England's route to the finals

Kevin Keegan resigned following the Wembley defeat

England's route to the 2002 World Cup began in disappointing fashion with defeat by Germany under the leadership of Kevin Keegan at Wembley.

It looked set to end in similar fashion under Sven Goran Eriksson - until David Beckham's injury-time free-kick against Greece sealed their place in next year's event in Korea and Japan.

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England 0-1 Germany
7 October 2000 (Wembley)
Like Wembley, England were facing an uncertain future after Dietmar Hamann's 13th-minute long-range free-kick sent Keegan's men tumbling to defeat in the rain.

The manager resigned immediately after the setback.

Finland 0-0 England
11 October 2000 (Helsinki)
Under the leadership of temporary coach Howard Wilkinson, England failed to bounce back with a win - although they should have.

Despite a poor performance, Ray Parlour's shot three minutes from time struck the bar and bounced over the goalline - but the match officials decided otherwise.

England 2-1 Finland
March 24 (Anfield):
Eriksson's first competitive match with England looked to be going horribly wrong when Gary Neville's own goal put the Finns ahead.

However, Anfield favourite Michael Owen cames to the rescue with the equaliser and skipper David Beckham scored a memorable winner.

Albania 1-3 England
28 March (Tirana):
England won eventually, having not played well for the first hour - Owen got the breakthrough after 73 minutes and Paul Scholes made the victory certain.

Even though Albania pulled a goal back, under-fire Andy Cole extended England's lead in stoppage time with his first senior international goal.

Greece 0-2 England
6 June (Athens):
After a tense first half, Eriksson's side relied on their Manchester United connection to pull them through.

England had to be patient but eventually Scholes broke the deadlock just after the hour mark and Beckham put the gloss on a workmanlike victory with his third goal in four internationals.

Germany 1-5 England
1 September (Munich):
When Carsten Jancker put Germany ahead in the opening minutes it looked like even the much-heralded Swede could do little to change England's poor recent record against their old rivals.

But falling behind only served to spark England into action.

Owen hit a famous hat-trick, with the others coming from Liverpool team-mates Heskey and Gerrard, as England put themselves in the driving seat for World Cup qualification.

England 2-0 Albania
5 September (St James' Park):
After the memorable triumph in Munich, the follow-up was always likely to be something of a disappointment and it needed Owen again to spark England.

The Liverpool star struck at the end of a flat first half for his sixth goal under Eriksson while Fowler finished in style to put England just one win away from Japan and Korea.

England 2-2 Greece
6 October (Old Trafford):
After five successive Group Nine victories under Eriksson, the stage was set for rejuvenated England to stroll into the World Cup finals - but they limped over the line.

Twice behind to the battling Greeks, they needed David Beckham's stunning 30-yard free-kick in injury time to take them through.

The draw would not have been enough had Germany seen off Finland in Gelsenkirchen.

But Rudi Voller's side did everything but score and were forced to settle for runners-up spot.