702 - Wednesday, 17th November 1993

"The band had barely finished mangling God Save the Queen when, straight from the kick- off, Pier Domenico Della Valle and Pier Angelo Manzaroli put Stuart Pearce under unexpected pressure, and England's captain sold David Seaman horribly short with a woeful back-pass which let in Davide Gualtieri for San Marino's third goal in 18 competitive fixtures in World Cup or European Championship football."Davide Gualtieri, 1' 0:08

1Pierluigi BenedettiniPierluigi Benedettini.
Born 18th Aug 1961, Murata.
2Mauro ValentiniMauro Valentini.
Born 27th Jul 1973, Viterbo.
48'47:27
3Mirco GennariMirco Gennari.
Born 29th Mar 1966, San Marino.
4Loris ZanottiLoris Zanotti.
Born 13th Sep 1962.
5Claudio CantiClaudio Canti.
Born 24th Jan 1969.
6William GuerraWilliam Guerra.
Born 24th Feb 1968, Detroit, USA.
51'50:45 Guerra came steaming out of defence to send Riply cartwheeling.
7Pierangelo ManzaroliPierangelo Manzaroli.
Born 25th Mar 1969, Rimini.
8Pier Domenico Della VallePier Domenico Della Valle.
Born 4th May 1970, Faetano.
9Nicola BacciocchiNicola Bacciocchi.
Born 16th Dec 1971, Domagnano.
62'61:24
10Massimo BoniniMassimo Bonini.
Born 13th Oct 1959, San Marino.
(c)
11Davide GualtieriDavide Gualtieri.
Born 27th Apr 1971, San Marino.
18'17:01 A wild hack at Sinton.
15Luca GobbiLuca Gobbi.
Born 12th Jun 1971, San Marino.
48'47:27
13Paolo MazzaPaolo Mazza.
Born 27th Oct 1961.
Not ot be confused with Paolo Mazza the Italian coach of the 1962 World Cup. 62'61:24

"Some semblance of sanity was restored when Paul Ince drove home his first international goal..."Paul Ince1st of 2 goals. Right-footed from 25 yards., 22' 21:28
Assist: David Platt. "...after 34 minutes when Benedettini lost a shot from Platt and Wright followed up to put England ahead, at last."Ian Wright2nd of 9 goals. Right-footed from 5 yards., 34' 33:15
"Four minutes later another mistake by Benedettini saw Les Ferdinand shoot into a vacant net, and at 3-1 and 1-1 in Poland, all was not lost."Les Ferdinand3rd of 5 goals. Right-footed from 15 yards., 38' 37:34
Assist: Les Ferdinand. "When Wright, at the far post, headed in Ferdinand's left-wing cross with the second half less than a minute old, it seemed the blue touchpaper was well and truly alight."Ian Wright3rd of 9 goals. Header from 5 yards., 46' 45:31
Assist: Les Ferdinand. "...England wait[ed] until the 73rd minute for their fifth - Ince turning in Ferdinand's cut-back from the byline on the left."Paul Ince2nd of 2 goals. Right-footed from 5 yards., 74' 73:07
Assist: Les Ferdinand. "The sixth, stabbed in by Wright with 12 minutes left, kept the dream alive, but it was not to be."Ian Wright4th of 9 goals. Right-footed from 6 yards., 78' 77:51
Assist: Paul Ince. "...Wright stab in his fourth, deep in stoppage time."Ian Wright5th of 9 goals. Right-footed from 13 yards., 90'+291:50

1David SeamanArsenal, 12th of 75 caps
30 years, 1 month, 28 days
Goalkeeper
2Lee DixonArsenal, 21st of 22 caps
29 years, 8 months, 0 days
Right Back
3Stuart PearceNotts Forest, 55th of 78 caps
31 years, 6 months, 23 days
Left Back (c)8th captaincy
4Stuart RipleyBlackburn, 1st of 2 caps
25 years, 11 month, 27 days
Right Midfielder
5Des WalkerSheffield Wed, 59th of 59 caps
27 years, 11 month, 21 day
Centre Back
6Gary PallisterMan Utd, 12th of 22 caps
28 years, 4 months, 17 days
Centre Back
7David PlattSampdoria, 45th of 62 caps
27 years, 5 months, 7 days
Midfielder
8Ian WrightArsenal, 16th of 33 caps
30 years, 0 months, 14 days
Centre Forward
9Les FerdinandQPR, 6th of 17 caps
26 years, 11 month, 9 days
Centre Forward
10Andy SintonSheffield Wed, 12th of 12 caps
27 years, 7 months, 29 days
Left Midfielder
11Paul InceMan Utd, 12th of 53 caps
26 years, 0 months, 27 days
Midfielder

England Starting Formation

4-4-2

Notes

Goal RecordDavide Gualtieri's goal was recorded as being the quickest in international history timed at 8.3 seconds. On Capital Gold radio Jonathan Pearce's commentry ran "Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent’s Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste... and England are one down." Gualtieri's record was only beaten in March 2024 when Austria's Christoph Baumgartner scored after six seconds against Slovakia.
Attendance RecordLowest attendance at an England international in the 20th century.
World Cup 1994 QualificationNorway had already secured one of the two qualifying spots for the 1994 World Cup from Group 2. The final matchday featured two simultaneous games: San Marino vs England and Poland vs Netherlands. England entered the day 3 points behind the Netherlands with a significantly worse goal difference. To qualify, England needed two unlikely events to occur: They had to defeat San Marino by at least 7 goals; and the Netherlands had to lose to Poland in Poznan. Neither scenario materialized. As a result of England's failure to qualify for the World Cup, manager Graham Taylor resigned from his position six days later.
Away GameDespite the game being played in Bologna, 80 miles north-east of San Marino, this game is deemed to have been an away game.
Player MilestoneStuart Ripley's 1st Cap
Player MilestoneDes Walker's Last Cap
Player MilestoneAndy Sinton's Last Cap
Goal MilestonePaul Ince's 1st Goal
Match MilestoneEngland's 400th win
Hat-Trick: Ian Wright1st hat-trick (73rd overall).

Sources

England - The Quest for the World Cup - A Complete Record by Clive Leatherdale (Two Heads Publishing 1994)
The Independent England find themselves in seventh hell
The Guardian "England buried in a pauper's grave", Thursday 18th November 1993, page 22.
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