What’s is England’s best performance at the World Cup?

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner with the group stage action getting underway on November 20 in Qatar. England is making their seventh consecutive appearance as they chase down their second World Cup championship in 2022. Let’s take a look back at the Three Lions’ best finishes in the world’s biggest tournament.

1966 saw England host the tournament and marked their first-ever World Cup title. As the hosts, they were drawn into Group A along with Uruguay, Mexico, and France as it was an extremely tough group. They finished on top of the group after defeating Mexico and France, adding a scoreless draw against Uruguay. The Three Lions went on to defeat Argentina, Portugal, and finally West Germany in the final match to lift the trophy for the first time.

They never made it back to the final match, but they’ve finished fourth place twice: in 1990 and most recently in 2018. They advanced out of Group G in second place, with Belgium finishing first as both moved on to the knockout rounds. England then defeated Colombia in the round of 16, followed by a 2-0 victory over Sweden in the quarterfinal. They took Croatia to extra time in the semifinal, but ultimately lost with a 2-1 final score.

England played against Belgium in the third place game, losing 2-0 on goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard.

With Gareth Southgate at the helm for his second straight World Cup, England will eye an appearance in the final match in Qatar. They’ll kick off their campaign against Iran on November 21 at 8 a.m. ET, followed by a match against the United States on November 25 at 2 p.m. ET. They’ll wrap the group stage up with a contest against Wales on November 29 at 2 p.m. ET.