World's Cup of Football England 1966

The VIII World Cup was held in England, between 11 and 30 July 1966.
16 teams participated in the final round, being divided into 4 groups of 4 teams where two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round, from which were knockout duels.
The final was played at Wembley Stadium between England and West Germany. After tying two goals in regulation, an extension was made that Geoff Hurst scored one of the most controversial goals in the history of the sport, which to this day remains in doubt whether or not entered the goal . Finally, a fourth goal to give England its first and so far only World Cup, which they received from the hands of Queen Elizabeth II.
The scorer was the Portuguese player Eusebio, with nine goals. Moreover, for the first time in World Cup history was presented a mascot, Willie the Lion.England, West Germany and Spain submitted nominations in 1960 for organizing the eighth World Cup tournament, however the Iberian country lowered its presentation days before the election on August 22, 1960 in the city of Rome, Italy. There, the country of origin of the sport beat Germany by 34 votes to 27, mainly due to the active participation of the president of FIFA, the Englishman Stanley Rous, and as a way to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of England's Football.
In the qualifying process, 71 teams participated. 10 places were available to be distributed to areas of Europe, 4 seats to South America, North America and one remaining quota according to the rules imposed by FIFA should be played between teams from Africa and Asia, prompting an outcry from participants Africans who claimed to be entitled to a quota itself. Because FIFA's refusal to reconsider the measure, the 15 African teams withdrew as Syria and South Korea, in solidarity with the other selections.
In addition, selections of Congo, Philippines and Guatemala did not participate due to errors in registration. South Africa was also excluded as a form of rejection of its policy of apartheid. North Korea defeated Australia in search of the only quota for Asia and Oceania, which caused problems because of the lack of diplomatic relations between the host country and the North Korean republic and that almost caused the latter's absence due to lack of approval of visas.
Finally, the 14 teams ranked over England and Brazil, the defending champion, were divided into four groups in a draw held at the "Royal Garden Hotel Kingston" in London. Its format was to divide the 16 teams into four blocks, which came out a team for each group. The four blocks were "South America", "Europe Mediterranean", "Rest of Europe" and finally the selections considered "modest" (Mexico, Bulgaria, North Korea, and Switzerland).
During March 1966, the completion of the event was put in jeopardy after the theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy, which was exhibited to the public at a church in Westminster. The trophy remained lost for eight days, after which a dog named Pickles found it in the garden of a house. The thief was eventually sentenced to two years in prison, while Pickles achieved great popularity being showcased during the opening day of the event, which was first broadcast on television around the world via satellite.