document_title: England at the FIFA World Cup

question_text: when have england reached the world cup semi finals

question_tokens: when have england reached the world cup semi finals

text: England at the FIFA World Cup

text: History[edit]

text: Brazil 1950[edit]

text: England's first qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup doubled as the 1950 British Home Championship. The series kicked off for England on 15 October 1949 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, against Wales. Stan Mortensen gave England the lead after twenty two minutes, and just seven minutes later, Jackie Milburn doubled the lead. This was the first goal of Milburn's hat trick, which left England 4–0 up with 20 minutes to play. Mal Griffiths scored a consolation goal for Wales ten minutes from time, but England held on for a comfortable victory.

text: A month later, England welcomed Ireland to Maine Road, and it began well for the home side as Jack Rowley scored inside six minutes. England were already 6–0 up, thanks to Jack Froggatt, two for Stan Pearson, Stan Mortensen and a second from Rowley, by the time Ireland struck back through Samuel Smyth after 55 minutes. Rowley added a third and a fourth to his tally in the three minutes following Smyth's goal, however, leaving the score at 8–1 at the hour mark. The frantic scoring rate calmed down after that, with only one apeice before the final whistle, with Stan Pearson completing his brace for England's ninth, and Bobby Brennan scoring for Ireland.

text: It was not until May 1950 that England travelled to Hampden Park to face Scotland, who were also undefeated after their games against Ireland and Wales. With the top two from the group qualifying, both teams were guaranteed progression to the finals, and the game was solely for the honour of winning the British Home Championship, and the seeding advantage to be enjoyed upon reaching Brazil. A solitary goal from Roy Bentley gave England the victory, the title and the top spot in the group.

text: 1950 Finals[edit]

text: England were seeded in pot one for the finals, which meant they were the favourites to progress from Group 2, which also contained Spain, Chile and the United States. England's campaign kicked off against Chile in Rio de Janeiro, and, as was expected, England cruised to a 2–0 victory, courtesy of goals from Stan Mortensen and Wilf Mannion.[citation needed]

text: Their troubles began four days later when they faced the Americans in Belo Horizonte in what has become one of the most famous matches of all time. Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal of the match to give the United States an unlikely victory, which has gone down as one of the World Cup's greatest upsets. A myth arose that the English newspapers were so confident of an English victory that when the result was telegrammed back, they assumed a misprint and printed the score as 10–1 in England's favour. However, this has proven to be untrue.[5]

text: This left England in a sticky situation prior to their final match, against Spain in Rio. They needed to win, and for Chile to beat the United States to stand any chance of going through, and even then they would need the goal averages to fall in their favour. As it turned out, no such calculations were necessary, despite Chile's victory, as Spain's Zarra scored the only goal of the game, eliminating England from the competition.

text: Switzerland 1954[edit]

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tag: table

text: As with their first World Cup, England's qualifying for the 1954 edition also constituted the 1953–54 British Home Championship. They played Wales at Ninian Park as their first match once again, and the 4–1 result was the same. However, unlike four years earlier, it was the home side that went into the lead, after twenty two minutes through Ivor Allchurch. Despite being 1–0 down at half time, England scored four within eight minutes of the restart; two each for Dennis Wilshaw and Nat Lofthouse.

text: Goodison Park was the venue for England's home clash against Ireland, who were newly renamed Northern Ireland. Harold Hassall got England off to a good start with a goal after just ten minutes. Eddie McMorran put the Irish back on terms just before the hour mark, but Hassall completed his brace six minutes later. Lofthouse completed a comfortable 3–1 win for England.

text: With the top two in the group qualifying for the finals, the final game between England and Scotland, at Hampden Park, settled nothing except the placings within the group, despite Scotland having dropped a point with a 3–3 draw at home to Wales. Allan Brown put the home side ahead after just seven minutes, but it was all square again thanks to Ivor Broadis just four minutes later. Johnny Nicholls gave England the lead for the first time just after half time, and they began to extend a lead after Ronnie Allen's 68th-minute goal. Jimmy Mullen made the game all but certain seven minutes from time, and although Willie Ormond scored a consolation for Scotland with just 1 minute to play, England topped the competition for the second time in a row.

text: 1954 Finals[edit]

text: England were drawn in Group 4 for the finals, with hosts Switzerland, Italy and Belgium. In an odd twist, unique to the 1954 tournament, England and Italy, as the two seeded teams in the group, did not have to play each other.

text: Equally, Switzerland and Belgium did not have to play each other. England's first game in Switzerland was against Belgium in Basel, and they suffered a shock as Léopold Anoul put the Belgians into the lead after just five minutes. Ivor Broadis put the favourites back on terms just over twenty minutes later, and although Nat Lofthouse gave England the lead 10 minutes later, it was proving to be tougher than they had expected against the Belgians.

text: Broadis scored his second just after the hour, but Henri Coppens hit back four minutes later to keep Belgium in the game at only 3–2 down. Anoul completed his brace another four minutes after that to level the scores again. In another oddity peculiar to this World Cup, drawn matches in the group stage would go to extra time, and as such the teams played on with the score at 3–3.

text: Just one minute into the added period, Lofthouse added a fourth for England and they seemed to have won it, but Jimmy Dickinson scored an own goal three minutes later to put the score back at 4–4. It stayed this way until the extra period was up, and as penalty shoot-outs were yet to be invented and replays were not used in the group, the match was recorded as a draw.

text: England's second and final group game was against the hosts in Bern. This proved to be an easier game for the Three Lions, and they scored one goal in each half (from Jimmy Mullen and Dennis Wilshaw respectively) to give them a comfortable win of 2–0. As Switzerland (against England), Italy (against Switzerland) and Belgium (against Italy) had all lost one game, England progressed as group winners, along with Switzerland, who won a play-off against Italy.

text: England faced the winners of group three and defending champions Uruguay in the quarter-finals. Carlos Borges gave the South Americans the lead inside 5 minutes, but Lofthouse put England back on terms ten minutes later. England were clearly struggling, but held on until just before half time, when Obdulio Varela gave the lead back Uruguay.

text: Juan Alberto Schiaffino doubled the lead just after the break, but Tom Finney kept England's foot in the door with his sixty seventh-minute goal. However, it was all over after Javier Ambrois restored the two goal lead with twelve minutes to play. The score remained at 4–2, and England were eliminated from the cup.

text: Sweden 1958[edit]

text: For the first time, England had to play against countries other than the Home Nations to reach the Finals in Sweden. They were drawn against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark. In the qualifying round, England won three out of the four games and drew the other. Four months before the World Cup, Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, David Pegg and Tommy Taylor all lost their lives in the Munich air disaster while playing for Manchester United. At the finals, which is the only tournament to have seen all Home Nations take part, the Home Nations were all drawn in different groups.

text: England were drawn against the Soviet Union (2–2), Brazil (0–0) and Austria (2–2), who finished third in the 1954 World Cup. At the end of the group stage, Soviet Union and England each had three points, and had scored four goals and conceded four goals. This meant there was a play-off to decide the second-placed team in the group, the winner to qualify. England lost the play-off 1–0 and were thus knocked out. The only consolation for England was that they were the only team to play the eventual winners Brazil and not lose.

text: Chile 1962[edit]

text: The third World Cup which took place in South America, saw England qualify by successfully qualifying from the group, which contained Portugal and Luxembourg, defeating Luxembourg on both occasions, and defeating Portugal at home, and drawing in Lisbon.

