England qualify for the World Cup in 1974?

How far could Sir Alf's boys have gone in that World Cup had they beaten Poland? Could he have stayed on as manager had he achieved success? What does this mean for Don Revie and Leeds? Or Brian Clough for that matter.
 
Any takers? x)

I believe they would have passed round one. Haiti and Italy (featuring future boss Fabio Capello) would have least provided a win and a draw. Argentina weren't as prominent a side as they were years later.
 
Fourth?

Suppose we finish top of our group.

Second group round sees us face West Germany, Sweden and Yugoslavia. The semifinal would be against Brazil.
 
I agree aha! I reckon the match against West Germany would have been the highlight of the tournament.

Plus, the emergence of a certain Kevin Keegan may have given us the edge. And perhaps Mick Channon (if he was prominent then).

I wonder how Don Revie's Leeds would have fared? I know one of the reasons Revie took the England job was due to the fact his Leeds squad was aging. Maybe this means Clough and Peter Taylor could possibly be Ramsey's successors... if only you butterfly away the FA's agenda ¬_¬
 
A third place play off defeat to Brazil would be the very best England could hope for if they won their first round group. If they had come second to Argentina or Italy then they wouldn't have gotten out of the other second round group. Holland and Brazil would have beaten them
 
I'm not so certain about Brazil. They did lose to Poland after all. Netherlands would have been stronger though, I do agree. But a top four finish would have had huge butterflies on the rest of the 70's.
 
I'm not so certain about Brazil. They did lose to Poland after all. Netherlands would have been stronger though, I do agree. But a top four finish would have had huge butterflies on the rest of the 70's.

Romantic Nihilist

That's the point that so many people forget. As well as the fact that the Poles were pretty unlucky to lose to the Germans in the semi-final. That could have been very tight and easily gone the other way but for the weather conditions.

It would have depended on so many circumstances but Ramsey was a very well organised manager and with a bit of luck and good form the final would have been within reach.

Steve
 
You do have a point though Brazil were still a strong team at that point. It was a shock result, though full credit to Poland for a decent tournament!

So, would Ramsey have stepped down or stayed on? How would this affect Euro 1976? Personally, I think they would have qualified with ease.
 
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