26th July 1948
On this day, the 1948 Olympic Games in London marked the beginning of its football tournament, the first major global sporting event following the Second World War. The preliminary round featured two matches. Luxembourg triumphed over Afghanistan with a decisive 6-0 victory at the Goldstone Ground in Brighton, witnessed by 5,000 spectators. Simultaneously, the Netherlands secured a 3-1 win against Ireland at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, in front of an 8,000-strong crowd. Great Britain later joined the competition, defeating the Netherlands in a first-round match at Highbury. The British team advanced to the bronze medal match, where they were defeated 5-3 by Denmark at Wembley, with 50,000 in attendance. The tournament’s highest attendance was recorded at the gold medal match, where 60,000 spectators saw Sweden defeat Yugoslavia 3-1. Notably, Scottish goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson, a member of the 1948 GB team, would later become part of Celtic’s Lisbon Lions, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967.
26th July 1966
In a thrilling semi-final of the 1966 World Cup, England faced Portugal at Wembley. Bobby Charlton emerged as the hero for England, scoring two goals, while Eusébio netted one for Portugal. England secured a 2-1 victory, earning a place in the World Cup Final. Their opponents would be West Germany, who had defeated the Soviet Union 2-1 the previous evening at Goodison Park. This victory set the stage for England’s historic World Cup Final appearance.
26th July 1977
Kevin Keegan, who had recently made headlines with his record-breaking £500,000 transfer from Liverpool to Hamburg, made his debut for the German club on this day. The match was a pre-season friendly against Barcelona. Despite the playful jibes from Barcelona players regarding Hamburg’s colour scheme, it was Hamburg who had the last laugh. Keegan scored in a commanding 6-0 victory over the Spanish side, marking a successful start to his career in Germany.
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