World Cup 2014 countdown: Bobby Charlton fires England to the 1966 final

Counting down the 100 greatest moments in the history of the World Cup

Simon Rice
Tuesday 01 April 2014 18:32 BST
Comments
(GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The World Cup in Brazil is coming into view and everyone is hoping this summer's carnival can take its place among some of the great tournaments of the past.

That won't be easy though, as this series will testify. In the run-up to the tournament, we're counting down the 100 greatest World Cup moments.

Check out our latest instalment below, and for any you missed, see the gallery at the end of the article.

Bobby Charlton fires England to the 1966 final

Bobby Charlton was one of the stars of England's World Cup charge, so much so that the Manchester United legend also picked up the European Footballer of the Year that year.

Yet it was his contribution in the semi-final against Portugal that was the most important of his many fine performances.

He scored two goals, meaning Eusebio's late penalty wasn't enough to stop the hosts marching on.

Charlton's first was a cooly taken side footed finish, while his second was a sweetly struck shot after Geoff Hurst had pulled the ball back.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in