Champions: England, 1966

This was the first Word Cup to have an official mascot in the form a lion named World Cup Willie. In the previous cup, the introduction of Condorito as a mascot was an unofficial test. The acceptance was so great, that every edition from then on, has introduced a similar figure. Also, for the first time in history, selected matches were televised live via satellite to other countries. The Jules Rimet trophy was stolen during an exhibition, but fortunately it was later discovered by a dog named Pickles. In the decisive game, Geoff Hurst scored the first (and so far only) hat-trick registered in a World Cup final.

For a long time, the first goal scored in overtime, has been a point of contention between the fans who were not sure if the ball did indeed cross the goal line or not. It took more than 50 years and the development of the “goal line technology” digital image processing to finally put this matter to rest.