The Jules Rimet Trophy finally slipped from England's grasp after this epic match ended in the most-dramatic fashion imaginable. Things began to go wrong before the match even started when it was announced that Gordon Banks had gone down with a stomach-bug and would not play. That meant that Peter Bonetti had to come in for his first taste of World Cup action. Remembering the superb form of Banks in the previous games, it was indeed a bitter blow.

Now, let the story unfold. England took the field in red shirts and it was 'shades of the 1966 final' all-over again. Five men from each side had survived the interim years and the occasion had 'added spice' for Bobby Charlton as he was celebrating setting-up a new appearance-record by winning his 106th 'cap'. The scene was set with two similar sides ready to do battle in the hot sun of León.

The opening exchanges saw the Germans looking to 'wrestle' the midfield-power away from England;  'Beckenbauer, Overath and Seeler versus Charlton, Alan Ball, Alan Mullery and Martin Peters'. The extra-man advantage did not necessarily give England the edge, but they did break quickly and effectively from defence, pushing the Germans back on their heels. In the 31st minute, from one such break, England opened the scoring with a magnificent goal.

Mullery began the move with a long pass to Keith Newton from midfield. Both players moved forward at speed and when Newton's pass came back into the middle, Mullery was following-up to sweep an unstoppable shot past Maier. That gave England control and with Bobby Moore holding the Germans with his customary grace and skill, they reached half-time without mishap.

At the start of the second half, the Germans brought-on Schultz to replace Höttges but it had little effect and four minutes into the half, England scored again. A brilliant tackle by Moore robbed Seeler and he found Ball with a good pass. He quickly moved it on to Geoff Hurst and then to Newton, who was again galloping up the right wing. The full-back crossed to the far post and there was Peters, 'ghosting'-in to head home in that unique way of his.

At that moment the game looked all-over, England two-goals-up and in control, 'You'll Never Walk Alone' ringing out from the stands.

But West Germany refused to 'lie down'. Sir Alf Ramsey obviously felt very confident, though, and brought off Charlton and Peters, obviously with a view that they should be rested for the semi-final. Unfortunately, it was a move that did not work out for him, The West Germans were far from finished and 20 minutes from the end, Beckenbauer picked up a rebound off Francis Lee, went past Terry Cooper and hit a low, cross-shot which deceived Bonetti and nestled in the far corner.

Despite some doubt creeping into England's play, they had no need to panic as they still looked in good order. On 78 minutes, another fine move almost settled the match. Peters, Ball and Colin Bell combined, and Bell's cross was met by a diving header by Hurst. The ball rolled agonisingly-slowly, just the wrong side of Maier's far post, and the Germans escaped. That was a crucial moment as four minutes later, Fichtel crossed, diagonally from the left, and there was Seeler who jumped, connected with a slightly-fortuitous back-header and watched in almost-disbelief as the ball looped-up and over the badly-positioned Bonetti.

The Germans' brave fightback was almost complete as the two sides now had to face extra-time, something that seemed unthinkable some 20 minutes earlier. As in 1966, the drama was far from over.

The first half of the extra period was fairly-innocuous with few attacks of note. But five minutes after the change of ends, the moment came that the whole of England dreaded. Substitute Grabowski made a good run down the right wing, beating Cooper for pace and going around him on the outside. His cross was deep, beating Newton, but nodded back into the middle by Löhr. Poor Bonetti was 'chasing shadows' and the one person to fear was Müller. The German striker, as ever, was prowling and he moved like 'lightning' to volley the ball home from three yards out. The joy of the Germans was in distinct contrast to the absolute despair of the England team.

To their credit England, in the remaining minutes, tried desperately to salvage something. But although Mullery and Newton both shot narrowly-over and Ball miscued a shot after Hurst had headed down to him, the damage had already been done. Eventually the referee blew the final whistle to end this remarkable match.
  

There was a huge blow to England when at the 'last minute' goalkeeper Gordon Banks had to withdraw because of a stomach upset. 'Montezuma's revenge' had never been harsher, robbing England of the best goalkeeper in the world. Peter Bonetti, who had not played a full, competitive match since the end of the previous club-season, was called in as emergency-deputy. England were in command for sixty-nine minutes thanks to goals from Alan Mullery and Martin Peters in stifling conditions. Franz Beckenbauer pulled the Germans back into the game with a shot that Bonetti would have saved nine times out of ten. Sir Alf Ramsey immediately sent on Colin Bell as substitute for Bobby Charlton, who was being saved for a semi-final that never came England's way. German substitute Jürgen Grabowski was 'running rings round' exhausted left-back Terry Cooper, and Sir Alf decided on a second substitution, sending on Norman Hunter for Peters in a bid to stiffen the defence. With Charlton and Peters off, it meant England had lost their two most composed players and suddenly they were looking disjointed. A freak header by Uwe Seeler sent the ball on an arc over the wrong-footed Bonetti to send the game into extra-time just as in the 1966 World Cup final, but this time it was the Germans who came out on top. Geoff Hurst had a goal disallowed, and then Gerd Müller rammed-in the winner after Grabowski had beaten Cooper and crossed for Löhr to head the ball down into 'Der Bomber''s path. England's reign as world champions was over, as was the great international career of Bobby Charlton after a record 106 caps. Several of the England players were in tears, and Sir Alf was 'shell-shocked'.  He did not believe it possible that any team could come back from two goals down against the England defence. How different it might have been had Gordon Banks been fit, and how different it might have been had Sir Alf not made a mess of his substitutions. He had never used substitutes throughout his club managerial career, and was never comfortable with the system.  Now the 'knives were out' for him at home. The Football Association officials he had too often treated with contempt were plotting their revenge.
  

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