The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first and so far only ever title; the match had finished at 2–2 after 90 minutes and went to extra time, when Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first (and as of 2022, only) to be scored in a World Cup final, with a handful of spectators wandering on to the pitch during the fourth goal. England were the fifth nation to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Brazil were the defending champions, but they failed to progress from the group stage.

Two debut teams performed well at the competition – North Korea beat Italy 1–0 on the way to reaching the quarter-finals, where they lost to Portugal 5–3 after leading 3–0. Portugal themselves finished third, losing 2–1 to England in the semi-final. Portuguese striker Eusébio was the tournament's top scorer, with nine goals clinching the golden boot with three goals more than second placed Helmut Haller.

The 1966 World Cup was the first FIFA World Cup held in the English-speaking world. Matches were played at eight stadiums across England, with the final being held at Wembley Stadium, which had a capacity of 98,600. The 1966 event featured the highest number of teams of any international tournament to date, with 70 nations participating.

All 15 African nations who entered the qualifying later boycotted the tournament in protest after FIFA, citing competitive and logistical issues, ruled that there would be no direct qualification for an African team.

Prior to the tournament, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen, but was recovered by a dog named Pickles four months before the tournament began. It was the first World Cup to have selected matches broadcast via satellite to countries on other continents. The final, which was broadcast locally by the BBC, was the last to be shown entirely in black and white.