A short history of England internationals at Old Trafford

The Theatre of Dreams has been a regular venue for the national team over the years, with the latest meeting being the 18th time it has hosted an England game, making Wembley the only venue the Three Lions have played at more often in this country.

You’d have to go way back to 1926 for the first home international staged in M16, when Scotland beat the Auld Enemy 1-0 on their way to victory in the old British Home Championship.

Twelve years later and England had a more enjoyable experience at Old Trafford, thrashing Northern Ireland 7-0 in their last ‘home’ game before the second world war.

With United not having the most successful decades in the 1920s and 1930s, it took until 1997 for a Red to play for England at Old Trafford, when the ground next hosted an international.

South Africa were the opponents and, although Rob Lee and Ian Wright were England’s scorers, Paul Scholes contributed to the 2-1 victory by making his international debut from the bench.

Had it not been for the rebuilding of Wembley, that might have been all she wrote as far as Old Trafford and England were concerned.

However, the seven years it took to rebuild the north London stadium led to our own famous ground becoming the Three Lions’ regular home between 2001 and 2007, although other venues throughout the country were used, ranging from Sunderland in the north-east to Southampton on the south coast.

Without doubt the most famous England game at Old Trafford came in October 2001, when Sven Goran Eriksson’s side were trailing 2-1 to Greece in stoppage time.

Group rivals Germany had surprisingly drawn with Finland, but England needed to match their result to avoid having to go through the play-offs to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

David Beckham came to the rescue with the seconds ticking down though, as the Reds talisman and national-team captain stepped up to curl in a brilliant free-kick at the Stretford End and book a last-gasp ticket to the Far East.

In to the final seconds of stoppage time. Need a goal to secure @FIFAWorldCup qualification. Step forward, David Beckham!#OnThisDay in 2001... 👏 pic.twitter.com/R69z3xlsqc

— England (@England) October 6, 2019

Our beloved stadium was used regularly in England’s successful attempts to qualify for Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, at a time when Beckham and future Red Michael Owen were the main men.

A young Wayne Rooney netted two of his first three international goals at Old Trafford too, prior to his big summer 2004 move from Everton.

Although there were a few friendly defeats, England won five and drew one of their six qualifiers in M16 during those years – funnily enough Macedonia (as they were known until 2019) were the only team to escape with a point following a goalless draw in 2006.

That result would come back to haunt our former assistant Steve McClaren 13 months later, as England missed out on booking a spot at Euro 2008 by a point.

The most recent Three Lions international here was a 2007 friendly between England and Spain.

Ben Foster, who was excelling on loan from United at Watford, was awarded his first international appearance, while Gary Neville won his 85th and final cap. Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick were also involved.

The home side were positioned higher in the FIFA rankings but Andres Iniesta’s strike on the hour settled proceedings for a La Roja side who would soon become European and world champions.