Sir Geoff Hurst dismisses 'nonsense' claim he doesn't want England to win the World Cup

Sir Geoff Hurst has firmly rejected the idea that he harbours any ambivalence about England winning the World Cup, calling the suggestion “nonsense” and insisting he would be “the biggest cheerer in the country” if the Three Lions went all the way.

The 84-year-old is the last surviving member of the starting XI that beat West Germany at Wembley in 1966, a status that has led some to assume he might prefer England’s triumph to remain unique. Hurst is having none of it.

“You get some negative people in all walks of life,” Hurst said. “One or two people don’t think I want England to win the World Cup because we’ve done it once. That is nonsense. Nobody understands better than me what it’s like to be involved in winning a World Cup — and that’s not winning it on the day, it’s living it 60 years on.”

Hurst’s place in football history was sealed by a hat-trick in the 1966 final, which included one of the sport’s most debated moments: a powerful drive that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and was controversially ruled to have crossed the line. The fourth goal, struck into the roof of the net as commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme delivered his immortal line — “Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over… it is now!” — completed the scoring and sent the nation into celebration.

The weight of that legacy has grown heavier in recent years. When Sir Bobby Charlton passed away aged 86 in October 2023, Hurst became the sole surviving starter from that famous afternoon at the old Wembley. He speaks of his former teammates with evident emotion.

“When I realised what we went through as a team and the success, I think we were way beyond the football,” Hurst said. “We got together probably 10 years afterwards, playing golf together. A couple of days the wives came and went shopping. The bond was very strong. It fills me with great sadness. I see images and pictures and people talking about it almost every day. It does bring me a great deal of sadness that these players I played with are no longer around.”

With the tournament now under way — opening with Mexico vs South Africa at the Azteca — Hurst is eager to see World Cup fever grip England once more. He believes the tournament’s appeal stretches well beyond football’s core audience, just as it did in 1966.

“Many people who were not at the game, who were not necessarily football fans, were just as enthusiastic and excited about the national team in the major sport being successful,” he said. “It goes beyond the sport of football, an event like this.”

England’s opening match is less than a week away, and the man who scored the most famous hat-trick in the game’s history will be watching — and cheering — as loudly as anyone.