England qualified for the 1986 world cup finals with relative ease, and they went into the tournament confident of going far, as they were on the back of six tremendous victories. All did not go according to plan for Bobby Robson’s men, England was awful in their opening match and they lost 1-0 to Portugal, and things were not looking good for England. Their football in the second match against Morocco was very poor. Bryan Robson, their captain, had been carrying an injury whose full extent had not been known and during the mid stages of their second match, he dislocated his shoulder and England lost their best player. Shortly after, Ray Wilkins was sent off for petulantly throwing the ball at the referee and England were only able to manage a 0-0 draw to Morocco, a team everybody expected England to beat. Things were looking bleak for Bobby Robson and his men going in to the Poland match, a defeat or draw would guarantee elimination, he knew victory was vital for progression. A stunning first half hat –trick by Gary Lineker settled the match for England. England began to play their best football yet under Bobby Robson in the following 3-0 second round match victory over Paraguay, with Lineker adding another two to his growing tally and fellow striker, Peter Beardsley also deservedly getting on the score sheet. England felt cheated in their quarter final match against Diego Maradona’s Argentine team. Peter Shilton was beaten once by Maradona’s hand ball and a second time from his sheer brilliance. Gary lineker scored with 10 minutes remaining and should have equalized late on, however England were out and felt hard done by. Gary Lineker ended up as top scorer and England went back to England knowing they played well enough in the last three matches to have gone the distance, however Maradona was to much too handle. England qualified for the 1988 European football championship with relative ease. England met Spain in a friendly in April 1987 and this proved to be Gary Lineker’s finest hour for England, he scored all of England’s four goals, as England beat a might Spain side 4-2 away at Madrid. They followed that by a magnificent 8-0 crushing defeat over Turkey and their 4-1 victory at Yugoslavia boosted their confidence for the finals.
The 1988 European football Championships saw Bobby Robson hit rock bottom, everybody expected England to crush the Republic of Ireland in their opening match, however an early goal by Ray Houghton coming off two bad mistakes by Gary Stevens and Kenny Sansom lost the match 1-0 for England. They faired little better in their following match against Holland, Van Basten’s goal scoring brilliance shined through as he scored a brave hat- trick, Bryan Robson had made the score line 1-1 with a brave equalizer in the second half and England were eliminated with a match to spare. Their final Euro 88 match against the Soviet Union was a disaster; Tony Adams put some sort of respectability in the score line, by scoring England’s only goal of the match.
The FA stuck by Bobby Robson after the tournament and England knew qualification for the 1990 world cup finals was crucial. Lineker was in fine form during England’s great 3-0 victory at home to Poland and they followed that up by two fine victories over Albania. England’s final two qualification matches were away to Poland and Sweden, two points was required to send England to the world cup. Peter Shilton put on a marvelous display in goal as England were fortunate to claim a point against Poland. Another hero emerged in England’s 0-0 draw over Group winners, Sweden. Terry Butcher played all 90 minutes despite cutting his head, which required 100 stitches. An encouraging 4-2 victory at home in a friendly against Czechoslovakia as Paul Gascoigne put on a brilliant performance and Steve Bull continued his goal scoring spree with two goals. England’s two matches prior to the world cup was unimpressive, they lost 1-0 to Uruguay and were humbled to a 1-1 draw against Tunisia as Steve Bull equalized in the dying minutes of the football match.
England started off the 1990 world cup finals, in what is considered by many to have been the worst football match of all time, a boring and dull 1-1 draw against the Republic of Ireland, as Gary lineker scored the first and Kevin Sheedy deservedly equalized late on. The weather conditions were so bad and the ball was reportedly up in the air 43 minutes during the match. Their following match was a 0-0 draw against Holland, a performance much more encouraging and could have been even better if Stuart Pearce’s free kick goal stood in the final minute of the match. Mark Wright met a Paul Gascoigne free kick to win the hand England a 1-0 victory over Egypt. A hero emerged from their second round match as David Platt Volleyed in a goal in the last minute of extra time. Gary Lineker held is nerve twice on the penalty spot against Cameroon in the quarter finals as England won the tie 3-2. England were certainly at their best against a strong West German side, Brehme gave the Germans the lead, however only to be equalized by Gary Lineker. Chris Waddle nearly scored during extra time. However England lost 4-3 on penalties as Pearce and Waddle both missed their penalties.