No noise. No nonsense. Just England.
Hosted by Brazil
England: Group stage
How England performed
England qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with a perfect record, winning all three of their Group 1 qualifiers. Milburn scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Wales at Ninian Park, Rowley struck four times in a 9–2 defeat of Ireland at Maine Road, and Bentley's goal settled a 1–0 win over Scotland at Hampden Park.
In the finals, Walter Winterbottom's side, captained by Billy Wright, opened with a 2–0 win over Chile at the Maracanã, Mortensen and Mannion scoring. They then lost 1–0 to the United States in Belo Horizonte and 1–0 to Spain back at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, results that ended their tournament at the group stage. England finished with one win and two defeats from three matches, scoring two goals and conceding two.
England fixtures
Chile
0–2
England
England won
England: Mortensen 27', Mannion 51'
Chile: None
United States
1–0
England
England lost
England: None
United States: Gaetjens 38'
Spain
1–0
England
England lost
England: None
Spain: Zarra 49'
England statistics
Full England squad
| Player | Pos | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Aston | DF | Manchester United | – |
| Eddie Baily | FW | Tottenham Hotspur | – |
| Roy Bentley | FW | Chelsea | – |
| Henry Cockburn | MF | Manchester United | – |
| Jimmy Dickinson | MF | Portsmouth | – |
| Ted Ditchburn | GK | Tottenham Hotspur | – |
| Bill Eckersley | DF | Blackburn Rovers | – |
| Tom Finney | FW | Preston North End | – |
| Laurie Hughes | DF | Liverpool | – |
| Wilf Mannion | FW | Middlesbrough | 1 |
| Stanley Matthews | FW | Blackpool | – |
| Jackie Milburn | FW | Newcastle United | – |
| Stan Mortensen | FW | Blackpool | 1 |
| Jimmy Mullen | FW | Wolverhampton Wanderers | – |
| Bill Nicholson | MF | Tottenham Hotspur | – |
| Alf Ramsey | DF | Tottenham Hotspur | – |
| Laurie Scott | DF | Arsenal | – |
| Jim Taylor | DF | Fulham | – |
| Willie Watson | MF | Sunderland | – |
| Bert Williams | GK | Wolverhampton Wanderers | – |
| Billy Wright C | MF | Wolverhampton Wanderers | – |
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