This was a disappointing display by England, who came very close to defeat against a much-improved Belgium side. The Belgians showed some lovely skills and, at times, they had England rocking but, alas for the visitors, they failed in their finishing and let their hosts off the hook.

Right from the start, the visitors looked more organised and their fluent 4-2-4 formation proved effective. Their play revolved around the two midfield stars, the bespectacled Jurion and the clever Sulon. By comparison, England seemed to have no real plan and it came as no surprise when Belgium took the lead with a well-worked goal.

Cornelis came through from the back on a long and complicated, but controlled run. After he played a 'one-two' with Vandenberg, his shot smashed into the roof of Tony Waiters' net before the goalkeeper could move. It was no more than Belgium deserved.

At this point, Waiters was the hero for England making fine saves from Jurion, Vermeyen and Van Himst. The latter was an 'artist' and he gave Maurice Norman another very difficult night. Vandenberg gave him good support and both the wingers looked good. However, on the half-hour - and totally against the run of play - England drew level with an excellent goal.

There was a quick break from defence as Terry Venables won a midfield tackle and cleverly found Jimmy Greaves. Greaves passed to Fred Pickering, who at first lost control, but recovered quickly to shoot home high past Nicolay. It was a tonic England badly needed but they still could not find any rhythm and just before the interval Belgium deservedly regained the lead. This time Van Himst hit a shot past Waiters, although there was a deflection off Norman.

The second half continued in the same vein with Belgium showing all the class and guile. England struggled continually to find a pattern with only Venables occasionally looking as though he could match the Belgians' craft. His vision was there for all to see, but unfortunately his teammates failed to come up with the necessary support. For a while it looked as if Belgium would become the third continental side to win at Wembley.

But suddenly, with 20 minutes to go, England somehow found another equalizer. Fittingly, Venables was at the start of the move with a clever pass which set Alan Hinton free. The outside-left moved forward and cracked in a shot which flew past Nicolay after taking a deflection off Verbiest.

It was a slightly fortunate goal to earn an even more fortunate draw. The cold night air had kept the crowd down to 45,000. It was probably just as well, as England were a long way from their best.
  

Ramsey experimented with a new left wing partnership of Terry Venables and Alan Hinton against a Belgian side that included eight players from their league champions Anderlecht. It was Hinton whose shot was deflected into the net for an equalizing goal in the seventieth minute. For Venables, selection completed a unique collection of England caps at all levels – schools, youth, amateur, Under-23 and full. Belgian playmaker Jurion was the first captain to skipper a side at Wembley wearing spectacles. If there had been any justice, the superbly organized Belgians would have become the third overseas side to beat England at Wembley. They had the best player on the pitch in Paul Van Himst, an artist of an attacking footballer who was always a thought and a deed ahead of the England defenders.
  

Belgium had lost on their previous visit in 1952 and had beaten England only once in 14 meetings. Like England, they had failed to progress beyond the first round of the last European Championship, losing home and away to Yugoslavia and had also failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
Belgium took a deserved lead when Vandenberg played the ball back to Jean Cornelis who shot past Waiters. Ten minutes later England were level when Greaves gave Fred Pickering the chance to chip the ball over Nicolay for the equaliser. The visitors regained the lead before the interval, however, as Paul Van Himst's shot was deflected in by Norman.
But England rescued a draw with 20 minutes to go when Alan Hinton took a pass from Venables and fired the ball home.
Belgium did not return to England for the 1966 World Cup as they lost a play-off to Bulgaria in Florence and they never appeared in the old stadium again.
     

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