England fan Chris Benson

Image source, Chris Benson

Chris Benson and his colleagues are already in World Cup mode and awaiting the 1966 final with great anticipation, there's snacks and flags galore for the 250 staff present as World Cup rewind is fed through to the staff canteen. What better way to get ready for the World Cup?

Not long till kick-off now. Just time to get one more pre-match drink in and the BBC One coverage will be with you at midday.

Image source, Getty Images

The first sell-out at Wembley during the tournament is expected for today's game, with over 1.5 million fans passing through the turnstiles during the event so far - an event record!

Speaking to BBC One Television evening news this week, a ticket tout responded to a question on whether fans are 'mugs' for paying inflated prices, saying 'they're mugs to the extent that when they were first advertised if they were that keen to go they should have applied then.'

Learn your lesson guys. Next time England host a major tournament - say, the mid 1990s at a guess - get applying early...

Image source, PA

Bobby Moore or Uwe Seeler will be lifting the Jules Rimet trophy as world champions later on this afternoon - and they owe that to a black and white collie.

The trophy was stolen at a rare public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hal in March, with the thief ignoring rare stamps with a value of £3m to steal the iconic trophy.

Thankfully the trophy was found just seven days later, wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in south London, by faithful hound Pickles.

Maybe they should rename the trophy after the dog...

Prime Minister Harold Wilson is expected to take some time out from tackling the country's current economic issues which have been dominating the news headlines and head straight to Wembley from London Airport.

What economic issues, you ask? Have you been living under a rock?

Wilson - as we all know - inherited an unusually large external deficit on the balance of trade. This partly reflected the preceding government's expansive fiscal policy in the run-up to the 1964 election, and the incoming Wilson team tightened the fiscal stance in response.

Come on, wake up...

England's trainer yesterday reported to BBC News that the players would have breakfast in bed and get up about 11:00 BST. They'd each be given a steak for lunch, and in the half-time interval they'd have hot tea with plenty of sugar.

It's a tough diet, but these lads aren't professionals for nothing. Still, with a six-month wage freeze kicking in last week it may be a while before we have steak for dinner again...

Image source, Getty Images

Dan D:, external If the Three Lions win today, there's no reason why they cannot dominate world football for years to come! Come on England!

Jake Howard:, external Bobby Charlton vs Franz Beckenbauer will be a good battle!

David Meller:, external Bumped into Kenneth Wolstenholme during the week! Asked him if he had any lines up his sleeve. "Wait and see," he said

England have only conceded one goal in the tournament so far, in the semi-final victory over Portugal, with their route to the final seeing them draw 0-0 with Uruguay, defeat Mexico 2-0 and defeat France 2-0 in the group stages. England then controversially defeated Argentina 1-0 (in the quarter-finals and Portugal 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, West Germany thrashed Switzerland 5-0, drew 0-0 with Argentina and beat Spain 2-1 in the group stages. They beat Uruguay 4-0 in the quarter-finals and the Soviet Union 1-0 in the semi-finals.

England head into the final on the back of a frankly superb 15-game unbeaten run, with 13 wins and just two draws (against Poland and Uruguay). They are unbeaten in their seven full internationals against West Germany, with six wins and a draw, with a Nobby Stiles goal separating the sides when they last met at Wembley in February.

Two of the top four seeds have made it to the final, with the two other seeds to miss out being Brazil, who crashed out in the opening group stages, and Italy, who suffered a shock 1-0 loss to North Korea.

The Koreans became the first nation from outside of Europe or the Americas to make it through the group stages, before being Eusebio-ed in the quarters.

England captain Bobby Moore will be aiming to complete a unique Wembley hat-trick today having won the FA Cup with West Ham in 1964 and leading his team to victory over TSV Munich last year in the European Cup-Winners' Cup Final.

He loves the place. Three out of three? It will take some doing.

You can hear from the man himself in an interview, click a the top of the screen in the 'highlights' tab.

Image source, AP

It's been quite a tournament in England - from Ayresome Park to White City Stadium.

African teams have boycotted the event as they didn't think it was fair they had to face an Asian team to play-off for a place at the tournament; 1962 semi-finalists Yugoslavia and 1962 finalists Czechoslovakia failed to qualify; and mascot World Cup Willy has become a huge star.

The whole nation has gone World Cup crazy and it's all coming to the boil for today's final...

Image source, Getty Images

Jordan Thornberry:, external It's been 3 years in the making, and I'm really excited! Come on England! England to win 3-2 in a cracking final.

Hon Bell:, external It's a shock not to see Greaves starting. Let's hope Hurst can handle the pressure.

Julian Croker:, external Cannot believe that Greaves has been left out. The best goalscorer in the country. Alf Ramsey has dropped a huge clanger.

England: Banks; Cohen, J. Charlton, Moore, Wilson; Stiles, Ball, B. Charlton, Peters; Hurst, Hunt

W. Germany: Tilkowski; Hottges, Schulz, Weber, Schnellinger; Beckenbauer, Overath; Haller, Seeler, Held, Emmerich

Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)

Jim in London: If England win this one, it's all we'll hear about for the next 50 years!

Former England defender Phil Neville

"I've never seen the 1966 final all the way through. Obviously you've seen the goals and the celebrations but it's very rare that you can see the whole game. It's such an iconic moment with some classic commentary and quotes that have stayed with us to this day.

"It'll be great to watch the game and see the speed of the play, the systems they are playing, the standard. I'm sure that the quality will be the same. People often say that we couldn't have played back then, and they couldn't play in today's game but brilliant players could play in any era."

England's first World Cup final - the biggest day in football for England since Henry de Winton and John Charles Thring thrashed out 'the Cambridge rules' of the game in 1848.

How are we all feeling out there? Excited? Nervous?

Alf Ramsey's side may not have been at their fluent best in the tournament so far but the manager is in confident mood and has developed a solid-looking side.

Can England do it? Will they miss Jimmy Greaves? Is Geoff Hurst a real selection gamble? Will Franz Beckenbauer and Wolfgang Overath rule the midfield for West Germany?

Let us know. You can text in your pre-match views to 81111 (UK Only), or tweet us at #66final., external

The team news is in, and the big news is that Alf Ramsey has stuck with Geoff Hurst up front, despite Jimmy Greaves returning to fitness.

Spurs man Greaves started England's first three games of the tournament, of course, before picking up a shin injury but he is fit now. He was expected to return this afternoon but Ramsey has kept faith with West Ham forward Hurst.

The 24-year-old Hurst scored in the quarter-final win over Argentina, but that was only the second international goal of his fledgling career.

Greaves has 43 in an England shirt, including four against Norway just last month. Has Ramsey dropped a clanger here in leaving the lethal Greaves out?

Stand by for the team news from Wembley Stadium...

What is going on here then?

Don't worry, you've not entered some sort of parallel universe. We haven't found a flux capacitor and managed to get the time machine working - it is categorically not 1966.

But for the next few hours it is. This is World Cup Rewind, and the first of our five chosen classic games. Stay with us for full text and video coverage of the 1966 World Cup final, with the BBC video kicking in at noon BST.

So play along, let us know your thoughts before and during the game. Alternatively, let us know your memories of the game and we'll include them in our 'Fast Forward' sections...

Although the players' wives have been invited to today's big match, there has been some controversy that they will not attend a 400-person banquet after the match at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, with the story dominating The Sun's front page on this July morning.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a spokesman for Mr Denis Follows, secretary of the FA, said: "It is a recognised thing that the wives always have a separate banquet."

To check out more of today's newspaper gossip ahead of the final click here and read a special Rewind Gossip column.