The most hyped England squad since 1966 arrives in Germany with the best players of their generation. They exit in the quarterfinal on penalties to Portugal. It is the most complete and most devastating failure in English football history.
Reality Divergence
62%
Chaos Index
71%
Scenario Summary
What if England's golden generation of Beckham, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, and Terry all played their peak World Cup together in 2006 — and still managed to bottle it?
Rooney breaks his metatarsal six weeks before the tournament — and plays anyway
Eriksson's rigid 4-4-2 neutralises three attacking players every game
Beckham and Lampard's relationship collapses after a training ground argument on day three
Gerrard and Lampard cannot play in the same midfield — no one in the coaching staff wants to say it
Champion
Italy
Golden Boot
Miroslav Klose
Golden Ball
Zinedine Zidane
Best Young Player
Lukas Podolski
Fair Play Award
England
Back Pages
@ThreeUnhappyLions
Lampard misses. Then Gerrard. I was 12. I have never recovered. Not even slightly.
@RonaldoWinkFC
The wink. THE WINK. He winked at his United teammates from the bench. During a World Cup quarterfinal. English football does not deserve to exist.
@GerardLampardMidfield
They could not play together. Everyone knew. No one said it. That is English football in one sentence.
@SvenOut
He earned £5m a year to play 4-4-2 in 2006. A system from 1987. With those players. Unforgivable.
@BeckhamPuke
Beckham scored and then vomited on the pitch. I mean. That's the metaphor isn't it.
England's 2006 exit triggers a decade of institutional soul-searching that produces no institutional change. The 'golden generation' tag becomes a term of abuse in British sport. Football journalists retire the phrase permanently by 2010. Rooney carries the metatarsal story for the rest of his career. Lampard and Gerrard never win a major trophy with England. The wink becomes the national wound.
@RooneyMetatarsal
A broken foot. He played on a broken foot. Lost on penalties. England.
@PermanentMourning
My dad told me it would hurt less eventually. He lied. He absolutely lied.
@FourthPenalty
We had Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Owen, Rooney. We needed five penalty takers. We had zero.
@TerryDidntEvenShoot
Terry didn't even take one. A World Cup quarterfinal. Their best defender. He didn't take a penalty. Why.
@ItalyWonIt
Italy won it. In Berlin. With Zidane headbutting Materazzi in the final. England were gone by then, crying into chips somewhere in Baden-Württemberg.