text: At the finals, England were drawn in a group with Hungary, Argentina and Bulgaria. England defeated Argentina 3-1, thanks to goals from Ron Flowers, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves,[6] before playing out a goalless draw with Bulgaria, and a 2–1 defeat to Hungary.[7]

text: England finished in second place behind Hungary and played the winners of group 3, defending champions Brazil, in the quarter-finals. Brazil scored first through Garrincha, before an equaliser for Gerry Hitchens before half time. However, second-half goals from Garrincha and Vavá meant Brazil won the game 3–1, and eliminated England from the competition.[8] This defeat was manager Walter Winterbottom's last game in charge. Winterbottom had led England to four World Cup Finals. From May 1963, Alf Ramsey became the manager of England.

text: England 1966[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018)

text: In the 1966 World Cup Finals, England used their home advantage and, under Ramsey, won their first, and only, World Cup title. England played all their games at Wembley Stadium in London, which became the last time that the hosts were granted this privilege. After drawing 0–0 in the opening game against former champions Uruguay, which started a run of four games all ending goalless. England then beat both France and Mexico 2–0 and qualified for the quarter-finals.[citation needed]

text: The quarter-finals saw England play Argentina, which ended in a 1–0 win to England. This match saw the start of the rivalry between England and Argentina, when Argentinian Antonio Rattín was dismissed by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein in a very fierce game. A 2–1 win against Portugal in the semi-final then followed. Portugal were the first team to score against England in the tournament. The final saw England play West Germany, with the result finishing in a 4–2 win for England, after extra time.[citation needed]

text: Mexico 1970[edit]

text: 1970 saw the first World Cup finals take place in North America and England qualified automatically for the tournament by winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup. England were drawn in a group with Romania, former world champions Brazil and Czechoslovakia. Each of the matches only saw one goal, with England defeating Romania and Czechoslovakia, and losing to Brazil. The quarter-final saw a repeat of the 1966 final, with England playing West Germany. England were hampered by the fact that first-choice goalkeeper Gordon Banks was ill, and Peter Bonetti played instead. England led 2–0 with goals by Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, but in the 70th minute, Franz Beckenbauer pulled one goal back for West Germany.

text: After Beckenbauer's goal, Ramsey substituted Bobby Charlton, who overtook Billy Wright as England's most capped player ever, with caps totalling 106. Uwe Seeler equalised for the Germans in the eighty first minute, thereby taking the game into extra time. During extra time, Gerd Müller scored the winning goal for West Germany which saw the German side win 3–2. This turned out to be Charlton's last game for England.[9]

text: West Germany 1974[edit]

text: For the first time, England did not qualify for a World Cup. In a group with Olympic champions Poland and Wales, England could not overtake Poland. After only drawing at home to Wales 1–1 and losing the first leg 2–0 to Poland, meant that England had to beat Poland at home, whilst Poland only needed to draw. Poland managed to withstand England's attacks in the first half, who had Martin Peters playing for them. Poland took the lead in the 57th minute with a goal from Jan Domarski.

text: England equalised six minutes later, with a penalty converted by Allan Clarke. England were unable to score any more goals with goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski keeping England at bay. Brian Clough had previously called Tomaszewski a "clown".[10] The commentator of the game then said "it's all over".[11] Poland took this good form to the finals and ended in third place. After failing to qualify, Alf Ramsey resigned from his post and after a time, where Ramsey and his predecessor had lasted a total of 29 years, no manager was able to last in the job for longer than eight years. This ended when Bobby Robson became England manager.[12]

text: Argentina 1978[edit]

text: England also did not qualify for the fourth World Cup which took place in South America. This time, England were denied by Italy, who had scored three more goals than England after both teams finished on the same points. Goals scored dictated who qualified after the head-to-head record between the two sides finished the same, following a 2–0 home win for each team. The lower-ranked teams in the group were Finland and Luxembourg, but the size of the wins against them proved to be decisive. Nevertheless, Ron Greenwood was given a second chance in charge of England, after taking the role in 1977.

text: Spain 1982[edit]

text: 1982 saw the first time where the European Qualifying Rounds were divided into groups of five teams, where the top two teams qualify for the World Cup. Greenwood used his second chance and took England to Spain by finishing second behind Hungary and above Romania, Switzerland and Norway.

text: At the finals, England won all three group games, defeating France 3-1, with a brace from Bryan Robson,[13] before beating Czechoslovakia 2–0, with a Jozef Barmos own goal, [14] and World Cup newcomers Kuwait 1–0, thanks to a Trevor Francis goal.[15]

text: The next round saw a second group stage consisting of three teams, a first time event at the World Cup. England drew with West Germany 0–0 and after the Germans beat Spain 2–1, England then had to beat Spain with a two-goal difference to progress to the next round. England, however, only managed a 0–0 draw against the Spanish. England remained unbeaten at the end of the tournament. After the World Cup, Ron Greenwood's time as England manager ended, and he was replaced by Bobby Robson.

text: Mexico 1986[edit]

text: 1986 saw the second World Cup to take place in Mexico. England qualified for Mexico 1986 by winning four games and drawing four times against Northern Ireland, who qualified in second place, Romania, Finland and Turkey. In Mexico, England lost their opening game to Portugal 1–0 and could only manage a goalless draw against Morocco. The final group game, however, saw England beat Poland 3–0, which is one of the three highest scores for England at the World Cup, with Gary Lineker scoring a hat-trick.

text: This result took England to second place and finished behind Morocco. England then also beat Paraguay 3–0 in the Round of 16. In the quarter-finals, England renewed their rivalry with Argentina in a game that has become notorious for the Argentina goals, both scored by Diego Maradona. Maradona's first goal, known as the Hand of God, was illegal and should not have counted, as he used his hand to punch the ball into the net. However, the referee missed this infringement, and ruled that the goal should stand. Maradona then made the score 2-0, famously dribbling from inside Argentina's half and around several English players before scoring. Gary Lineker pulled back the score to 2-1, but England ran out of time to equalise, and were eliminated. Nevertheless, Lineker finished with the Golden Boot by scoring six goals and thereby becoming England's first Golden Boot winner.

text: Italy 1990[edit]

text: By winning three and drawing three, England qualified for Italia '90, the second World Cup to be held in Italy, scoring ten goals and conceding none. England were unbeaten through qualification, winning three games, and drawing the remaining three, but still finished second to Sweden, whom they drew with twice.[16] England profited from Romania's 3–1 win over Denmark, who, had they won, would have qualified as the third-best second-placed team. West Germany and England were able to qualify for Italia '90 as the best second-placed teams in the groups with four teams.

text: Because a few years previously saw English hooligans at European competition matches, England were forced to play their group games on Sardinia and Sicily. In group F, was the European champions Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt and England. After opening the tournament with a 1–1 draw against Ireland and a 0–0 draw against the Dutch, England then beat Egypt 1–0. This was Egypt's first appearance since the 1934 World Cup.[citation needed] England won the group with four points.[17]

text: In the next round, England had to play Belgium. The game went to extra time, and in the hundredth and nineteenth minute, David Platt scored the winning goal.[18] England also had to play extra time against Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Cameroon were the first African team to have reached the quarter-finals. England opened the scoring through David Platt, but Cameroon quickly turned around the game to lead 2-1. Lineker subsequently won and scored a penalty in the 83rd minute to ensure the game went to extra time. He then scored a second penalty, to see England reach the semi-finals.[19]

text: In the semi-finals, England met West Germany. There was no separating the two teams after 90 minutes, which made England the first team to have played extra time in three successive World Cup games. There was also no separating the two teams after extra time, thereby taking the game to penalties.[20]

text: Although English goalkeeper Peter Shilton dived the right way for every penalty, he was unable to save any. German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner, having failed to save any of England's first three penalties, saved England's fourth penalty, taken by Stuart Pearce. Olaf Thon then scored for Germany, meaning that England's Chris Waddle would have to score his fifth penalty and hope that Shilton saved the Germans' fifth penalty. However, Waddle's penalty missed completely, going high over the crossbar, thereby resulting in England's being knocked out of the competition.[20] The third-place playoff between England and Italy saw England lose their only game of the tournament in normal time. Even though this was England's best finish since the 1966 World Cup, Bobby Robson's time as England manager had come to an end.[21][22]

text: United States 1994[edit]

text: For the 1994 World Cup in the United States, under the leadership of new manager Graham Taylor, England surprisingly did not qualify for the tournament. In a group with six teams, England lost to Norway and the Netherlands, finishing third above Poland, Turkey and San Marino.

