World Cup hero says its 'unbelievable' England hasn't won tournament in 60 years
"We've been close, of course, a couple of times, but it’s amazing that we haven't won it since.”
World Cup hero, Sir Geoff Hurst, has told LBC he never thought England would still be waiting for another major trophy sixty years on from his heroic exploits at Wembley.
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Sir Geoff, 84, who famously scored a hat-trick in the 1966 final against West Germany, told LBC: "I'm very surprised, as a major footballing nation it is actually unbelievable that we haven’t (won something).
"We've been close, of course, a couple of times, but it’s amazing that we haven't won it since.”
England, under the stewardship of new Head Coach, Thomas Tuchel, will take on Croatia in their first game of World Cup ’26 in the USA, Canada and Mexico, and Sir Geoff is hoping this squad can deliver.
"Well, I think there's been the usual press critiquing the squad as always happens”, he said.
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"But it all comes down to the manager. The manager is in charge. He works, trains, works with his players, sees their characters, their personalities, which are very important, and you're totally reliant on that.
"I think I'd be very disappointed if we don't get at the very least, to the semi final. I think anything less than that will be very bitterly disappointing.”
The FA drew some criticism for appointing a foreign coach following the decision by Gareth Southgate to step down after Euro ’24, but Sir Geoff isn’t sure that matters, he said: "Listen, if he wins a World Cup, he'll be the greatest German we've ever met.
"I mean, it's as simple as that.
"One fact I would tell you though, which I've only discovered in the last few days, every country that's won the World Cup since 1930 have a manager the same nationality as the team. So, it'll be quite interesting the first time that'll ever be done with a foreign manager. But, he's got good track record.
"We wish him all the best and we'll be thrilled to bits... he'll be the greatest German we've ever known if he wins us the World Cup.
Sir Geoff was speaking to LBC in his home town of Ashton-under-Lyne where a mural has been painted capturing the iconic moment of his hat-trick goal in 1966, he said: "Words can't describe… Unbelievable. Fantastic. Sensational. Absolutely incredible. The accuracy of it, the likeness of it is just sensational.”