Editing 1966 FIFA World Cup (section)

==Background==
{{main|FIFA World Cup hosts}}
England was chosen as host of the 1966 World Cup in Rome, Italy, on 22 August 1960, over rival bids from West Germany and Spain. This was the first tournament to be held in a country that was affected directly by World War II, as the four previous tournaments were either held in countries out of war theatres or in neutral countries.<ref name="mirr_9sur">{{Cite web |title=9 surprising facts about the 1966 World Cup in England |last=Belam |first=Martin |work=The Mirror |date=28 July 2016 |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/9-surprising-facts-1966-world-3639077 }}</ref><ref name="curr_196">{{Cite web |title="1966 and all that..." - Contrasting England's 1966 and 2018 World Cup bids |work=currybetdotnet |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2009/11/1966-and-all-that---contrastin.php }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}

===Qualification===
{{Main|1966 FIFA World Cup qualification}}

Despite the Africans' absence, there was another new record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with 70 nations taking part. FIFA determined that ten teams from Europe would qualify, along with four from South America, one from Asia and one from North and Central America.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://es.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/fifaworldcuppreliminaryhistory_byyear__13876.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717045303/http://es.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/fifaworldcuppreliminaryhistory_byyear__13876.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 July 2011|title=History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)|date=27 July 2007|website=FIFA.com|access-date=9 October 2017}}</ref>

Portugal and North Korea qualified for the first time. Portugal would not qualify again until [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]], while North Korea's next appearance was at the [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010 tournament]]. This was also Switzerland's last World Cup finals until [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]]. Notable absentees from this tournament included [[1962 FIFA World Cup|1962]] runners-up [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]] and semi-finalists [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]].<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scoreshelf.com/dvcb/en/World_Cup/1966/UEFA|title=UEFA Qualifiers for the World Cup 1966|website=Score Shelf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818164407/https://scoreshelf.com/dvcb/en/World_Cup/1966/UEFA|archive-date=18 August 2016|access-date=9 October 2017}}</ref>

===Qualified teams===

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.<ref name=":1"/>
{{col begin}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (Africa, Asia and Oceania)|AFC]] (1)'''
*{{fb|PRK|1948}} (debut)
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (Africa, Asia and Oceania)|CAF]] (0)'''
*''None participated''
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (Africa, Asia and Oceania)|OFC]] (0)'''
*''None qualified''
{{col-4}}
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)|CONCACAF]] (1)'''
*{{fb|MEX|1934}}
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (4)'''
* {{fb|ARG|1861}}
* {{fb|BRA|1960}}
* {{fb|CHI}}
* {{fb|URU}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (10)'''
* {{fb|BUL|1948}}
* {{fb|ENG}}&nbsp;(hosts)
* {{fb|FRA|1830}}
* {{fb|HUN|1957}}
* {{fb|ITA|1946}}
* {{fb|POR}} (debut)
* {{fb|URS|1955}}
* {{fb|ESP|1945}}
* {{fb|SUI}}
* {{fb|FRG}}
{{col-4}}
{{multiple image
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| header = Qualification for 1966 FIFA World Cup
| image1 = 1966 world cup qualification.png
| width1 = 400
| alt1 = World map with result of qualifications for the 1966 FIFA World Cup
| caption1 = {{legend|#000cff|FIFA members qualified for World Cup (including colonies)}} {{legend|#ffb400|FIFA members that failed to qualify}} {{legend|black|FIFA members that did not enter World Cup}}
{{legend|#ababab|Countries not members of FIFA in 1966}}
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}}
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=== Mascot and match ball ===
[[File:Challenge 4-star-1966.jpg|thumb|upright|Official match ball for the 1966 FIFA World Cup produced by [[Slazenger]]]]
The [[mascot]] for the 1966 competition was "[[World Cup Willie]]", a lion wearing a [[Union Jack]] jersey emblazoned with the words "WORLD CUP". This was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. Willie was designed by freelance children's book illustrator Reg Hoye.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kasprzak |first=Emma |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18430665 |title=World Cup Willie's sporting mascot legacy |website=BBC News |date=15 June 2012 |access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.footballandmusic.co.uk/world-cup-willie/ |title=World Cup Willie |publisher=footballandmusic.co.uk |date=2007–2014 |access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref> The [[List of FIFA World Cup official match balls|official match ball]] was produced by [[Slazenger]] for the tournament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://footballs.fifa.com/Football-Facts/FIFA-World-Cup-Footballs|title=The Footballs during the FIFA World Cup|work=Football Facts|publisher=[[FIFA]]|access-date=6 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128080230/http://footballs.fifa.com/Football-Facts/FIFA-World-Cup-Footballs|archive-date=28 November 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Controversies===
====African boycott====
All fifteen entered African nations boycotted the tournament to protest against a 1964 FIFA ruling that required the three second-round winners from the African zone to enter a play-off round against the winners of the Asian zone in order to qualify for the World Cup: they felt winning their zone was enough in itself to merit qualification.