text: England went into their final game with San Marino knowing they would need a seven-goal victory and for Poland to beat the Netherlands in the other match in order to qualify.[23] In the game against San Marino, Davide Gualtieri scored against England after nine seconds, taking the lead for the outsiders. England went on to win 7–1, which was too small a goal margin. Additionally, despite the half-time score between the Poles and the Dutch being 1-1, the Dutch went on to win 3-1, meaning that however many goals England scored, they could still not qualify. Taylor's tenure in charge ended and he was replaced by Terry Venables, who was dismissed after England lost the semi-final of Euro 1996, hosted in England.[12]

text: France 1998[edit]

text: After missing out on the World Cup in 1994, England, managed by Glenn Hoddle, qualified for the World Cup in France. England were drawn in Group 2 of UEFA qualifying with Italy, Poland, Georgia and Moldova. England beat Poland, Georgia and Moldova both home and away, but a home defeat to Italy in their fourth match meant they went into the final qualifier at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome just a point ahead of the Azzurri and only needing a draw to qualify automatically; defeat would see them have to navigate a play-off to secure qualification. The match finished as a goalless draw and England finished top of the group.

text: At the finals in France, England played in Group G. England defeated Tunisia 2–0 in the first game, with goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes.[24] Their second match saw England lose 2–1 to Romania; despite an 81st-minute equaliser from Michael Owen, Dan Petrescu scored a winner shortly before injury time. In their final group game, England defeated Colombia 2–0 in the decisive match, thanks to goals from midfielders Darren Anderton and David Beckham.[25] England finished second in Group G, which saw them qualify for the last 16 phase, and play the winner of 1998 FIFA World Cup Group H, Argentina.

text: In a fiery game containing six yellow cards and two penalties, David Beckham was controversially sent off in the 47th minute for what many felt was at most a yellow card offence, knocking over Diego Simeone.[26][27] Gabriel Batistuta opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of the game, before an equaliser also from the spot by Alan Shearer four minutes later. England took the lead through Owen, in the 16th minute. Argentina drew level through Javier Zanetti in injury time of the first half.

text: The game finished 2-2, and, as neither team were able to find a winner in extra time, penalties were needed to decide the team that qualified to the next round. While David Seaman did save one penalty, Argentine goalkeeper Carlos Roa managed to save two, including the vital one from David Batty, thereby knocking England out of the World Cup. Beckham subsequently received death threats and was sent bullets in the post.[28][29]

text: South Korea/Japan 2002[edit]

text: In 2002 the World Cup took place in Asia for the first time. England, under its first ever foreign manager in Swedish Sven-Göran Eriksson, were able to qualify for the tournament. England were drawn in Group 9, alongside Germany, Finland, Greece and Albania. In the last ever game in the original Wembley Stadium, (which closed after the match) England played Germany, losing 1–0, the only goal scored by Dietmar Hamann. The match was the last under the management of Kevin Keegan, who resigned at the end of the match, and was replaced by Eriksson.[30] By beating Germany 5–1 in Munich, England's qualifying campaign was revitalised, and they qualified automatically, by drawing 2–2 with Greece. Germany, who could only draw 0–0 with Finland, had to play a play-off game against Ukraine, with England qualifying ahead winning the group.

text: In Japan, England had to play against Eriksson's homeland, Sweden, and both settled out for a 1–1 draw. England and Beckham gained a measure of revenge for their previous 1998 defeat in defeating Argentina 1-0, thanks to a Beckham penalty. However, England could only manage a disappointing 0-0 draw against Nigeria, meaning that although they were able to qualify for the second round, where they played Denmark, they qualified as runners up, which meant that they would meet favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals if they qualified.

text: England played Denmark in the round of 16 defeating Denmark 3–0, thanks to goals from Micheal Owen, Rio Ferdinand, and Emile Heskey.[31] England played four-time World Cup winners and 1998 runners-up Brazil in the quarter-finals. Despite leading through a Michael Owen goal, a mistake by David Seaman saw England lose 2–1, and Brazil won their fourth World Cup match against England, and went on to win the tournament.[32]

text: Germany 2006[edit]

text: England were drawn into Group 6 of European qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The group featured other home nations in Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as Poland (who had eliminated England the last time the World Cup took place in Germany), Azerbaijan and Austria. England won eight of the 10 games, and qualified as group winners, in front of Portugal, despite drawing to Austria in Vienna, and losing to Northern Ireland in Belfast.[33]

text: In Germany, however, England were less convincing. England played in Group B, alongside Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Sweden. England started with a 1–0 win against Paraguay; which was won due to a 3rd minute own goal.[34] The second game against first time qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago saw England have to wait until the 83rd minute for England to take the lead, with Peter Crouch opened the scoring with a goal many felt was illegal, and the second goal of the game coming in added time from Steven Gerrard.[35][36] The last group game saw England play against Sweden, where an eventual 2-2 draw saw them qualify for the next round as group winners, thereby avoiding playing hosts Germany.[37]

text: In the last 16 stage, a free kick from David Beckham saw England win 1–0 against Ecuador and reach the quarter-finals, where they faced Portugal.[38] The game finished goalless, and England once again were knocked out on penalties and Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo became the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in a penalty shoot-out. Ricardo saved from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher; the only England player who successfully converted his penalty was Owen Hargreaves. Portugal won the shoot-out 3-1, despite misses from Petit and Hugo Viana. This game was also Erickson's final match as England manager.[39]

text: South Africa 2010[edit]

text: Qualification for the first African World Cup went successfully for new England manager Fabio Capello, after previous manager Steve McClaren was unable to secure qualification to the Euro 2008. By winning nine times and only losing to Ukraine, England qualified ahead of Croatia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra. England's group was seen as a favourable one, containing comparatively much weaker teams.[40] However, England opened up their campaign with a 1–1 draw against the United States, thanks to a major error by goalkeeper Robert Green. They then drew 0–0 against Algeria and were booed off the field by their own fans, drawing the ire of striker Wayne Rooney.[41] England eventually qualified for the next round by beating Slovenia 1–0, but only qualified as runners up to the United States, thereby meaning they would draw favourites Germany.

