July 07, 2021

England Reaches First Final Since 1966: England defeated Denmark 2-1 after going ahead in extra time following a controversial penalty when Harry Kane missed the kick but scored the rebound. The Three Lions last advanced this far in international competition when they won the 1966 World Cup. They play Italy in the Euro 2020 Final.

posted by rcade to soccer at 05:55 PM - 3 comments

I don't understand the England major tournament math.

During the match, Ian Darke said that England had not made an international tournament final since 1966.
And then said: That's 19 tournaments without a final.

By my count there have been 13 World Cups since 1966. That leaves 6 other international tournaments to total the 19, presumably including the Euros.

There have surely been more than 6 Euro tournaments since 1966. I haven't gone back and looked to see how many of them England qualified or didn't qualify for.

My best guess is that Darke was only counting forward from the expanded Euro 1996 tournament, which would be six Euro tournaments prior to Euro 2020.

posted by beaverboard at 11:27 PM on July 07, 2021

And then said: That's 19 tournaments without a final.

England has not qualified for every World Cup since 1966, missing 74, 78, and 94 in the US.
They also have not qualified for every Euro since 1966, missing 72, 76, 84, and 08.
I think the math then works out.

Source

posted by prof at 07:07 PM on July 08, 2021

Awesome, many thanks for the explanation.

posted by beaverboard at 11:30 AM on July 09, 2021

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