England

The national team, then made up of professionals and amateurs, played Scotland in the first official international match at the West of Scotland Cricket Club at Partick, near Glasgow, on 30 November 1872.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw but a tradition had been set in motion and it was not long before Wales and Ireland were added to England's international fixture card.
The England team has always been run by The Football Association, Charles Alcock, Secretary of The FA between 1870 and 1895, being the driving force behind establishing an England team in 1870.
In 1899, a Football Association side toured Germany but it was in 1908 that the full England team went on its first overseas tour, to Austria, Hungary and Bohemia (as the Czech Republic was then called), winning all four games.
Belgium, in 1923, were the first side from the Continent to play a full international in England, and a year later England played their first match at Wembley Stadium, drawing 1-1 with Scotland (although it was not to become England's permanent home until 1966).
It was in 1929 that England lost for the first time to European opponents, Spain triumphing 4-3 in Madrid. More remarkable, though, is the fact that it was not until 1953, 81 years after the first international, that England lost at home to a national side from Europe, Hungary winning 6-3.
Because of a disagreement with FIFA over payments to amateur players, England did not enter the World Cups in 1930, '34 and '38.
After the Second World War, England rejoined FIFA and duly entered the World Cup in 1950, hosted by Brazil. England, hampered by climatic conditions, failed to progress beyond their qualifying group.
In the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, England fared better, losing in the quarter-finals to Uruguay. Four years later, England drew all their group games and failed to qualify for the knock-out phase. In 1962, England progressed to the quarter-finals where they were beaten by Brazil.
England's finest international hour came four years later in 1966, when Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley on 30 July 1966.
Grouped with Uruguay, Mexico and France, England drew one game and won the others to progress to the quarter-finals where Argentina lay in wait. England won a bruising encounter 1-0 and then beat Portugal 2-1 in the semis.
In the final, England won 4-2, after extra-time, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick, the only man to do so in a World Cup Final. The team that day was: G Banks, G Cohen, R Wilson, N Stiles, J Charlton, R Moore, A Ball, R Hunt, R Charlton, G Hurst, M Peters.
England's next-best performance at a World Cup was in 1990 when losing to West Germany on penalties in the semi-final.
England also enters the UEFA European Football Championship (formerly the European Nations Cup).
England first entered in 1962/63, losing in the first round to France. In 1968, England fared better, getting to the semi-finals, a feat they repeated in 1996. Over 1,100 players have been selected for England's senior team, with Peter Shilton, on 125 appearances, the most capped player. Bobby Charlton, with 49 goals, is England's leading goal-scorer.
Sven-Goran Eriksson, the National Team Coach, is the tenth person to hold the job permanently since The FA made Walter Winterbottom its first Director of Coaching in 1946.
Nowadays, The FA is involved in the organisation of more than 50 international matches, home and away, in any one season - at Senior, "B", Under-21, Youth, Schoolboy, Semi-Professional and Women's levels
Following the arrival of Sven-Goran Eriksson as Head Coach in January 2001, the England team enjoyed a period of inspired form, recording 5 successive World Cup victories against Finland, Albania (twice), Greece and Germany, before securing dramatic qualification for the Finals with captain David Beckham's last minute equaliser against Greece.
At the Finals in Korea and Japan, England qualified from the 'group of death' recording a memorable victory of Argentina in the Sapporo Dome. A three-nil win against Denmark in the pouring rain set up a quarter-final against Brazil and Michael Owen gave the Three Lions great hope when he opened the scoring early-on.
However, goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho sent England home and crushed their hopes of lifting the World's biggest prize.
England also reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2004. having negotiated a tricky group involving France, Croatia and Switzerland, England crashed out on penalties to hosts Portugal.
ENGLAND LEGENDSMost Capped Players125 Peter Shilton 1970-1990 (Leicester, Stoke, Nottm Forest, Southampton, Derby County) 108 Bobby Moore 1962-1973 (West Ham United) 106 Sir Bobby Charlton 1958-1970 (Manchester United) 105 Billy Wright 1946-1959 (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 94 David Beckham 1996- (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
Most Goals
49 Sir Bobby Charlton (Manchester United) 48 Gary Lineker (Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur) 44 Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur) 36 Michael Owen (Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United)
England's Youngest Player
Arsenal's Theo Walcott became England's youngest ever player aged just 17 years and 75 days when he made his debut as a substitute against Hungary in May 2006.Walcott's introduction as a second-half substitute in the International Friendly, the Three Lion's penultimate warm-up game prior to the 2006 World Cup, meant that he beat Wayne Rooney's previous record set three years earlier. He was 17 years 111 days when he appeared as a substitute against Australia in February 2003
England Sendings Off
Alan Mullery against Yugoslavia in Florence - 5 June 1968 Alan Ball against Poland in Chorzow - 6 June 1973 Trevor Cherry against Argentina in Buenos Aires - 12 June 1977 Ray Wilkins against Morocco in Monterrey - 6 June 1986 David Beckham against Argentina in Saint-Etienne - 30 June 1998 Paul Ince against Sweden in Stockholm - 5 September 1998 Paul Scholes against Sweden in London - 5 June 1999 David Batty against Poland in Warsaw - 8 September 1999 Alan Smith against Macedonia in Southampton - 16 October 2002 David Beckham against Austria in Manchester - 8 October 2005 Wayne Rooney against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen - 1 July 2006Goals in Three World CupsDavid Beckham's 60th minute free-kick which put England into the 2006 World Cup Quarter-Final also put the captain into the record books as England's first ever player to score in three World Cups.His free-kick against Colombia at France 98 and his penalty versus Argentina in Korea/Japan 2002 were his other World Cup goals.England VenuesWembley became England's permanent home in January 1966 and the team has played at numerous grounds around the country even since then.Here's the list:Alexandra Meadows, Blackburn
Anfield, Liverpool
Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough
Ashton Gate, Bristol City
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
Bramall Lane, Sheffield
City of Manchester, Manchester
County Ground, Derby
Craven Cottage, Fulham
Elland Road, Leeds
Ewood Park, Blackburn
Fratton Park, Portsmouth
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Highbury, London
Hillsborough, Sheffield
Kennington Oval, London
Leamington Road, Blackburn
Leeds Road, Huddersfield
Liverpool Cricket Club, Aigburth
Maine Road, Manchester
Molineux, Wolverhampton
Newcastle Road, Sunderland
Nantwich Road, Crewe
Old Trafford, Manchester
Park Avenue, Bradford
Portman Road, Ipswich
Perry Barr, Birmingham
Pride Park, Derby
Queen's Club, London
Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond
Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
Roker Park, Sunderland
St. James' Park, Newcastle
St. Mary's Park, Southampton
Selhurst Park, London
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, London
The Baseball Ground, Derby
The City Ground, Nottingham
The Crystal Palace, Sydenham
The Dell, Southampton
The Den, Millwall
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Turf Moor, Burnley
Upton Park, West Ham United
Victoria Ground, Stoke
Villa Park, Birmingham
Walkers Stadium, Leicester
Whalley Range, Manchester
White Hart Lane, London