text: In the second round match, Germany took the lead after 20 minutes after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer played the ball down the pitch to Miroslav Klose, who opened the scoring. The score became 2–0 to Germany after 32 minutes. Shortly after, England defender Matthew Upson scored a header. Later, Frank Lampard had a shot at goal which was disallowed despite crossing the line; which was confirmed on replays. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer admitted subsequently he knew the ball had crossed the line, but decided to deceive the referee.[42] The German media reported it was "revenge for Wembley", while the English media criticised FIFA's refusal to implement goal-line technology. Ironically, despite his earlier opposition to goal-line technology, Sepp Blatter said that it should be introduced after a Ukrainian goal against England at Euro 2012 was ruled out.[43][42][44] As England tried to equalise, Germany used this to their advantage and scored two more goals. This became Germany's biggest win against England in a World Cup, winning 4-1.[45]

text: Brazil 2014[edit]

text: Under Roy Hodgson, who replaced Fabio Capello after Euro 2012 after a disagreement between Capello and The FA, England qualified for the second World Cup to be held in Brazil. Ukraine were again one of the opponents in the qualifying rounds. The other opponents included Montenegro, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. After winning six games and drawing four, England qualified unbeaten.[46]

text: The draw for the finals saw England have to play against Italy and Uruguay, both former world champions, which meant that it was the first ever time three World Champions were drawn in the same group, along with Costa Rica. England lost to Italy and Uruguay, and were thus knocked out after two games. The final match against Costa Rica finished as a goalless draw. This performance was statistically their worst ever performance at a World Cup, ending up with just one point after two losses to Uruguay and Italy and a goalless draw with Costa Rica in the dead rubber match, their lowest points total in the group stage of a world cup.[46]

text: Russia 2018[edit]

text: England played in UEFA Group F in qualification for the 2018 World Cup, in a group of six with Slovakia, Slovenia, Scotland, Lithuania and Malta, with only the winner of the group guaranteed qualification. England went into the qualification process under manager Sam Allardyce, only for Allardyce to leave the post after just one game due to controversy regarding discussing breaking FIFA rules.[47]

text: Under Allardyce's replacement, Gareth Southgate, England went undefeated throughout qualification, winning eight matches out of 10, drawing with Slovenia 0–0 in Ljubljana, and drawing 2–2 with Scotland in Glasgow thanks to a 90th-minute equaliser from Harry Kane.[48] This was the third successive major tournament that England were undefeated, having been undefeated in 2014 World Cup, and Euro 2016 qualifying.

text: 2018 Finals[edit]

text: Under Gareth Southgate, the England team began their tournament in group G against Tunisia. The game started well for England with a goal from Harry Kane in the 11th minute. Tunisia equalised through Sassi from the penalty spot in the 35th minute following a foul by Kyle Walker. Some controversy followed as various potential offences against Harry Kane, inside the penalty area were ignored by the referee and no VAR checks were carried out. England persevered and scored a second goal in the 91st minute, again by Harry Kane, resulting in a 2–1 victory.[49]

text: In the second group stage match, England surpassed their record for goals scored in a World Cup match by beating Panama 6-1. Jesse Lingard scored the third goal, John Stones scored the first and fourth goals and Harry Kane scored a hat-trick with the second, fifth and sixth goals.[50]

text: In the final group stage match, England narrowly lost 1-0 to Belgium. Adnan Januzaj scored the sole goal of the game; but with both teams having fielded reserve teams, with England specificially making 9 changes. Before the game media outlets stating that a loss could potentially become beneficial, as the winner would be in the half of the draw with four of the top seven sides in the world.[c][51][52] The result that meant Belgium topped the group and England finished second, setting up a last 16 clash with Group H winners Colombia.[53][54]

text: England played their last 16 match in the Otkritie Arena, Moscow, with the same team as against Tunisia. Harry Kane scored his sixth goal of the tournament, and the third penalty, after once again being fouled in the box from a corner, similarly as against Panama.[55] The score remained at 1-0, until stoppage time, where a header from Yerry Mina beat Jordan Pickford in goal to bring the game to extra time. Neither team managed to score in extra time, and the match went to penalties, which England won 4-3.[56] As well as being the first knockout match England had won at a major tournament since 2006 (last defeating Ecuador in the last 16); it was the first time England won a World Cup penalty shoot-out.[d][58] The match was notable for the heated atmosphere the game was played in, with a total of eight yellow cards being shown in the match.[e][59]

text: England played against Sweden in their quarter-final at Cosmos Arena, Samara on 7 July 2018.[57] They won the match 2–0, with defender Harry Maguire scoring his first England goal, a header scored from a corner, and Dele Alli a second header from close range. This would send them through to their third World Cup semi-final and their first since 1990, and third overall.[60] The team played Croatia in the semi-final, resulting in a 2–1 loss after extra time.[61] England would later finish fourth in the competition, the best result since 1990. England would lose again to Belgium in the 3rd place playoff, thanks to goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard, despite a Eric Dier shot being cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld.[62]

text: The tournament would see England score nine goals from set-pieces – the most by a team in a single World Cup tournament since 1966.[63]

text: Records[edit]

text:
Year
Round
Position
GP
W
D*
L
GF
GA
GD

 1930
Not a FIFA member

 1934

 1938

 1950
Group stage
8th
3
1
0
2
2
2
0

 1954
Quarter-finals
7th
3
1
1
1
8
8
0

 1958
Group stage
11th
4
0
3
1
4
5
-1

 1962
Quarter-finals
8th
4
1
1
2
5
6
-1

 1966
Champions
1st
6
5
1
0
11
3
8

 1970
Quarter-finals
8th
4
2
0
2
4
4
0

 1974
Did not qualify

 1978

 1982
Second group stage
6th
5
3
2
0
6
1
5

 1986
Quarter-finals
8th
5
2
1
2
7
3
4

 1990
Semi finals
4th
7
3
3
1
8
6
2

 1994
Did not qualify

 1998
Round of 16
9th
4
2
1
1
7
4
3

  2002
Quarter-finals
6th
5
2
2
1
6
3
3

 2006
Quarter-finals
7th
5
3
2
0
6
2
4

 2010
Round of 16
13th
4
1
2
1
3
5
-2

 2014
Group stage
26th
3
0
1
2
2
4
-2

 2018
Semi-finals
4th
7
3
1
3
12
8
4

 2022
TBD

   2026

Total
15/21
1 title
69
29
21
19
91
64
27

text: By match[edit]

text:
Year

Round

Against

Score

Scorers

 1950
Group 2
 Chile
2–0
Mortensen, Mannion

 United States
0–1

 Spain
0–1

 1954
Group 4
 Belgium
4–4 (aet)
Broadis (2), Lofthouse (2)

  Switzerland
2–0
Mullen, Wilshaw

Quarter-final
 Uruguay
2–4
Lofthouse, Finney

 1958
Group 4
 Soviet Union
2–2
Kevan, Finney

 Brazil
0–0

 Austria
2–2
Haynes, Kevan

Play-off
 Soviet Union
0–1

 1962
Group 4
 Hungary
1–2
Flowers

 Argentina
3–1
Flowers, Charlton, Greaves

 Bulgaria
0–0

Quarter-final
 Brazil
1–3
Hitchens

 1966
Group 1
 Uruguay
0–0

 Mexico
2–0
Charlton, Hunt

 France
2–0
Hunt (2)

Quarter-final
 Argentina
1–0
Hurst

Semi-final
 Portugal
2–1
Charlton (2)

Final
 West Germany
4–2 (aet)
Hurst (3), Peters

 1970
Group 3
 Romania
1–0
Hurst

 Brazil
0–1

 Czechoslovakia
1–0
Clarke

Quarter-final
 West Germany
2–3 (aet)
Mullery, Peters

 1982
Group 4
 France
3–1
Robson (2), Mariner

 Czechoslovakia
2–0
Francis, Barmoš (o.g.)

