When Gareth Southgate was England manager, he reminisced more than once about the day he first watched a finals match. The date was 16 June 1982. Southgate was 11 years old and he raced home from school to turn on the television set just in time for the kick-off, scheduled at 4.15pm British Summer Time. Which is a good thing given how early the first goal arrived.
The match in question was England v France. It was the opening group game for Ron Greenwood's team at the 1982 tournament in Spain. And that early goal, after 28 seconds according to FIFA's official timings, remains England’s fastest at the World Cup (and is today ). The scorer was Bryan Robson, hooking the ball past Jean-Luc Ettori on the half-volley after a long throw into the box by Steve Coppell, his then Manchester United team-mate.
Coppell’s recollections of that set play were undimmed by the passage of the years when he spoke to FIFA before the nations' Qatar 2022 quarter-final encounter. He began: “One day Don Howe, our coach, was doing set-pieces and he said, ‘Has anyone got a long throw?’. I said, ‘Mine’s not bad.’ It wasn’t long but it was longish and with it being the first throw of the game, my hands and the ball were still dry.
"I got a fair amount of purchase on it and it worked exactly how it worked on the training pitch with no opposition. I threw it in, Terry Butcher got a flick on and then Robbo came in at a rate of knots and scored.”
To younger England fans today, it may be a surprise to know the significance of that England-France fixture in Bilbao. It was the Three Lions’ first match on the world stage since 1970, following their failure to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 tournaments. Coppell remembered beforehand feeling “a little bit of trepidation” as well as being “excited to see where we were in the grand scheme of things. France were obviously a terrific team. They had some fabulous players and arguably one of the best in the world at the time in Michel Platini.”
Indeed Platini was simply too sharp for Coppell when he sought to win the ball from the Frenchman at one juncture. “I tackled Platini in midfield and he was too quick for me, he toed the ball away but I was still coming in to make the challenge and I studded him right down the front of his shin. He looked at me and I just said, ‘I’m sorry’. In these days of slow-motion replays I might have been in trouble.”
England, for their part, had Robson at the heart of their midfield – and making a vital impact in the absence that day of Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking, who both struggled with injuries during that tournament. Although France drew level through Gerard Soler in the 24th minute, Robson headed them back in front after 67 minutes before Paul Mariner added a late third.
At Old Trafford, Coppell had seen "what a big presence" Robson had on the field and now the watching world saw it too. “He was down to earth and grounded, he never got carried away and he was very, very determined to make a real impact on that World Cup. In the first minute of that first game he most definitely did.”
Although England went on to win the group with three straight wins, their run ended in the second group stage after draws against hosts Spain and West Germany. France, for their part, went all the way to the semi-finals. Coppell returned to the fitness troubles of Keegan and Brooking. “Kevin wasn’t even there through most of our preparation – he was getting treatment in Germany. So we didn’t see him which was unfortunate because he was a force of nature, on and off the pitch. To a large extent we missed him and Trevor as they were our two most creative players.”
There was an additional detail from Coppell which illustrated the different level of preparation for a World Cup then, compared with today. England, he said, began that tournament against France wearing shirts wholly unsuited to the heat of a Spanish summer. “It was baking hot, it was 100-odd degrees on the pitch but Admiral, our kit manufacturer, had given us strips which were suitable for February in England – layered really thick,” he explained.
“In that game we got weighed before and after and I think Paul Mariner lost 11 pounds [five kilos]. After the game the manufacturer responded really quickly and we got a lightweight kit the same as any other team.”
A second then-and-now contrast concerns how Greenwood’s players celebrated that opening success. “It had been a long time since we’d played in a World Cup and we were so pleased afterwards we celebrated back at the hotel. We had a couple of beers and supporters were just coming into the hotel to have beers with us!” Something that is highly unlikely to occur on Saturday, whatever the outcome of England’s with Les Bleus.
Sources: FIFA Official
