England’s experience at the World Cup has been littered with tearful semi-final losses, controversial red cards and embarrassing early exits since 1966.
Add 2026 to the list of semi-final losses, with Thomas Tuchel’s side losing to Argentina 2-1 in painful circumstances on Wednesday night.
With commentary from Julian Ridgway, managing archive editor at Getty Images, here is a look at 60 years of England pain in photos – which will stretch to 64 before the Three Lions have another shot at World Cup glory.
1966
England captain Bobby Moore holds the trophy aloft (Photo: Bettmann)First, the glory year.
Sixty years on. This image marks England’s only crowning moment after winning the Fifa World Cup final in 1966.
1970
The Save of the Century (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)Gordon Banks makes the “The Save Of The Century” against Pele in 1970. Even Pele later said it was the best save he ever witnessed.
1986
Gary Lineker celebrates his hat-trick against Poland (Photo: Mike King/Allsport/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Mexico ’86 saw a new generation of players that brought England back to the top level. This picture shows Lineker after his hat-trick against Poland. His career record of 11 England World Cup goals was beaten by Harry Kane at the 2026 tournament.
1986
The Hand of God (Photo: Allsport/Getty Images)The England World Cup match that looms larger than any other.
Diego Maradona would score his “Goal Of The Century” later but the “Hand Of God” touch got Argentina their first goal in the 2-1 quarter-final win in 1986.
1990
The years of tears really began in 1990 (Photo: SvenSimonSpo/United Archives via Getty Images)Paul Gascoigne’s tears after his yellow card in extra time and following England’s defeat on penalties by West Germany at the 1990 tournament were the start of a long era of cards and penalties at World Cups for England.
1994
1994 was an embarrassment for England (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Graham Taylor’s England didn’t make it to USA 1994.
San Marino scored the fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history and despite a 7-1 final score, it wasn’t enough to see them through.
1998
Red for Becks (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)Another high emotion match against Argentina in 1998 resulted in David Beckham’s red card.
England were knocked out in another penalty shootout and the press and the country put the blame on arguably their favourite player.
2002
David Beckham celebrates against Denmark (Photo: Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)Beckham redeemed himself with the public at the 2002 World Cup with a penalty against Argentina.
But England’s greatest moment that year was their 3-0 win over Denmark to get them into the quarter-finals.
2006
Another red card, another exit (Photo by Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)England’s “Golden Generation” made it to the quarter-finals at the 2006 World Cup, only for Rooney to be shown a red card after a tussle with Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho and the team to lose on penalties again.
2010
It was over the line!! (Photo: Joern Pollex/Getty Images)Known as “The Ghost Goal”, Frank Lampard’s one Fifa World Cup goal for England was disallowed despite crossing the line in their 2010 match against Germany.
Goal-line technology was brought in for the next tournament to stop it happening again.
2014
Another World Cup for England to forget (Photo: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)2014 was a tournament to forget with England’s worst performance in a World Cup.
They finished bottom of the group, being eliminated less than a week after their first match.
2018
The joy of a shootout win before the semi-final pain (Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)2018 broke the penalties jinx at last with a victory against Colombia taking England into the quarter-finals.
This saw England’s best World Cup run since 1990, losing to Croatia in the semi-finals.
2022
Gareth Southgate consoles Jude Bellingham (Photo: Alex Pantling – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)Quarter-final heartbreak at the hands of France saw England fall short at another World Cup.
Here, Gareth Southgate consoles Jude Bellingham after defeat. Southgate would go on to quit after Euro 2024, while Bellingham was one of the standout stars of the 2026 World Cup.
2026
Enzo Fernandez celebrates next to Jude Bellingham (Photo: Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)The contrast of emotions. Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez played a pivotal role in the comeback against England, while Jude Bellingham – the Three Lions’ star of this World Cup – was powerless to prevent it.
England led in the 55th minute thanks to Anthony Gordon, but after Fernandez’s equaliser in the 85th minute it was Lauro Martinez’s header one minute into stoppage time that sent the defending champions through.
Cue the heartbreak, the calls for Tuchel to go, and the questions about where it went wrong for England.
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