 Kuwait
1–0
Francis

Group B Round 2
 West Germany
0–0

 Spain
0–0

 1986
Group F
 Portugal
0–1

 Morocco
0–0

 Poland
3–0
Lineker (3)

Round of 16
 Paraguay
3–0
Lineker (2), Beardsley

Quarter-final
 Argentina
1–2
Lineker

 1990
Group F
 Republic of Ireland
1–1
Lineker

 Netherlands
0–0

 Egypt
1–0
Wright

Round of 16
 Belgium
1–0 (aet)
Platt

Quarter-final
 Cameroon
3–2 (aet)
Platt, Lineker (2)

Semi-final
 West Germany
1–1 (aet)[f]
Lineker

Third-place play-off
 Italy
1–2
Platt

 1998
Group G
 Tunisia
2–0
Shearer, Scholes

 Romania
1–2
Owen

 Colombia
2–0
Anderton, Beckham

Round of 16
 Argentina
2–2 (aet)[f]
Shearer, Owen

  2002
Group F
 Sweden
1–1
Campbell

 Argentina
1–0
Beckham

 Nigeria
0–0

Round of 16
 Denmark
3–0
Ferdinand, Owen, Heskey

Quarter-final
 Brazil
1–2
Owen

 2006
Group B
 Paraguay
1–0
Gamarra (o.g.)

 Trinidad and Tobago
2–0
Crouch, Gerrard

 Sweden
2–2
Cole, Gerrard

Round of 16
 Ecuador
1–0
Beckham

Quarter-final
 Portugal
0–0 (aet)[f]

 2010
Group C
 United States
1–1
Gerrard

 Algeria
0–0

 Slovenia
1–0
Defoe

Round of 16
 Germany
1–4
Upson

 2014
Group D
 Italy
1–2
Sturridge

 Uruguay
1–2
Rooney

 Costa Rica
0–0

 2018
Group G
 Tunisia
2–1
Kane (2)

 Panama
6–1
Stones (2), Kane (3), Lingard

 Belgium
0–1

Round of 16
 Colombia
1–1 (aet)[g]
Kane

Quarter-final
 Sweden
2–0
Maguire, Alli

Semi-final
 Croatia
1–2 (aet)
Trippier

Third-place play-off
 Belgium
0–2

text: By opponent[edit]

text:
Country

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

GF

GA

GD

 Argentina
5
3
1
1
8
5
+3

 Germany
5
1
2
2
8
10
-2

 Brazil
4
0
1
3
2
6
-4

 Sweden
3
1
2
0
5
3
+2

 Belgium
4
1
1
2
5
7
-2

 Portugal
3
1
1
1
2
2
0

 Uruguay
3
0
1
2
3
6
-3

 France
2
2
0
0
5
1
+4

 Paraguay
2
2
0
0
4
0
+4

 Tunisia
2
2
0
0
4
1
+3

 Czechoslovakia
2
2
0
0
3
0
+3

 Colombia
2
1
1
0
3
1
+2

 Romania
2
1
0
1
2
2
0

 Soviet Union
2
0
1
1
2
3
-1

 United States
2
0
1
1
1
2
-1

 Spain
2
0
1
1
0
1
-1

 Italy
2
0
0
2
2
4
-2

 Panama
1
1
0
0
6
1
+5

 Poland
1
1
0
0
3
0
+3

 Denmark
1
1
0
0
3
0
+3

 Chile
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

  Switzerland
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Mexico
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Trinidad and Tobago
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Cameroon
1
1
0
0
3
2
+1

 Kuwait
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Egypt
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Ecuador
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Slovenia
1
1
0
0
0
0
+1

 Austria
1
0
1
0
2
2
0

 Republic of Ireland
1
0
1
0
1
1
0

 Bulgaria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Morocco
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Netherlands
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Nigeria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Algeria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Costa Rica
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Hungary
1
0
0
1
1
2
-1

 Croatia
1
0
0
1
1
2
-1

text: Last update: 14 July 2018

text: Players' honours[edit]

text: List of England players with the most appearances at World Cups[edit]

text:
No.

Name

Matches

World Cups

1
Peter Shilton
17
1982, 1986, 1990

2

Terry Butcher
14
1982, 1986, 1990

Bobby Charlton
14
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

Ashley Cole
14
2002, 2006, 2010

Bobby Moore
14
1962, 1966, 1970

6
David Beckham
13
1998, 2002, 2006

7

Steven Gerrard
12
2006, 2010, 2014

Gary Lineker
12
1986, 1990

Michael Owen
12
1998, 2002, 2006

10
Chris Waddle
11
1986, 1990

text: List of England top goalscorers at World Cups[edit]

text:
No.

Name

Goals

World Cups

1
Gary Lineker
10
1986 (6) and 1990 (4)

2
Harry Kane
6
2018

3
Geoff Hurst
5
1966 (4) and 1970 (1)

4

Bobby Charlton
4
1962 (1) and 1966 (3)

Michael Owen
4
1998 (2) and 2002 (2)

6

Nat Lofthouse
3
1954

Roger Hunt
3
1966

David Platt
3
1990

David Beckham
3
1998, 2002 and 2006

Steven Gerrard
3
2006 (2) and 2010

11
Nine players
2

text: Current as of 3 July 2018 after the match against Colombia

text: List of England goals by tournament[edit]

text:
World Cup

Goalscorer(s)

1950

Wilf Mannion, Stan Mortensen

1954

Nat Lofthouse (3), Ivor Broadis (2), Tom Finney, Jimmy Mullen, Dennis Wilshaw

1958

Derek Kevan (2), Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes

1962

Ron Flowers (2), Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, Gerry Hitchens

1966

Geoff Hurst (4), Roger Hunt (3), Bobby Charlton (3), Martin Peters

1970

Allan Clarke, Geoff Hurst, Alan Mullery, Martin Peters

1982

Trevor Francis (2), Bryan Robson (2), Paul Mariner, Own Goal

1986

Gary Lineker (6), Peter Beardsley

1990

Gary Lineker (4), David Platt (3), Mark Wright

1998

Michael Owen (2), Alan Shearer (2), Darren Anderton, David Beckham, Paul Scholes

2002

Michael Owen (2), David Beckham, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey

2006

Steven Gerrard (2), David Beckham, Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Own Goal

2010

Jermain Defoe, Steven Gerrard, Matthew Upson

2014

Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge

2018

Harry Kane (6), John Stones (2), Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier

text: List of England players playing abroad at a World Cup[edit]

text: Historically, very few English World Cup squad members were playing for a club in a foreign league at the time of their selection to the national squad.[64]

text:
Year

Number (Country)

Players (Apps)

1950–1958

0

1962

1 (Italy)

Gerry Hitchens (2)

1966–1970

0

1982

1 (West Germany)

Tony Woodcock (2)

1986

2 (Italy)

Mark Hateley (3), Ray Wilkins

1990

5 (4 in Scotland, 1 in France)

Terry Butcher (5), Trevor Steven (3), Gary Stevens (2), Chris Woods (0); Chris Waddle (7)

1998

0

2002

1 (Germany)

Owen Hargreaves (2)

2006

2 (1 Spain, 1 Germany)

David Beckham (5); Owen Hargreaves (4)

2010

0

2014

1 (Scotland)

Fraser Forster (0)

