Match No. 257 - Thursday, 29th June 1950, 6:00pm

  •  
    • 1
    • Bert WilliamsWolves, 9th of 24 caps
      30 years, 4 months, 29 days
      Goalkeeper
    • 2
    • Alf RamseySpurs, 7th of 32 caps
      30 years, 5 months, 7 days
      Right Back
    • 3
    • Jack AstonMan Utd, 16th of 17 caps
      28 years, 9 months, 26 days
      Left Back
    • 4
    • Billy WrightWolves, 31st of 105 caps
      26 years, 4 months, 23 days
      Right Half
      (c)16th captaincy
    • 5
    • Laurie HughesLiverpool, 2nd of 3 caps
      26 years, 3 months, 27 days
      Centre Back
    • 6
    • Jimmy DickinsonPortsmouth, 9th of 48 caps
      25 years, 2 months, 5 days
      Left Half
    • 7
    • Tom FinneyPreston NE, 27th of 76 caps
      28 years, 2 months, 24 days
      Outside Right
    • 8
    • Wilf MannionMiddlesbrough, 21st of 26 caps
      32 years, 1 month, 13 days
      Inside Right
    • 9
    • Roy BentleyChelsea, 6th of 12 caps
      26 years, 1 month, 12 days
      Centre Forward
    • 10
    • Stan MortensenBlackpool, 20th of 25 caps
      29 years, 1 month, 3 days
      Inside Left
    • 11
    • Jimmy MullenWolves, 6th of 12 caps
      27 years, 5 months, 23 days
      Outside Left
  • "The Americans hung stubbornly on to the lead they gained in the 38th minute, through a fine 20 yards [sic] shot by the Argentine-born centre forward Gaetjens. He sent the ball crashing into the corner of the net through a crowd of players, with Williams, perhaps, unsighted." Joe Gaetjens, 38'
    • 1
    • Frank BorghiFrank Borghi.
      Born 9th Apr 1925, St, Louis.
    • 2
    • Harry KeoughHarry Joseph Keough.
      Born 15th Nov 1927, St. Louis.
    • 3
    • Joe MacaJoseph Andre Maca.
      Born 28th Sep 1920, Brussels, Belgium.
    • 4
    • Ed McIlvennyEdward Joseph McIlvenny.
      Born 21st Oct 1924, Greenock, Scotland.
      (c)
    • 5
    • Charlie ColomboCharles Martin Colombo.
      Born 20th Jul 1920, St. Louis.
    • 6
    • Walter BahrWalter Alfred Bahr.
      Born 1st Apr 1927, Philadelphia.
    • 7
    • Frank WallaceFrank Wallace.
      Born 15th Jul 1922, St. Louis.
    • 8
    • Gino ParianiVirginio Peter Pariani.
      Born 21st Feb 1928, St. Louis.
    • 9
    • Joe GaetjensJoseph Edouard Gaetjens.
      Born 19th Mar 1924, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
    • 10
    • John SouzaJohn Souza-Benavides.
      Born 12th Jul 1920, Fall River, MA.
    • 11
    • Ed SouzaEdward Souza-Neto.
      Born 22nd Sep 1921, Fall River, MA.

Notes

  • Match Report"Yesterday's team gave probably the worst display ever by an England side, and not a single player could be proud of his showing."
    Inexplicably the FA had asked their best player, Stanley Matthews, to go on a "goodwill tour" of Canada during the start of the tournament and he only arrived just before this match. With Matthews available, the sole FA Selection Committee member present, Mr. Arthur Drewry from Grimsby, decided against selecting him because he didn't want to change the winning team that had beaten Chile 2-0 in the opening match.
    Probably the most infamous and humiliating defeat by an English side. A by-product of the still persisting arrogance of the English and the FA that the English team was still superior to "foreign" opposition and their luke-warm attitude to the World Cup in 1950.
    Despite all those factors, never had England played so badly, never had they come up against "fitter, faster and better fighters", according to Sir Stanley Rous, and never had they had such bad luck.

Sources

  • England - The Quest for the World Cup - A Complete Record by Clive Leatherdale (Two Heads Publishing 1994)
  • England: The Complete Post-War Record by Mike Payne (Breedon Books Publishing Company 1993)
  • Official FIFA report
  • The Anatomy of England by Jonathan Wilson (Orion 2010)
  • Western Morning News "England beaten by United States in Word Cup", Friday, 30th June 1950, page 8.
  • Liverpool Echo "Deplorable display", Friday 20th June 1950, page 7.

Managers

Referee

  • Italy Generoso Dattilo

Attendance

  • 10,151

Half Time Score

ELO Ratings

  • Down 1 place, losing -57 ranking points to 2023 points England - 2nd - 1
  • United States - 31st

World Cup 1950

(Pool 2)

    •  
    • Pts
    • GD
    • L
    • D
    • W
    • P
    • Flag of Spain
    • Spain
    • 6
    • +5
    • 0
    • 0
    • 3
    • 3
    • Flag of England
    • England
    • 2
    • 0
    • 2
    • 0
    • 1
    • 3
    • Flag of Chile
    • Chile
    • 2
    • -1
    • 2
    • 0
    • 1
    • 3
    • Flag of United Sta...
    • United Sta...
    • 2
    • -4
    • 2
    • 0
    • 1
    • 3
    • Final Standings.