<P> Modern studies using film analysis and computer simulation show that the ball never crossed the line--both Duncan Gillies of the Visual Information Processing Group at Imperial College London and Ian Reid and Andrew Zisserman of the Department of Engineering Science at University of Oxford agree that the ball would have needed to travel a further 2.5--6.0 cm to fully cross the line, and that therefore it was not a goal . Furthermore, there exists colour footage of Hurst's goal, taken from another angle by an amateur cameraman in the stands and having a view almost parallel to the English goal line . This film material shows that the ball did not cross the goal line in full . </P> <P> Some Germans cited possible bias of the Soviet linesman, especially as the USSR had just been defeated in the semi-finals by West Germany . Bahramov later stated in his memoirs that he believed the ball had bounced back not from the crossbar, but from the net and that he was not able to observe the rest of the scene, so it did not matter where the ball hit the ground anyway . (An apocryphal story exists that Bahramov, when asked later why he gave the goal, simply replied "Stalingrad ." There is no evidence that this is genuine .) Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst did not see the scene . </P> <P> One minute before the end of play, the West Germans sent their defenders forward in a desperate attempt to score a last - minute equaliser . Winning the ball, Bobby Moore picked out the unmarked Geoff Hurst with a long pass, which Hurst carried forward while some spectators began streaming onto the field and Hurst scored moments later . Hurst later admitted that his blistering shot was as much intended to send the ball as far into the Wembley stands as possible should it miss, in order to kill time on the clock . </P> <P> The final goal gave rise to one of the most famous sayings in English football, when BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme described the situation as follows: </P>

Who scored the winning goal for england in the 1966 world cup final