<P> This is a record of England's results at the FIFA World Cup . The World Cup is the premier competitive international football tournament, first played in 1930, whose finals stage has been held every four years since, except 1942 and 1946, due to World War II . </P> <P> The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals . The current format of the finals involves thirty two teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month . The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 Final . </P> <P> England did not enter the competition until 1950, but has entered all seventeen subsequent tournaments except in 1994 in USA, It has failed to qualify for the finals on three occasions, 1974 (West Germany), 1978 (Argentina) and 1994 (United States). Their best ever performance is winning the Cup in the 1966 tournament held in England, and reaching fourth place in 1990, held in Italy . Other than that, the team has reached the quarter finals on six occasions, including 2002 (Korea / Japan), and 2006 (Germany). The 2014 (Brazil) World Cup was their worst ever performance in a major tournament . </P> <P> England were eliminated in the first round for the first time since the 1958 Competition (Sweden). For the first time, they lost both their first two matches, and did not advance from the group stage . They had only one point (from a goalless draw with Costa Rica), and, following a 1--0 loss by Italy against Costa Rica, could not reach the knockout stage . </P>

When did england not qualify for the world cup