England vs Croatia: British goes for a new national record: 10 in a row

On Wednesday, England host Croatia in a 2010 World Cup qualification match. England would set a new national record of winning most successive World Cup qualifiers if they beat Croatia, having already won their last nine World Cup qualification matches.

The only previous time England won nine consecutive World Cup qualification matches was between 1949 and 1957. The last time England lost a World Cup qualifier was in an away match against Northern Ireland on 7 September 2005 (1-0).

The all-time European record of winning successive World Cup qualification matches is in the hands of West Germany. According to Infostrada Sports, they won 16 consecutive matches between 1969 and 1985.

Most consecutive matches won by England in World Cup qualification

# Start date Match that ended streak

9 08 Oct 2005 Still running

9 15 Oct 1949 Republic of Ireland - England (19 May 1957) 1-1

6 08 Sep 2004 Northern Ireland - England (07 Sep 2005) 1-0

5 24 Mar 2001 England - Greece (06 Oct 2001) 2-2

4 30 Mar 1977 Romania - England (15 Oct 1980) 2-1

4 18 Nov 1981 Romania - England (01 May 1985) 0-0

4 17 Nov 1993 England - Italy (12 Feb 1997) 0-1