<P> England went into their final game with San Marino knowing they would need a seven - goal victory and for Poland to beat the Netherlands in the other match in order to qualify . In the game against San Marino, Davide Gualtieri scored against England after nine seconds, taking the lead for the outsiders . England went on to win 7--1, which was too small a goal margin . Additionally, despite the half - time score between the Poles and the Dutch being 1 - 1, the Dutch went on to win 3 - 1, meaning that however many goals England scored, they could still not qualify . Taylor's tenure in charge ended and he was replaced by Terry Venables, who was dismissed after England lost the semi-final of Euro 1996, hosted in England . </P> <P> After missing out on the World Cup in 1994, England, managed by Glenn Hoddle, qualified for the World Cup in France . England were drawn in Group 2 of UEFA qualifying with Italy, Poland, Georgia and Moldova . England beat Poland, Georgia and Moldova both home and away, but a home defeat to Italy in their fourth match meant they went into the final qualifier at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome just a point ahead of the Azzurri and only needing a draw to qualify automatically; defeat would see them have to navigate a play - off to secure qualification . The match finished as a goalless draw and England finished top of the group . </P> <P> At the finals in France, England played in Group G. England defeated Tunisia 2--0 in the first game, with goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes . Their second match saw England lose 2--1 to Romania; despite an 81st - minute equaliser from Michael Owen, Dan Petrescu scored a winner shortly before injury time . In their final group game, England defeated Colombia 2--0 in the decisive match, thanks to goals from midfielders Darren Anderton and David Beckham . England finished second in Group G, which saw them qualify for the last 16 phase, and play the winner of 1998 FIFA World Cup Group H, Argentina . </P> <P> In a fiery game containing six yellow cards and two penalties, David Beckham was controversially sent off in the 47th minute for what many felt was at most a yellow card offence, knocking over Diego Simeone . Gabriel Batistuta opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of the game, before an equaliser also from the spot by Alan Shearer four minutes later . England took the lead through Owen, in the 16th minute . Argentina drew level through Javier Zanetti in injury time of the first half . </P>

When did england last win an opening world cup match