NewsUK NewsEngland football teamEXCLUSIVE: England's 1966 legend Sir Geoff Hurst sends powerful message to Thomas Tuchel's team ahead of World Cup17:38, 03 Jun 2026Updated 17:44, 03 Jun 2026Sir Geoff Hurst shares message with England squad ahead of 2026 World Cup England legend Sir Geoff Hurst told the England team last night: Win the World Cup for boys of 66. The 1966 hat-trick hero spoke exclusively to the Mirror about his hopes for this year’s tournament.At times he was emotional as he said: “It’s so sad I’m the last survivor from 1966. “But we can win it and I hope we do.” Hurst was speaking at the very same hotel where England enjoyed a victory banquet immediately after the 1966 victory at Wembley.‌At one stage he pulled out his mobile phone and proudly showed us a black and white picture of him, his wife and fellow star Martin Peters on the evening of the game.‌He said: “People say to me: ‘you don’t want them to win it?’ No-one would be happier that me if we were successful and won it and all the lads would have said the same.” He joked: “I’ve had a good run.”‌He went on: “This hotel has great memories for us all. There’s just such a great sadness that the lads aren’t here any more.” He said his message to Thomas Tuchel, Harry Kan and the squad would be: “You’re playing in the biggest sporting tournament in the world. The whole country is behind you.“It’s an opportunity today for you to do what we did all those years ago. Get your mindset right: work hard and you can do it. We do have a chance. Anything less than a semi final would be a bitter disappointment.‌“Winning it certainly does change your life. People come up to me and say “I was at Wembley that day”. I was in Waitrose and I was shopping and a trolley and a guy came up to me.He said: “Can I shake your hand - you gave me the best day of my life. I said ‘of course it was mine too’. It’s 60 years on since we last won - it’s crazy as a major footballing nation we haven’t won it.‌“There’s been criticism of the selection and the players he’s not picked but it’s down to the manager and the players he picked.” Hurst was speaking surrounded by shirts and memorabilia at an World Cup Budd’s auction. One of them was former team-mate Alan Ball’s 1966 final shirt.And another was Gordon Banks’ ‘save of the century’ shirt from the 1970 World Cup. He looked wistful and recalled how fans will always associate the red England shirts with 1966.‌“We lost the toss to wear white so red became part of our history for ever.” He spoke about the similarities between Tuchel and 66 boss Sir Alf Ramsey both putting the emphasis on teamwork - not individual stars.He said: “It’s very much it’s been evident that Tuchel and Ramsey gone down the same route. We had a team spirt - a great camaraderie vitally important. Tuchel has touched on that.”Hurst was part of the Mirror team in 1996 which successfully got the 1966 ball back from a garage in Germany where it had been left for 30 years.‌He thanked Mirror for getting the ball back and reuniting him with it. He recalled: “I remember this clearly - the German player Helmut Haller who scored the first goal took it and stuck it up his jumper and there was battle between you and The Sun and you winning it.Then the West German goalkeeper Hans Tilkowksi and I went to a pitch in Hatfield Heath a village in Essex and we re-created the goal.Article continues below“It was great fun but it certainly wasn’t Wembley!” And as for his controversial 1966 ‘did-it-cross-the-line goal he said simply: “People ask me about VAR if we had VAR today it would have clearly over the line!Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Geoff HurstEngland football teamFIFA World Cup