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
England at the FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup, the 1958 FIFA World Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Their best ever performance is winning the Cup in the 1966 tournament held in England, whilst they also finished in fourth place in 1990, in Italy, and in 2018 in Russia. Other than that, the team have reached the quarter-finals on nine occasions, the latest of which were at the 2002 (South Korea/Japan) and the 2006 (Germany). England are the only team not representing a sovereign state to win the World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They defeated West Germany