Hurst hopes for World Cup return

World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst believes England is ready to host the world’s biggest sporting spectacle again, the FIFA World Cup.

On the day when England launched its official bid at Wembley Stadium to stage the 2018 event, 1966 World Cup-winner Hurst claimed the country already had the infrastructure and knowledge in place to hold a truly memorable tournament.

“I think we have a realistic chance; we are a major football nation, everything is in place, we have the expertise, the stadiums, the infrastructure, the teams, the supporters, it's safer than it's ever been and we're ready now,” said the former England forward.

"It is not a question of whether we need to build Wembley or anywhere else – we're ready. And we showed in '96 [at the European Championship] that we have the expertise. And I think it's our turn. It will have been over 50 years since we last hosted the finals and other countries have had a couple of turns.”

Hurst claimed his place in the record books when he became the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final – during the 4-2 victory over West Germany at Wembley in 1966. Those goals and that victory created scenes of jubilation around the country and Hurst believes it will take the support of the public once again if England are to get the opportunity to recreate that memorable summer, 43 years ago. 

"It will be absolutely phenomenal if we are successful in getting the World Cup to England in 2018, partly because the coverage will be so amazing,” said Hurst. “When we won the World Cup in 1966 one national paper only had a small mention on the front page: 'England win World Cup - see back page for report.'

"We saw how much things have changed when we hosted the European Championship in 1996 and it will be even bigger in 2018.

"We have to have the whole nation behind us to get the World Cup here as it will be a national event – not just for football people. In 1966 there were a lot of people who were not into football before the finals, but they were fans for life by the time it had finished."

You can follow England’s World Cup bid on TheFA.com and the official England Bid website.