2026-08-08 09:31:49
Sir Geoff Hurst doesn’t care that Kylian Mbappe matched his feat of scoring a World Cup final hat-trick.
The former England striker famously hit a treble when the Three Lions beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley in 1966 – an achievement that was replicated by Mbappe when France lost on penalties to Argentina after a 3-3 draw in Qatar four years ago – but thinks that his is more special as his team won the game.
Hurst told FourFourTwo magazine: “Watching Mbappe decades later, I can honestly say I didn’t care. First because two of his goals were penalties, which makes it different from mine.
“But, more importantly, because he ended up on the losing side. I’m sure if you’d ask Mbappe, he’d have swapped his hat-trick for a winner’s medal.”
Hurst made his England debut just a few months before the tournament and admits that being in the squad was “never really on (his) radar”.
He said: “Well, you don’t get too far ahead of yourself. You might find it surprising but, although we were successful at West Ham, it was never really on my radar.
“It was quite a surprise when I got a letter from the FA in December 1965, saying I was picked for the game in February against West Germany at Wembley.
“You come and play, do your best, and hopefully the manager sees enough in you. Thankfully he did.”
Hurst continued: “It wasn’t just me, either. Martin Peters, my team-mate at West Ham and my room-mate on England duty, played his first game that May.
“He went on to score the other goal in the final, of course. Talk about cutting it fine!”
Hurst explained that people still talk to him about his legendary Wembley hat-trick.
He said: “That 1966 final was utterly life-changing. I still bump into people who tell me they were there that day, or who they were with when my final goal went in.
“It was the biggest game in the world and I pulled off something special. It means a huge amount to me.”
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