England's last surviving 1966 World Cup winner admits living with 'great sadness'

Sir Geoff Hurst scored a legendary hat-trick to help England win the 1966 World Cup final but the harsh reality has hit him that, following the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton aged 86 last October, he is now the sole survivor from Sir Alf Ramsey's iconic squad.

In an emotional interview with Mirror Football, while promoting Budweiser's 'Bring it Home' campaign for Euro 2024, Hurst reflected on the loss of his former team-mate and admits he's very sad that all of his team-mates have passed away.

"It's very sad, naturally," he said, pausing to remember the years gone by.

"I spent so much time with those players, not just playing but we had many golf days afterwards for many, many years. Every time now I see a picture of the team or just the two or three of us doing something that we did in all the pictures over the years, it fills me with great sadness.

"Yeah, it's as simple as that, really. It's extremely sad. They've all gone. I'm still not the oldest yet. I've still got a bit to go. You know Jack (Charlton) was older than me, George (Cohen) was older, Ray (Wilson) was older, so I've still got a bit to go to be the oldest one."

Hurst became the last surviving member of England's World Cup-winning team of '66 following the death of Sir Bobby Charlton, who suffered a tragic fall at his Knutsford nursing home.

Hurst lamented that it had been years since he last spoke to the Manchester United icon.

Reflecting on his final interaction with Charlton, Hurst took a moment before saying: "No. Once we finished the golf days I didn't see or hear much of him. I started to become aware things were not right when I started looking at him at the Manchester United games in the crowd.

"They'd always focus naturally on Bobby. Then all of a sudden, you know, he's not there. Nothing much was said, it was kept very, very sensibly quiet on everything.

"So there was very little contact after we really finished the golf days, many years before. But, Bobby Charlton, I mean, he was just unbelievable. You just talk about him. One of our true greats then and forever.

"For Man United, 750 games, 250 Goals from midfield. England, 106 games, 49 goals from midfield. Harry Kane's beaten his record now, but he's a front player.

"Wayne Rooney's beaten his other record, but, again, he was a front player and Bobby scored all of his from midfield. Astonishing."

Hurst was on the bench for the opening three matches of the 1966 tournament. He had to play second fiddle to the great Jimmy Greaves, who was considered one of the best strikers in the world.

But a splendid performance and the winning goal against Argentina in the quarter-finals that was followed up by an assist against Portugal in the semi-finals meant Ramsey had no choice but to deploy him in the final.

The England boss' staggering decision to choose Hurst over Greaves, at a time when there were no substitutions in football, was repaid with Hurst's hat-trick.

Hurst can still recount every second of his iconic goals as if they were scored just yesterday. But for him, it's no longer about personal glory; he's rooting for Gareth Southgate to follow in Sir Alf Ramsey's footsteps, for Jude Bellingham to match Bobby Charlton's prowess, and for Harry Kane to replicate his own legendary goal-scoring feats.

"I focus on that expression we use now bring it home," Hurst said ahead of Euro 2024. "We want to win the Euros. We've had enough disappointments, so it would be really fantastic if we can. And I want to say to the players 'Come on! '".

"We've got a very good squad. We talked about the squad, it's one of the best squads that we have had for some time and the team spirit is very good. We're favourites, that doesn't mean we're going to win, but we're favourites.

"So it is about time. I'd like to see us win a major trophy in my lifetime. I'm 82 now, so I never thought we'd be talking about this 60 years after winning it."