By DPA,
Johannesburg : This day in World Cup football history — June 11.
June 11
1933 – The first-ever World Cup qualifying match is played between Sweden and Estonia in Stockholm. The host side wins 6-2 and goes on to win the group ahead of Lithuania and qualify for the finals in Italy in 1934. The World Cup finals in 1930 had no qualifiers as only 13 countries entered.
1974 – England’s Sir Stanley Rous is defeated by Joao Havelange in the FIFA presidential elections. The Brazilian travelled the world in search of votes and made numerous promises to African and Asian delegates to secure their votes. The changeover from the “old-style” leadership of Rous to Havelange is widely seen as a turning point in the history of FIFA as commercial interests henceforth became paramount.
1994 – Former English international Bobby Charlton was knighted by the Queen. Charlton was one of the famous Busby Babes – the Manchester United side that won the English league in 1956 and was tipped for greatness. Eight of the players were killed in a plane crash in Munich in 1958. Charlton survived and went on to play for England in the 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cup. He was also a member of the 1958 squad, but did not play.
In 1966 he was in the team that won the World Cup in a match that is best-remembered for the so-called Wembley goal: In the 11th minute of extra time Geoff Hurst shot goal-wards, the ball bounced against the crossbar and down. Whether it crossed the line or not has been the subject of books, films and articles since then. Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst awarded the goal after consulting linesman Tofik Bakhramov and England went on to win 4-2.
2010 – The first-ever match at the World Cup finals on African soil is to be played between the hosts South Africa and Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium. The game is the opening match of the 2010 World Cup finals.