Sir Geoff Hurst, 84, backs England to end 60 years of hurt at World Cup 2026

Sir Geoff Hurst, the last surviving member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, has given his unequivocal backing to Thomas Tuchel’s side to end six decades without a major international trophy at the 2026 tournament. The 84-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in England’s 4-2 final victory over West Germany, said he has held this belief “for some time”.

“I do think it is coming home,” Hurst told the Mirror. “As a player you have to be positive, you have to have that to achieve what I have in the game. So the answer to ‘Can we do it?’ is yes. It is categorically yes.”

Hurst made the comments at an event in London, where he met residents of Hendon Hall, a care home, who had vivid personal memories of watching the 1966 final. One resident, 83-year-old retired dentist Peter Laurence, recalled hearing England’s winning goal on the radio while crossing the Channel to France. “England scored the winner as we got into port in Calais,” he said. “We jumped up and down like dervishes, got into a local hostelry where we proceeded to get hammered and we met some Germans. We put our arms around each other. It was the German equivalent of entente cordiale.”

Hurst pointed to team spirit as the defining factor behind both the 1966 triumph and England’s current prospects. “Tuchel talks about the team and that without question is the most important aspect of winning anything in any walk of life, but particularly in football. They have that and I think that is the most fundamental aspect of what we had in 1966.”

He also dismissed the idea that another World Cup win would be a surprise. “It would not be a shock if we were to win it. The only shock is that we have not won in 60 years.”

Reflecting on the atmosphere around the 1966 squad, Hurst recalled manager Sir Alf Ramsey taking the entire England party to a London cinema the night before the final to watch ‘Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines’. “Can you imagine an England team walking from a hotel to the cinema the night before the World Cup final?” he said. “The entire squad of players and staff could walk there and back without anyone — press or fans — coming near us.”

For England to reach the 2026 final, they would need to defeat Argentina along the way — a prospect Hurst clearly relishes. A final appearance alone would mark England’s first since his own defining moment nearly 60 years ago.