In 1950 the ‘kings of football’ were presented as certain to win, but what followed was calamitous
Roll back 70 years to a grey, austere postwar Britain, still in ruins, still enduring food rationing, queues and misery, a nation where football provided a scarce escape. It was also when, for the first time, England took part in the game’s major global tournament, the World Cup, which began on 19 June 1950 in Brazil.
To hyperbole stirred up by the national prints, England were presented as certain to be returning home triumphantly from South America with the Jules Rimet trophy. Failure was never considered. Here, after all, was the greatest assembly of footballing talent ever to leave England’s shores: Matthews, Finney, Mannion, Mortensen, Wright and Milburn, a confection of Boy’s Own heroes. It was, after all, England’s game.
Written by Neil Duncanson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/jun/01/englands-first-world-cup-adventure-1950-brazil under the title “
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