United States v England (1950 FIFA World Cup) United States v England (1950 FIFA World Cup) The United States defeated England 1–0 on 29 June 1950, in a group match of the 1950 FIFA World Cup at Estádio Independência in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The result is notable as one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history. Before the game, England were heavy favorites against a hastily assembled U.S. team, which was composed of part-time players. The game's only goal was scored by the U.S.'s Haitian-born center forward Joe Gaetjens. This game and the U.S. team were profiled by author Geoffrey Douglas in his book "The Game of
FIFA World Cup qualification the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010. FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals. The FIFA World Cup is the largest international team sport competition in the world with a qualification process required to reduce the large field of countries from 211 to just 32 for the World Cup finals. Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental