A near-100,000 people paid record receipts of £52,500 for this vital World Cup second-leg match against Portugal. In the end, although the game itself had not been particularly inspiring, the result certainly gave value for money. England could now settle and prepare for the finals in Chile the following year after reaching the last 16 with this win.

Despite a strong wind and a sun that could not make up its mind whether to come out or stay in, the Wembley pitch looked immaculate. The recent heavy rain had not had any effect on the lush green turf and the natural passing styles of both sides was perfectly suited. The crowd were certainly treated to an exciting opening as in the first ten minutes England built up a two-goal lead.

The first came after only five minutes. Ray Wilson took a free-kick on the left and the Portuguese defenders failed to clear properly. John Connelly sharply latched on to the loose ball and hit a good shot past Costa-Pereira.

Four minutes later one of many lovely passes by Johnny Haynes split the Portugal defence. The Burnley pair of Connelly and Ray Pointer raced after the ball with Pointer winning the race to hit a splendid right-foot shot into the top of the net.

What a tremendous start for England, but unfortunately for the watching thousands it proved to be the end of any real excitement. After the goals the match settled into a midfield battle and most of the play was confined to between the penalty areas. As soon as the attackers reached the box they were tackled strongly by resolute defenders.

Peter Swan, Ron Flowers and Jimmy Armfield were particularly effective. For Portugal, the right-half Pérides was the visitor's outstanding performer and he was continually in the action. Águas, Coluña and Eusébio showed some lovely inter-passing skills but only Eusébio, the new rising star of world football from Mozambique, looked a danger to Ron Springett's goal.

That was especially so after the half-time break and Eusébio twice fired in shots that cannoned back off the posts with Springett floundering.

Águas also hit the woodwork as Lady Luck continued to smile on England but having said that the home side also had their moments.

Haynes, the best passer on view, always looked cool and assured at the heart of England's performance but there was a distinct lack of thrust up front. Bobby Charlton had a rare off day and Pointer, despite his goal, offered little. Bryan Douglas, too, was very ineffective.

The game was played in a good spirit, despite what was at stake and Portugal won a lot of friends with their attitude.
     

Portugal needed to win to qualify for the World Cup finals ahead of England, but their hopes died as John Connelly and Ray Pointer scored a goal each inside the first 10 minutes. Eusebio, the new shooting star of Benfica, rattled the England woodwork with two shots in the closing stages. The near 100,000 crowd produced what were record Wembley receipts of £52,500. England had booked their tickets to the World Cup finals in Chile, but they had lost much of the power and rhythm that had made them such an impressive force six months earlier, and the selectors again started to tinker with the team. Jimmy Greaves, having a miserable time with AC Milan in Italy, was notable by his absence.
     

England needed only a point to qualify for Chile after Portugal had lost, amazingly, 4-2 in Luxembourg. Portugal had to win to force a play-off. They had lost on their previous visit to Wembley in 1958 and had drawn 1-1 with England in Lisbon in their earlier meeting in Group Six.
After five minutes, a Wilson free kick rebounded to John Connelly who fired it past Pereira. Four minutes later Haynes' pass found Ray Pointer who hit the back of the net with a stunning drive.
Despite Portugal hitting the woodwork three times in the second half, the two Burnley players had secured England's passage to the World Cup.
England won 4-3 in Lisbon three years later but Portugal returned to Wembley in 1966 with their best ever team.
Eusebio, European Footballer of the Year in 1965, made the first of his six appearances at Wembley. Only one other foreign-based player made as many visits to the stadium in their career, his team-mate Mario Coluna.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG