On This Day – 16th June
England began their World Cup campaign off with a 3-1 win over France on this day back in 1982.
It was England’s first appearance at a World Cup after failing to qualify for the tournaments in 1974 and 78 and thousands of English fans travelled over to Spain for the tournament.
Their journey was rewarded after only 27 seconds, when Bryan Robson stretched to hit a half-volley past Jean-Luc Ettori at the far post.
Robson’s goal was incorrectly stated as the fastest World Cup goal but it was in fact the third fastest in World Cup history. Hakan Sukur then scored for Turkey against South Korea in 2002 after 10.8 seconds to well and truly put the record beyond doubt.
Gerard Soler equalised for the French after 24 minutes, but a Robson added a second goal midway through the second half. Paul Mariner then sealed the win on 83 minutes.
Both sides qualified from the group, but England went out in the second round. France went all the way to the Semi Final before losing on penalties to West Germany.
The England side that day was:
Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher, Mick Mills (captain), Kenny Sansom, Phil Thompson, Steve Coppell, Graham Rix, Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins, Trevor Francis, Paul Mariner
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