England received the boost of going into the World Cup in three months' time with the Home Championship under their belts after this seven-goal thriller at Hampden. With 133,000 people packed into this famous old stadium the noise and atmosphere was superb and England began the game in a determined mood.

Once again they used the 4-3-3 formation, but this time with much more conviction. Bobby Charlton was particularly effective and was always available and involved. He showed his best Manchester United form throughout the match, something he hasn't done for England for a while.

The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes. Alan Ball intercepted a casual crossfield pass by Baxter before breaking quickly with Roger Hunt and Geoff Hurst alongside him. When the pass came inside, Hurst had plenty of time to pick his spot to score with ease.

Six minutes later, another intercepted pass brought England's second goal. This time Nobby Stiles cut out Bremner's pass and again the break moved swiftly to Hurst and then on to Hunt, who fired a left-footed cross-shot into the far corner. Ferguson might have done better as England gained this unexpected lead.

That silenced the huge crowd but just before the interval they burst into life after a Scottish goal. Johnston took a corner and Law leapt to send a flashing header past Gordon Banks. The Scots went in at half-time right back in the match.

The second half was a 'see-saw' of action and excitement with both defences making mistakes. In the opening seconds, the England players screamed for a penalty when McKinnon palmed the ball out from under his own crossbar after a Bobby Charlton cross. Amazingly, the only person not to see the incident was the referee, who waved play on despite frantic appeals.

England continued to make the running and another quick pass from Ball sent Hunt away again. He ran on and hit another fierce cross-shot past Ferguson for number-three. On the hour, though, Scotland hit back with Law again in the thick of the action.

He played a 'one-two' with Johnstone but not before he had ridden two ferocious challenges by Ball and Bobby Moore. At the end of it all, Johnstone's acute shot left Keith Newton and Banks stranded.

There was more to come. Bobby Charlton capped his fine performance with a surging run and shot from 25 yards which left Ferguson flat-footed, thinking, perhaps, that the shot was going wide. How wrong he was.

So, it was 4-2, but again the Scots hit back and with ten minutes to go Law and Baxter combined at a free-kick to give Johnstone the chance to hit his second goal. Again the shot was from an acute angle as it went in off the crossbar. Moore and Newton had stood transfixed whilst all this was going on.

In the last few minutes, England withstood heavy pressure with Johnstone giving Newton a torrid time on the right wing with an inspired spell. Indeed, in the very last minute Stiles became England's hero with a headed goal-line clearance following a shot by Wallace.

Overall, England deserved their win. They were more organised, more disciplined, and clinical with the chances that came their way.
  

Geoff Hurst scored his first goal for England in the nineteenth minute to start a spree that excited the 133,000 crowd but made purists wince at the procession of defensive blunders by both teams. Hunt added a second goal for England before Denis Law threw himself forward in typical dare-devil style to head Scotland's first goal just before half-time. Hunt  made it 3-1 early in the second-half, and then Celtic's jinking winger Jimmy Johnstone pulled it back to 3-2 before a thunderbolt shot from Bobby Charlton restored the two-goal lead. This was Charlton in imperious form as he reveled in his role as midfield orchestrator.  Johnstone, turning the England defence inside out with his dribbling runs, scored the final goal six minutes from the end with a delicate curling shot that deceived goalkeeper Gordon Banks. A press reporter said to Alf Ramsey immediately after the match, 'A great game to watch, Alf.' The cold blue eyes became a burning glare on the journalist. 'For you maybe,' said Alf, 'but I thought there was some appalling football played. We must be much, much tighter.' Seven-goal thrillers did not belong in the Ramsey textbook. Once a perfectionist right-back, always a perfectionist right-back.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
LondonHearts.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