Editing England national football team (section)

===Early years===
[[File:England 1893.jpg|thumb|left|The England team before a match against [[Scotland men's national football team|Scotland]] at Richmond in 1893]]
The England men's national football team is the joint-oldest in the world; it was formed at the same time as [[Scotland men's national football team|Scotland]]. A [[England v Scotland representative football matches (1870–1872)|representative match between England and Scotland]] was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by [[the Football Association]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/may/13/guardian190-football-england-scotland |title=5 March 1870: England v Scotland at The Oval |work=The Guardian |date=13 May 2011 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316005526/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/may/13/guardian190-football-england-scotland |url-status=live }}</ref> A return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. This match, played at [[Hamilton Crescent]] in Scotland, is viewed as the first official international football match, because the two teams were independently selected and operated, rather than being the work of a single football association.<ref>{{cite web |title=England Match No. 1&nbsp;– Scotland&nbsp;– 30 November 1872&nbsp;– Match Summary and Report |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1872-73/M0001Sco1872.html |publisher=englandfootballonline.com |access-date=22 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203105311/http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1872-73/M0001Sco1872.html |archive-date=3 December 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Over the next 40 years, England played exclusively with the other three [[Home Nations]]—Scotland, [[Wales national football team|Wales]] and [[Ireland national football team (1882–1950)|Ireland]]—in the [[British Home Championship]].

At first, England had no permanent home stadium. They joined [[FIFA]] in 1906 and played their first games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908.<ref name="A history of the FA">{{cite news |url=https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/what-we-do/history |title=A history of the FA |publisher=The Football Association |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129103141/https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/what-we-do/history |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] was opened in 1923 and became their home ground.<ref name="A history of the FA"/> The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928, before they rejoined in 1946.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/england/newsid_1739000/1739245.stm |title=England disappointed before '66 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=11 April 2002 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626170202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/england/newsid_1739000/1739245.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, they did not compete in a [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] until [[1950 FIFA World Cup|1950]], in which they were beaten in a [[United States v England (1950 FIFA World Cup)|1–0 defeat]] by the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]], failing to get past the first round in one of the most embarrassing defeats in the team's history.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/7823072/England-v-USA-1950-World-Cup-win-over-the-Three-Lions-lives-long-in-the-memory.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/7823072/England-v-USA-1950-World-Cup-win-over-the-Three-Lions-lives-long-in-the-memory.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Tim |last=Hart |title=England v USA: 1950 World Cup win over the Three Lions lives long in the memory |date=12 June 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Their first defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a [[1949 England v Ireland football match|2–0 loss]] to [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Ireland]], on 21 September 1949 at [[Goodison Park]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/othersport/arid-30951875.html |title='Eleven men from Éire upset the white shirts of England' |author=Paul Rouse |publisher=The Irish Examiner |date=20 September 2019 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626170159/https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/othersport/arid-30951875.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Match of the Century (1953 England v Hungary football match)|6–3 loss]] in 1953 to [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] was their second defeat by a foreign team at Wembley.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/nov/25/hungary-england-1953-alf-ramsey |title=England 3–6 Hungary: 60 years on from the game that stunned a nation |author=Jonathan Wilson |work=The Guardian |date=25 November 2013 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111530/http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/nov/25/hungary-england-1953-alf-ramsey |url-status=live }}</ref> In the return match in [[Budapest]], Hungary won 7–1. This stands as England's largest ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered [[Syd Owen]] said, "it was like playing men from outer space".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1023170.ece |title=Football's November revolution: Magnificent Magyars storm England's Wembley fortress |first=John |last=Goodbody |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=22 November 2003 |access-date=13 February 2011 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429081007/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1023170.ece |archive-date=29 April 2011 }}</ref> In the [[1954 FIFA World Cup]], England reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning champions [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thefa.com/news/2014/jun/17/england-v-uruguay-past-meetings |title=England v Uruguay past-meetings |publisher=The Football Association |date=18 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626174707/https://www.thefa.com/news/2014/jun/17/england-v-uruguay-past-meetings |url-status=live }}</ref>