly. Even worse than the first Macedonia draw - England never even looked like scoring.

England 2-3 Croatia - Wembley, 2007

So awful for so many reasons. England should have been out already but Russia lost to Israel and gave them a lifeline. Scott Carson replaced David James in an all-too-literal sense as England fell 2-0 behind early on. Having pulled level, McClaren's men drew on fresh reserves of incompetence and lost the game all over again.

Follow live minute-by-minute coverage of England v Kazakhstan and all matches featuring Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland on eurosport.yahoo.co.uk!

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 81 - 100 of 100

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  1. i agree with mighty molby. the press have put to much presure on england and go on about how bad we are for ages, but when we destroy a good team like croatia they stop writing about it after 2 mins.

    From ripped of, on Sat 11 Oct 10:33AM

  2. on paper we SHOULD win both tehse games quite
    easily but if we scrpe through 1-0,2-0 its still
    a win with 12pts out 0ff 12.
    COME ON BRING IT ON.

    From nigemellings@..., on Sat 11 Oct 10:20AM

  3. Peter Crouch can score tomorrow if he come in early..i'm sure..!

    From mean_maroon, on Fri 10 Oct 8:37PM

  4. THE 3 LIONS CAN BEAT ANYBODY . CONFIDENCE MIXED WITH A GUYLISH ATTIDUDE OF SELF
    BELIEF CAN BEAT ANY OPPOSITION WHEN FORM IS AT A PEAK. THE LIKES OF A TOP RACE HORSE YOU CAN T CHANGE A THOROUGH-BRED

    From W, on Fri 10 Oct 7:27PM

  5. OF COURSE THIS IS UNHELPFUL... YOU WOULDN'T SIT A BOXER DOWN IN THE DRESSING ROOM BEFORE A FIGHT AND REMIND HIM OF THE LAST TIME HE GOT KNOCKED OUT!! CONFIDENTS IS A FRAGILE THING. THIS ARTICLE IS DESTRUCTIVE, THE ENGLAND MANAGER AND PLAYERS ARE MORE THAN AWARE OF THEIR SHORTCOMINGS AND SO ARE WE. LET'S NOT RUB IT IN, LET'S CHEER THE LADS ON AND STOP STANDING FOR THIS TYPE OF NEGATIVE DRIVLE.

    From mighty_molby, on Fri 10 Oct 5:57PM

  6. loom at croatia's home worst results...one one croatia 1-4 england, in their history as a country....

    before this result i would agree to be negative on home slip-ups, but now no way, they can only happen away for wolrd cup qulaifiers. We are in complete control.

    From jono, on Fri 10 Oct 4:38PM

  7. Why have we got an Italian manager?
    I can list a dozen English managers
    who should be given a try at the job.
    I would rather lose with an English
    manager, than win with a foreigner.
    Where is the glory in winning with
    a foreign boss.?
    Harry Jones
    Liverpool

    From EDWARD J, on Fri 10 Oct 2:40PM

  8. The "great football nation" that has been in knockdown since 1966 had been finally knocked out by its only FA because it only drawn by its greed for money, resulting in awesome debt ratio, debts of clubs made to get them the most overpriced players, get them spoiled for high wages, lets them whine about workload!!!, youngters cannot be regulars except in teams out of the so called "big four" - thus no decent int. team, and so on and so on, REALLY needs reminders to get their act together not to go down in dispair. I really enjoyed how they played some 12 years ago and its a pitty.

    Well done to the authors.

    From Todor T, on Fri 10 Oct 1:48PM

  9. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS OF PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

    From , on Fri 10 Oct 1:47PM

  10. Just give them achance and stop slagging them off all the time

    From ken.treherne1@..., on Fri 10 Oct 1:10PM

  11. Following on from 83 & 89, The only prominent moment since 1966 would have to be the 5-1 thrashing of Germany in front of their fans. I believe that Capello is slowly getting the players to believe in themselves again, but trying to instill passion into them will have to come from Stuart Pierce.

    From Simon L, on Fri 10 Oct 10:49AM

  12. Reply to post 83. Englands greatest wins.... Yes, there have been some good results in certain matches, but the fact is England have not won a major trophy since 1966!

    From Don, on Fri 10 Oct 9:45AM

  13. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ENGLAND AREN'T DOING WELL BECAUSE NO-ONE BELIEVES? YOU ALL SHOULD STOP SLAMMING THEM AND SUPPORT THEM!!!!

    From Neil, on Fri 10 Oct 9:42AM

  14. But to answer the question England will win and win easily! England will be a good side now they have right manager! They will win the group easy! And I say this as a Northern Ireland Fan!

    From martin5555, on Fri 10 Oct 9:31AM

  15. Why cant you all just surport are team,insteat of just knocking them all the time,all we ever see is the bad side of england,lets see some of the good things,we got great players,maybe all you knockers are not english,or if you are, not true Brits.

    From heidi, on Fri 10 Oct 9:26AM

  16. Northen Ireland 1 England 0 - Sept 05 ! Another

    From martin5555, on Fri 10 Oct 9:24AM

  17. What is really wrong with this article. is there an issue with a warning sign to a fulfilling. This does not run anyone's morale down. It only says watch it and give all the attention.

    From Dele O, on Fri 10 Oct 9:18AM

  18. Any chance of an Englands greatest wins article too?

    Something positive about our great footballing nation?

    From daniellatarrant, on Fri 10 Oct 9:06AM

  19. Dear Alex Chick, you talk like a.... well... Chick.... you @#$%! Why don't you just shut up and in today's world of doom an gloom write that is motivating! Get a life you G1T!

    From Mr.L, on Fri 10 Oct 8:51AM

  20. check out Mardy Mark J ! lol ! enjoy yourself with the bbc wont you Mark cos we all know their football coverage is really good dont we !

    Bet you've got a poster of Lineaker above your bed innit !

    From dale, on Fri 10 Oct 8:49AM
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