<P> In the 1966 World Cup Finals, England used their home advantage and, under Ramsey, won their first, and only, World Cup title . England played all their games at Wembley Stadium in London, which became the last time that the hosts were granted this privilege . After drawing 0--0 in the opening game against former champions Uruguay, which started a run of four games all ending goalless . England then beat both France and Mexico 2--0 and qualified for the quarter - finals . </P> <P> The quarter - finals saw England play Argentina, which ended in a 1--0 win to England . This match saw the start of the rivalry between England and Argentina, when Argentinian Antonio Rattín was dismissed by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein in a very fierce game . A 2--1 win against Portugal in the semi-final then followed . Portugal were the first team to score against England in the tournament . The final saw England play West Germany, with the result finishing in a 4--2 win for England, after extra time . </P> <P> 1970 saw the first World Cup finals take place in North America and England qualified automatically for the tournament by winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup . England were drawn in a group with Romania, former world champions Brazil and Czechoslovakia . Each of the matches only saw one goal, with England defeating Romania and Czechoslovakia, and losing to Brazil . The quarter - final saw a repeat of the 1966 final, with England playing West Germany . England were hampered by the fact that first - choice goalkeeper Gordon Banks was ill, and Peter Bonetti played instead . England led 2--0 with goals by Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, but in the 70th minute, Franz Beckenbauer pulled one goal back for West Germany . </P> <P> After Beckenbauer's goal, Ramsey substituted Bobby Charlton, who overtook Billy Wright as England's most capped player ever, with caps totalling 106 . Uwe Seeler equalised for the Germans in the eighty first minute, thereby taking the game into extra time . During extra time, Gerd Müller scored the winning goal for West Germany which saw the German side win 3--2 . This turned out to be Charlton's last game for England . </P>

When did england last win an opening game at the world cup