2018

0

text: Team awards and records[edit]

text: Team Awards

text:
World Champions 1966
FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1990
FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1998 (shared)

tag: ul

text: Individual Awards

text:
Golden Ball 1966: Bobby Charlton
Silver Ball 1966: Bobby Moore
Golden Boot 1986: Gary Lineker
Golden Boot 2018: Harry Kane
Bronze Boot 1966: Geoff Hurst
Golden Glove 1966: Gordon Banks
Best Young Player Award 1998: Michael Owen

text: Team Records

text:
Most penalty shoot-outs lost: 3 (shared with Italy and Spain)
Biggest World Cup victory: 6-1 vs Panama, 2018 Group Stage [65]

text: Individual Records

text:
Only hattrick in a final: Geoff Hurst (1966 v West Germany)
Oldest captain: Peter Shilton (age 40 years and 292 days, 1990 v Italy)
Most clean sheets: Peter Shilton (10, 1982-1990) (shared with Fabien Barthez)

text: Refereeing[edit]

text: Four FIFA World Cup finals were officiated by English referees, more than by any other football association. The first Englishman to officiate a final, George Reader, is also the oldest World Cup referee to date, as he was 53 years and 236 days old at the 1950 decisive match between Uruguay and Brazil. The other final referees are William Ling (1954), Jack Taylor (1974) and Howard Webb (2010).

text: Arthur Ellis, who was a linesman at the 1950 final, is part of an elite group of referees who has been called up for three consecutive World Cups (1950–1958).


document_title: History of anime

question_text: who was the first person who made anime

question_tokens: who was the first person who made anime

root

text: History of anime

text: Origins of Anime (early 1900s–1922)[edit]

text: According to Natsuki Matsumoto, the first animated film produced in Japan may have stemmed from as early as 1907. Known as Katsudō Shashin (活動写真, "Activity Photo"), from its depiction of a boy in a sailor suit drawing the characters for katsudō shashin, the film was first found in 2005. It consists of fifty frames stenciled directly onto a strip of celluloid.[3][4] This claim has not been verified though and predates the first known showing of animated films in Japan. The date and first film publicly displayed is another source of contention: while no Japanese-produced animation is definitively known to date before 1917, the possibility exists that other films entered Japan and that no known records have surfaced to prove a showing prior to 1912.[1] Film titles have surfaced over the years, but none have been proven to predate this year. The first foreign animation is known to have been found in Japan in 1910, but it is not clear if the film was ever shown in a cinema or publicly displayed at all. Yasushi Watanabe found a film known as Fushigi no Bōrudo (不思議のボールド, "Miracle Board") in the records of the Yoshizawa Shōten (吉沢商店) company. The description matches James Blackton's Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, though academic consensus on whether or not this is a true animated film is disputed.[1] According to Kyokko Yoshiyama, the first animated film called Nippāru no Henkei (ニッパールの変形, "Nippāru's Transformation") was shown in Japan at the Asakusa Teikokukan (浅草帝国館) in Tokyo sometime in 1911. Yoshiyama did not refer to the film as "animation" though. The first confirmed animated film shown in Japan was Les Exploits de Feu Follet by Émile Cohl on April 15, 1912. While speculation and other "trick films" have been found in Japan, it is the first recorded account of a public showing of a two-dimensional animated film in Japanese cinema. During this time, German animations marketed for home release were distributed in Japan.[1].

tag: p

text: Few complete animations made during the beginnings of Japanese animation have survived. The reasons vary, but many are of commercial nature. After the clips had been run, reels (being property of the cinemas) were sold to smaller cinemas in the country and then disassembled and sold as strips or single frames. The first anime that was produced in Japan was made sometime in 1917, but there it is disputed which title was the first to get that honor. It has been confirmed that Dekobō Shingachō: Meian no Shippai (凸坊新画帳・名案の失敗, "Bumpy New Picture Book: Failure of a Great Plan") was made sometime during February 1917. At least two unconfirmed titles were reported to have been made the previous month.[1]

text: The first anime short-films were made by three leading figures in the industry. Ōten Shimokawa was a political caricaturist and cartoonist who worked for the magazine Tokyo Puck. He was hired by Tenkatsu to do an animation for them. Due to medical reasons, he was only able to do five movies, including Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (1917), before he returned to his previous work as a cartoonist. Another prominent animator in this period was Jun'ichi Kōuchi. He was a caricaturist and painter, who also had studied watercolor painting. In 1912, he also entered the cartoonist sector and was hired for an animation by Kobayashi Shokai later in 1916. He is viewed as the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s. His works include around 15 movies. The third was Seitaro Kitayama, an early animator who made animations on his own and was not hired by larger corporations. He eventually founded his own animation studio, the Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo, which was later closed due to lack of commercial success. He utilized the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-printed backgrounds. The works of these two latter pioneers include Namakura Gatana ("An Obtuse Sword", 1917) and a 1918 film Urashima Tarō which were believed to have been discovered together at an antique market in 2007.[5] However, this Urashima Tarō was later proved to most likely be a different film of the same story than the 1918 one by Kitayama, which, as of October 2017, remains undiscovered.[6]

text: Pre-war productions (1923–1939)[edit]

text: Yasuji Murata, Hakuzan Kimura, Sanae Yamamoto and Noburō Ōfuji were students of Kitayama Seitaro and worked at his film studio. Kenzō Masaoka, another important animator, worked at a smaller animation studio. In 1923, the Great Kantō earthquake destroyed most of the Kitayama studio and the residing animators spread out and founded studios of their own.

text: Prewar animators faced several difficulties. First, they had to compete with foreign producers such as Disney, which were influential on both audiences and producers. Foreign films had already made a profit abroad and could be undersold in the Japanese market, priced lower than what domestic producers needed to break even.[7] Japanese animators thus had to work cheaply, in small companies with only a handful of employees, which then made it difficult to compete in terms of quality with foreign product that was in color, with sound, and promoted by much bigger companies. Until the mid-1930s, Japanese animation generally used cutout animation instead of cel animation because the celluloid was too expensive.[8] This resulted in animation that could seem derivative, flat (since motion forward and backward was difficult) and without detail.[9] But just as postwar Japanese animators were able to turn limited animation into a plus, so masters such as Yasuji Murata and Noburō Ōfuji were able to perform wonders with cutout animation.

text: Animators such as Kenzō Masaoka and Mitsuyo Seo, however, did attempt to bring Japanese animation up to the level of foreign work by introducing cel animation, sound, and technology such as the multiplane camera. Masaoka created the first talkie anime, Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933,[10][11] and the first anime made entirely using cel animation, The Dance of the Chagamas (1934).[12] Seo was the first to use the multiplane camera in Ari-chan in 1941.

text: Such innovations, however, were difficult to support purely commercially, so prewar animation depended considerably on sponsorship, as animators often concentrated on making PR films for companies, educational films for the government, and eventually works of propaganda for the military.[13] During this time, censorship and school regulations discouraged film-viewing by children, so anime which could possess educational value were supported and encouraged by the Monbusho (the Ministry of Education). This proved important for producers that had experienced obstacles releasing their work in regular theaters. Animation had found a place in scholastic, political and industrial use.

text: During the second World War[edit]

text: In the 1930s, the Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also lead to a strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce animations which enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. Some movies were shown in newsreel theaters, especially after the Film Law of 1939 promoted documentary and other educational films. Such support helped boost the industry, as bigger companies formed through mergers and prompted major live-action studios such as Shochiku to begin producing animation.[14] It was at Shochiku that such masterworks as Kenzō Masaoka's Kumo to Chūrippu were produced. Wartime reorganization of the industry, however, merged the feature film studios into three big companies.

