WFI‘s Adam Brandon counts down to Russia 2018 with 90 World Cup goals in 90 days, scored in the minute corresponding to the day in the countdown.
Context
Four years after England had beaten West Germany in a dramatic World Cup final at Wembley, the two countries faced off in León, Mexico.
England had been beaten by the incredible Brazil side in the group stages, nonetheless they had put up a credible fight that suggested they may well reach the final again.
A poor showing in a 1-0 win over Czechoslovakia dampened the optimism before England headed into the KO stages.
West Germany had impressed in the group stages with three wins out of the three. So this was all set up to be a thrilling encounter with the Germans looking to revenge their defeat in London four years earlier.
However, for the first hour of the game the Three Lions looked comfortable and got themselves a two goal lead going into the final twenty-five minutes. West Germany looked short of answers.
Then, Franz Beckenbauer hit a shot from range that deceived stand-in goalkeeper Peter Bonetti to reduce the deficit.
Not long after, England manager Alf Ramsey took off Bobby Charlton to try and defend the narrow advantage.
However, this move freed up Franz Beckenbauer to roam further forward and it wouldn’t be long before the West Germans grabbed the equaliser.
The Goal
With just eight minutes left, Germany continued to press and England sat deeper – Seeler took advantage with a smart headed effort:
What Happened Next?
West Germany beat England in extra time and continued to the semi-finals where they faced Italy in another remarkable match.
This time, however, the West Germans were on the wrong end of the final score as they fell to a 4-3 defeat AET against Italy – remarkably the match was only 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.
Die Mannschaft bounced back to beat Uruguay to claim third place and would finally win the competition again four years later on home soil.
Uwe Seeler spent his whole career playing for Hamburger SV in Germany and was named German footballer of the year for the third time in 1970. He retired in 1972 with 43 goals in 72 matches for his national team, captaining them on a number of occasions.
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