The [[Confederation of African Football]] (CAF) felt that the lack of direct representation of African nations in the World Cup was unfair, and demanded that FIFA guarantee at least one African nation a spot in the finals of the following tournament. They also protested against the readmission of [[South Africa national football team|South Africa]] to FIFA in 1963, despite their expulsion from CAF due to the country's [[apartheid]] regime in 1958.<ref name=BBCBoycott/><ref name="pund_This">{{Cite web |title=This Time for Africa: The 1966 World Cup Boycott |work=Pundit Arena |date=10 June 2014 |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=https://punditarena.com/uncategorized/thepateam/time-africa-1966-world-cup-boycott/ }}</ref>

As a result of this boycott, FIFA fined CAF 5,000 Swiss francs. Yidnekatchew Tessema, then president of the CAF, responded to this punishment by saying, "FIFA has adopted a relentless attitude against the African Associations and its decisions resemble methods of intimidation and repression designed to discourage any further impulses of a similar nature. In our opinion, the African National Associations&nbsp;... really deserved a gesture of respect rather than a fine."<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Chapter Four: Nationhood, Pan-Africanism, and Football after Independence; African Football Arrives on the World Stage |title=African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game |first=Peter |last=Alegi |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2010 |page=75 }}</ref>

South Africa was subsequently assigned to the Asia and Oceania qualifying group, before being disqualified after being suspended again due to pressure from other African nations in October 1964.<ref name="twoh_Worl"/> Despite this, FIFA refused to change the qualifying format, citing competitive and logistical issues, and the African teams withdrew in protest.

CAF subsequently informed FIFA that they would refuse to participate in World Cup qualifying for [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]] unless at least one African team had an automatic place assured in the World Cup: this was put in place for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, and all subsequent World Cup finals.<ref name=BBCBoycott>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36763036 |title=Why Africa boycotted the 1966 World Cup |website=BBC News |date=12 July 2016 }}</ref> Players from the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese African]] colonies of [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] and [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] participated for Portugal.<ref name=BBCBoycott/><ref name="twoh_Worl">{{Cite web |title=World Cup Tales: Boycott! When Africa & Asia Said 'Enough', 1966 |work=twohundredpercent.net |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=http://twohundredpercent.net/world-cup-tales-boycott-when-africa-asia-said-enough-1966/ |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725010619/https://twohundredpercent.net/world-cup-tales-boycott-when-africa-asia-said-enough-1966/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}

====North Korea–United Kingdom relations====
The United Kingdom, which had fought for South Korea in the [[Korean War]], was concerned over the entry of North Korea in the tournament. The [[North Korea–United Kingdom relations|UK did not recognise North Korea]] and feared that its presence would strain relations with South Korea and the United States. FIFA told England's Football Association that the tournament would be moved if any qualified team were to be refused entry.<ref name=nk1>{{cite news |title=World Cup fears over North Korea in 1966 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10305374 |access-date=27 July 2023 |work=BBC News |date=13 June 2010}}</ref><ref name=nk2>{{cite news |last1=Southern |first1=James |title=They Think it's all Diplomacy: North Korea, the Foreign Office and the 1966 World Cup |url=https://history.blog.gov.uk/2016/07/29/they-think-its-all-diplomacy-north-korea-the-foreign-office-and-the-1966-world-cup/ |access-date=27 July 2023 |work=gov.uk |date=29 July 2016}}</ref>

On the suggestion of the British [[Foreign Office]], the playing of national anthems, and meetings between players and state figures such as Queen [[Elizabeth II]], would only take place in two games: the opener and the final. North Korea was not scheduled for the former, and was considered unlikely to reach the latter. A Foreign Office suggestion for flags outside stadiums to be removed after each team's elimination, in the expectation of an early North Korean exit, was vetoed by the [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|Department of Education and Science]].<ref name=nk1/><ref name=nk2/>

====Trophy incident ====
The 1966 World Cup had a rather unusual hero off the field, a dog called [[Pickles (dog)|Pickles]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/20/newsid_2861000/2861545.stm |title=1966: Football's World Cup stolen |date=20 March 1966 |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 July 2021 }}</ref> In the build-up to the tournament, the [[1966 theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy|Jules Rimet trophy was stolen]] from an exhibition display. A nationwide hunt for the icon ensued. It was later discovered wrapped in newspaper as the dog sniffed under some bushes in London.<ref>[[The Sunday Times]] ''Illustrated History of Football'' Reed International Books Limited. 1996. p.133 {{ISBN|1-85613-341-9}}</ref> The FA commissioned a replica cup in case the original cup was not found in time. This replica, as well as Pickles' collar, is held at the [[National Football Museum]] in Manchester, where it is on display.<ref>{{cite book |last=Atherton |first=Martin |year=2008 |title=The Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy: The Hidden History of the 1966 World Cup |publisher=Meyer & Meyer Verlag |page=93 |isbn=9781841262277 |access-date=15 September 2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m7SbwNM4Y0sC&q=National+Football+Museum+1966+fifa+world+cup+replica&pg=PA93 |via=Google Books }}</ref>

====Doping====
[[West Germany]] encouraged and covered up a culture of doping across many sports for decades.<ref>{{cite news |title=Report exposes decades of West German doping |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20130805-doping-rife-among-west-german-athletes-decades-says-report |work=France 24 |date=5 August 2013}}</ref> A 2013 report by researchers at Berlin's Humboldt University on behalf of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, titled "Doping in Germany from 1950 to today", linked the West Germany national team of 1966, which reached the World Cup final, with doping.<ref>{{cite news |title=Report: West Germany systematically doped athletes |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/08/03/report-west-germany-systematically-doped-athletes-olympics/2615323/ |work=USA Today |date=3 August 2013}}</ref>