Editing Geoff Hurst (section)

==International career==
[[File:Geoff Hurst México 70.png|thumb|right|Hurst's [[association football trading card|trading card]] from the [[1970 FIFA World Cup|Mexico 70]] series issued by [[Panini Group|Panini]].]]

===1966 World Cup===
Hurst made his senior [[England national football team|England]] debut against [[Germany national football team|West Germany]] on 23 February 1966.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=419}}</ref> He played well, and further performances against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] and [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] secured him a place in the squad for the [[1966 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=6}}</ref> However, he put in mediocre performances in warm-up games against [[Finland national football team|Finland]] and [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]], and so [[Jimmy Greaves]] and [[Roger Hunt]] were instead picked for the final friendly game against [[Poland national football team|Poland]].<ref name="page 7">{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=7}}</ref> Greaves and Hunt were picked for the three group games against [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]], [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]] and France, but in the latter game, Greaves suffered a deep gash to his leg which required stitches, and Hurst was called up to take his place in the quarter-final against [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]].<ref name="page 7"/>

Argentina were talented but preferred a tougher approach to the game, which saw them reduced to ten men.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=131}}</ref> The game was still tightly contested as it entered its final 15 minutes, before [[Martin Peters]] swung over a curling cross from the left flank and Hurst, anticipating his clubmate's action, got in front of his marker to glance a near post header past the Argentine keeper.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=132}}</ref> England won 1–0 and were in the semi-finals.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=239/match=1577/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416134139/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=239/match=1577/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2015 |title=1996 FIFA World Cup 1966 |publisher=fifa.com}} Retrieved on 24 January 2019.</ref>

Greaves was not fit for the game against [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]] so Hurst and Hunt continued up front, and England won 2–1 thanks to two goals by [[Bobby Charlton]], the second of which was set up by Hurst.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=133}}</ref> As the final against the Germans approached, the media learnt of Greaves' return to fitness and, while appreciating Hurst's contribution, started to call for the return of England's most prolific [[Centre-forward|centre forward]]. Ramsey, however, would not be swayed and selected Hurst for [[1966 FIFA World Cup Final|the final]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thacker |first=Gary |date=2018-11-29 |title=Geoff Hurst: the stand-in whose hat-trick won England the 1966 World Cup |url=https://thesefootballtimes.co/2018/11/29/geoff-hurst-the-stand-in-whose-hat-trick-won-england-the-1966-world-cup/ |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=These Football Times |language=en-GB}}</ref>

====World Cup Final====
West Germany took the lead through [[Helmut Haller]] early on, but six minutes later [[Bobby Moore]] was fouled just inside the German half of the field. He quickly picked himself up and delivered the free kick to Hurst, who eluded his marker 
[[Horst-Dieter Höttges]] and headed the ball past goalkeeper [[Hans Tilkowski]] to level the scores at 1–1.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=11}}</ref>

With 12 minutes left to play of normal time, an [[Alan Ball, Jr.|Alan Ball]] corner left Hurst with a shooting opportunity on the edge of the penalty area; his shot deflected off [[Wolfgang Weber]] and fell kindly to [[Martin Peters]], who put the ball into the net to give England the lead.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=12}}</ref> However the Germans scored a very late goal through Weber to level the match at 2–2 at full-time.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Smyth |first1=Rob |last2=Murray |first2=Scott |date=2014-05-30 |title=World Cup final 1966: England v West Germany – as it happened |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/30/world-cup-final-1966-england-west-germany-live |access-date=2022-05-26 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In the first period of extra-time, Ball crossed from the right to Hurst, who struck a strong shot towards goal with his right foot, falling backwards as he did so.<ref name="page 13">{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=13}}</ref> The ball beat the goalkeeper, hit the crossbar and bounced down before Weber headed it out for a corner. England's players claimed a goal while the Germans were adamant that the ball had not fully crossed the line.<ref name="page 13"/> Referee [[Gottfried Dienst]] consulted his linesman on the right flank, [[Tofiq Bahramov]], who signalled that the ball had crossed the line, and the goal was given.<ref name="page 13"/> The so-called [[Wembley goal|Wembley Goal]] remained a subject for controversy and discussions.

The Germans pushed forward in search of an equaliser as the full-time whistle approached, and [[Bobby Moore]] exploited their advanced position to send Hurst a long ball in the German half of the pitch.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=14}}</ref> Hurst reached the German penalty box and scored to end the game at 4–2 to England.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=15}}</ref> As Hurst collected the pass, [[BBC]] commentator [[Kenneth Wolstenholme]] delivered with one of the most famous pieces of football commentary:

{{blockquote|And here comes Hurst, he's got&nbsp;... [notices invaders]&nbsp;... some people are on the pitch, [[they think it's all over]]! [Hurst shoots and scores]&nbsp;... It is now! It's four!<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/july/world-cup-final/|title=The World Cup Final|website=Bbc.com}}</ref>}}

Hurst thus became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Men's World Cup final, a feat that remained unmatched until [[2022 FIFA World Cup final|2022]], when [[Kylian Mbappé]] scored a hat-trick for [[France national football team|France]] against [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]]. Geoff Hurst, however, remains the only man to score a hattrick in a World Cup Final and end up on the winning team.

===Later international career===
Hurst was selected for [[UEFA Euro 1968]], but did not play as England lost 1–0 to [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] in the semi-final. He did play, and score, in the 2–0 third-place play-off victory over the [[Soviet Union national football team|Soviet Union]] at the [[Stadio Olimpico]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=178}}</ref>

Hurst scored his second international hat-trick on 12 March 1969, in a 5–0 victory over [[France national football team|France]], and was named in the Ramsey squad which played in [[Mexico]] to defend the World Cup in [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=179}}</ref> He scored the only goal of England's opening game against [[Romania national football team|Romania]] after being sent through by a pass from [[Francis Lee (footballer)|Francis Lee]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=198}}</ref> England progressed to the quarter-finals, where once again they faced West Germany. Hurst played a part in the [[Martin Peters]] goal that put England 2–0 up. With England up 2–1, Hurst's contested header trickled inches past the post. Later, at 2–2, Hurst had what many thought was a legitimate goal ruled out for offside.<ref>England: The Official F.A History, Niall Edworthy, Virgin Publishers, 1997, {{ISBN|1-85227-699-1}}.</ref> The West Germans scored in extra time and won 3–2.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=206}}</ref>

Hurst scored against [[Greece national football team|Greece]] and [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] in qualification for [[UEFA Euro 1972]], but played his last international match on 29 April 1972 as England were beaten 3–1 by West Germany&nbsp;– he was replaced by [[Rodney Marsh (footballer)|Rodney Marsh]] with 20 minutes left to play and did not take to the field in an England shirt again.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=219}}</ref> He was named in the squad for the second leg against West Germany after [[Allan Clarke (footballer)|Allan Clarke]] and Francis Lee picked up injuries, but had to pull out of the squad after picking up an injury himself.<ref>{{harvnb|Hurst|Hart|2002|p=221}}</ref>