text: More animated films were commissioned by the military,[15] showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces. In 1943, Geijutsu Eigasha produced Mitsuyo Seo's Momotaro's Sea Eagles with help from the Navy. Shochiku then made Japan's first real feature-length animated film, Seo's Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors in 1945, again with the help of the Navy. In 1941 Princess Iron Fan had become the first Asian animation of notable length ever made in China. Due to economic factors, it would be Japan which later emerged long after the war with the most readily available resources to continue expanding the industry.

text: Toei Animation and Mushi Production[edit]

text: In 1948, Toei Animation was founded and produced the first color anime feature film in 1958, Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent, 1958). It was released in the US in 1961 as Panda and the Magic Serpent.[16] After the success of the project, Toei released a new feature-length animation annually.[17]:101

text: Toei's style was characterized by an emphasis on each animator bringing his own ideas to the production. The most extreme example of this is Isao Takahata's film Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968). Hols is often seen as the first major break from the normal anime style and the beginning of a later movement of "auteuristic" or "progressive anime" which would eventually involve directors such as Hayao Miyazaki (creator of Spirited Away) and Mamoru Oshii.[citation needed]

text: A major contribution of Toei's style to modern anime was the development of the "money shot". This cost-cutting method of animation allows for emphasis to be placed on important shots by animating them with more detail than the rest of the work (which would often be limited animation). Toei animator Yasuo Ōtsuka began to experiment with this style and developed it further as he went into television. In the 1980s, Toei would later lend its talent to companies like Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, DiC Entertainment, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Ruby Spears and Hanna Barbera, producing several animated cartoons for America during this period. Other studios like TMS Entertainment, were also being used in the 1980s, which lead to Asian studios being used more often to animate foreign productions, but the companies involved still produced anime for their native Japan.[citation needed]

text: Osamu Tezuka established Mushi Production in 1961, after Tezuka's contract with Toei Animation expired. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for such successful TV series as Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Gokū no Daibōken and Princess Knight.

text: Mushi Production also produced the first anime to be broadcast in the United States (on NBC in 1963), although Osamu Tezuka would complain about the restrictions on US television, and the alterations necessary for broadcast.[18]

text: The 1960s brought anime to television and in America. The first anime film to be broadcast was Three Tales in 1960. The following year saw the premiere of Japan's first animated television series, Instant History, although it did not consist entirely of animation.[17]:90 Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) is often miscredited as the first anime television series, premiering on January 1, 1963.[19] Astro Boy was highly influential to other anime in the 1960s,[20] and was followed by a large number of anime about robots or space.

text: 1963 introduced Sennin Buraku as the first "late night" anime[20] and Toei Doga's first anime television series Wolf Boy Ken. Mushi Pro continued to produce more anime television and met success with titles such as Kimba the White Lion in 1965. What is noted as the first magical girl anime, Sally the Witch, began broadcast in 1966. The original Speed Racer anime television began in 1967, and was brought to the West with great success. At the same time, an anime adaptation of Tezuka's Princess Knight aired, making it one of very few shoujo anime of the decade. The first anime adaptation of Shotaro Ishinomori's manga Cyborg 009 was created in 1968, following the film adaptation two years prior.

text: The long-running Sazae-san anime also began in 1969 and continues today with excess of 6,500 episodes broadcast as of 2014. With an audience share of 25% the series is still the most-popular anime broadcast.[16]:725

text: During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrank due to competition from television. This reduced Toei animation's staff and many animators went to studios such as A Pro and Telecom animation. Mushi Production went bankrupt (though the studio was revived 4 years later), its former employees founding studios such as Madhouse and Sunrise. Many young animators were thrust into the position of director, and the injection of young talent allowed for a wide variety of experimentation. One of the earliest successful television productions in the early 1970s was Tomorrow's Joe (1970), a boxing anime which has become iconic in Japan. 1971 saw the first installment of the Lupin III anime. Contrary to the franchise's currently popularity, the first series ran for 23 episodes before being cancelled. The second series (starting in 1977) saw considerably more success, spanning 155 episodes over three years.

text: Another example of this experimentation is Isao Takahata's 1974 television series Heidi, Girl of the Alps. This show was originally a hard sell because it was a simple realistic drama aimed at children, and most TV networks thought children needed something more fantastic to draw them in. Heidi was an international success, popular in many European countries, and so successful in Japan that it allowed for Hayao Miyazaki and Takahata to start a series of literary-based anime (World Masterpiece Theater). Miyazaki and Takahata left Nippon Animation in the late 1970s. Two of Miyazaki's critically acclaimed productions during the 1970s were Future Boy Conan (1978) and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

text: During this period, Japanese animation reached continental Europe with productions aimed at European and Japanese children, with the most-pronounced examples being the aforementioned Heidi but also Barbapapa and Vicky the Vikings. Italy, Spain and France grew an interest in Japan's output, which was offered for a low price.[21][22]

text: Another genre known as mecha came into being at this time. Some early works include Mazinger Z (1972–1974), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972–1974), Space Battleship Yamato (1974–75) and Mobile Suit Gundam (1979–80).

text: As a contrast to the action-oriented shows, shows for a female audience such as Candy Candy and Rose of Versailles earned high popularity on Japanese television and later in other parts of the world.[21]

text: By 1978, over fifty shows were aired on television.[23]

text: The shift towards space operas became more pronounced with the commercial success of Star Wars (1977). This allowed for the space opera Space Battleship Yamato (1974) to be revived as a theatrical film. Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) was also unsuccessful and revived as a theatrical film in 1982. The success of the theatrical versions of Yamato and Gundam are seen as the beginning of the anime boom of the 1980s, and of "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age".[24]

text: A subculture in Japan, who later called themselves otaku, began to develop around animation magazines such as Animage or later Newtype. These magazines formed in response to the overwhelming fandom that developed around shows such as Yamato and Gundam in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

text: In the United States, the popularity of Star Wars had a similar, though much smaller, effect on the development of anime.[citation needed] Gatchaman was reworked and edited into Battle of the Planets in 1978 and again as G-Force in 1986. Space Battleship Yamato was reworked and edited into Star Blazers in 1979. The Macross series began with The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), which was adapted into English as the first arc of Robotech (1985), which was created from three separate anime titles: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. The sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985), became the most successful real robot space opera in Japan, where it managed an average television rating of 6.6% and a peak of 11.7%.[25]

text: The otaku subculture became more pronounced with Mamoru Oshii's adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's popular manga Urusei Yatsura (1981). Yatsura made Takahashi a household name and Oshii would break away from fan culture and take a more auteuristic approach with his 1984 film Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. This break with the otaku subculture would allow Oshii to experiment further.

text: The otaku subculture had some effect on people who were entering the industry around this time. The most famous of these people were the amateur production group Daicon Films which would become Gainax. Gainax began by making films for the Daicon science fiction conventions and were so popular in the otaku community that they were given a chance to helm the biggest-budgeted anime film (at that time), Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987).

text: One of the most-influential anime of all time, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), was made during this period. The film gave extra prestige to anime allowing for many experimental and ambitious projects to be funded shortly after its release. It also allowed director Hayao Miyazaki and his longtime colleague Isao Takahata to create their own studio under the supervision of former Animage editor Toshio Suzuki. This studio would become known as Studio Ghibli and its first film was Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), one of Miyazaki's most-ambitious films.

text: The success of Dragon Ball (1986) introduced the martial arts genre and became incredibly influential in the Japanese Animation industry. It influenced many more martial arts anime and manga series' including YuYu Hakusho (1990), One Piece (1999), and Naruto (2002).

text: The 1980s brought anime to the home video market in the form of original video animation (OVA). The first OVA was Mamoru Oshii's Dallos (1983–1984). Shows such as Patlabor had their beginnings in this market and it proved to be a way to test less-marketable animation against audiences. The OVA allowed for the release of pornographic anime such as Cream Lemon (1984); the first hentai OVA was actually the little-known Wonder Kids studio's Lolita Anime, also released in 1984.

text: The 1980s also saw the amalgamation of anime with video games. The airing of Red Photon Zillion (1987) and subsequent release of its companion game, is considered to have been a marketing ploy by Sega to promote sales of their newly released Master System in Japan.

text: Sports anime, as it is now known, made its debut in 1983 with an anime adaptation of Yoichi Takahashi's soccer manga Captain Tsubasa, which became the first worldwide successful sports anime. Its themes and stories were a formula that would be used in many sports series that followed, such as Slam Dunk, Prince of Tennis and Eyeshield 21.

text: The late 1980s saw an increasing number of high-budget and experimental films. In 1985, Toshio Suzuki helped put together funding for Oshii's experimental film Angel's Egg (1985). Theatrical releases became more ambitious, each film trying to outclass or outspend its predecessors, taking cues from Nausicaä's popular and critical success. Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985), Tale of Genji (1986), and Grave of the Fireflies (1988) were all ambitious films based on important literary works in Japan. Films such as Char's Counterattack (1988) and Arion (1986) were lavishly budgeted spectacles. This period of lavish budgeting and experimentation would reach its zenith with two of the most-expensive anime film productions ever: Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987) and Akira (1988). Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) was the top-grossing film for 1989, earning over $40 million at the box office.

text: Despite the commercial failure of Akira in Japan, it brought with it a much larger international fan base for anime. When shown overseas, the film became a cult hit and, eventually, a symbol of the medium for the West. The domestic failure and international success of Akira, combined with the bursting of the bubble economy and Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989, brought a close to the 1980s era of anime.

text: In 1995, Hideaki Anno wrote and directed the controversial anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show became popular in Japan among anime fans and became known to the general public through mainstream media attention. It is believed that Anno originally wanted the show to be the ultimate otaku anime designed to revive the declining anime industry, but midway through production he also made it into a heavy critique of the subculture, eventually culminating in the controversial successful film The End of Evangelion (1997) which grossed over $10 million. Anno would go on to produce live-action films. Many scenes in Evangelion were so controversial that it forced TV Tokyo to clamp down with censorship of violence and sexuality in anime. As a result, when Cowboy Bebop (1998) was first broadcast it was shown heavily edited and only half the episodes were aired; though it too eventually became a mainstream hit both in and outside of Japan.

text: Evangelion started a series of so-called "post-Evangelion" or "organic" mecha shows. Most of these were giant robot shows with some kind of religious or difficult plot. These include RahXephon, Brain Powerd, and Gasaraki. It also led to late-night experimental TV shows. Starting with Serial Experiments Lain (1998), late-night Japanese television became a forum for experimental anime such as Boogiepop Phantom (2000), Texhnolyze (2003) and Paranoia Agent (2004). Experimental anime films were also released in the 1990s, most notably the cyberpunk thriller Ghost in the Shell (1995), which alongside Megazone 23 (1985),[26] had a strong influence on The Matrix.[27][28][29] Ghost in the Shell, alongside Evangelion and the neo-noir space western Cowboy Bebop, helped further entrench the awareness of anime in the international consciousness born out of the success of Akira.[30]

text: The late 1990s also saw a brief revival of the super robot genre that was once popular in the 1960s and 1970s but had become rare due to the popularity of real robot shows such as the Gundam and Macross series in the 1980s and psychological mecha shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion in the 1990s. The revival of the super robot genre began with the Brave (Yuusha) Series, starting with Brave Exkaiser in 1990, also there were many remakes and sequels of 1970s super robot shows such as Getter Robo Go and Tetsujin-28 go FX in response to "post-Evangelion" trends, but there were very few popular super robot shows produced after this, until Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in 2007.

text: Alongside its super robot counterpart, the real robot genre was also declining during the 1990s. Though several Gundam shows were produced during this decade, very few of them were successful. The only Gundam shows in the 1990s which managed an average television rating over 4% in Japan were Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994) and New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995). It wasn't until Mobile Suit Gundam SEED in 2002 that the real robot genre regained its popularity.[25]

text: The 1990s also saw the popular video game series, Pokémon, spawn an anime television series which is still running, several anime movies, a trading card game, toys, etc. Other 1990s anime series which gained international success were Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Digimon; the success of these shows brought international recognition to the martial arts superhero genre, the magical girl genre, and the action-adventure genre, respectively. In particular, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon were dubbed into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Another large success was the anime One Piece, based on the best-selling manga of all time, which is still ongoing.

text: In 1997, Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke became the most-expensive animated film up until that time, costing $20 million to produce. Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000 cels in the film,[31] and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them.[32]

text: By 1998, over hundred shows were aired on television.[33]

text: The "Evangelion-era" trend continued into the 2000s with Evangelion-inspired mecha anime such as RahXephon (2002) and Zegapain (2006) – RahXephon was also intended to help revive 1970s-style mecha designs.

text: The real robot genre (including the Gundam and Macross franchises), which had declined during the 1990s, was revived in 2002 with the success of shows such as Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002), Eureka Seven (2005), Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006), Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007), and Macross Frontier (2008).[citation needed]

text: The 1970s-style super robot genre revival began with GaoGaiGar in 1997 and continued into the 2000s, with several remakes of classic series such as Getter Robo and Dancougar, as well as original titles created in the super robot mold like Godannar and Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann in particular combined the super robot genre with elements from 1980s real robot shows, as well as 1990s "post-Evangelion" shows. Gurren Lagann received both the "best television production" and "best character design" awards from the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2008.[34] This eventually culminated in the release of Shin Mazinger in 2009, a full-length revival of the first super robot series, Mazinger Z.

text: An art movement started by Takashi Murakami that combined Japanese pop-culture with postmodern art called Superflat began around this time. Murakami asserts that the movement is an analysis of post-war Japanese culture through the eyes of the otaku subculture. His desire is also to get rid of the categories of 'high' and 'low' art making a flat continuum, hence the term 'superflat'. His art exhibitions are very popular and have an influence on some anime creators particularly those from Studio 4 °C.[citation needed]

text: The experimental late night anime trend popularized by Serial Experiments Lain also continued into the 2000s with experimental anime such as Boogiepop Phantom (2000), Texhnolyze (2003), Paranoia Agent (2004), Gantz (2004), and Ergo Proxy (2006)

text: In addition to these experimental trends, the 2000s were also characterized by an increase of moe-style art and bishōjo and bishōnen character design. There was a rising presence and popularity of genres such as romance, harem and slice of life.

text: Anime based on eroge and visual novels increased in popularity in the 2000s, building on a trend started in the late 1990s by such works as Sentimental Journey (1998) and To Heart (1999). Examples of such works include Green Green (2003), SHUFFLE! (2006), Kanon (2002 and 2006), Fate/Stay Night (2006), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006), Ef: A Tale of Memories (2007), True Tears (2008), and Clannad (2008 and 2009).

text: Many shows have been adapted from manga and light novels, including popular titles such as Inuyasha (2000), Naruto (2002), Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), Monster (2004), Bleach (2004), Rozen Maiden (2005), Aria the Animation (2005), Shakugan no Shana (2005), Pani Poni Dash! (2005), Death Note (2006), Mushishi (2006), Sola (2007), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006), Lucky Star (2007), Toradora! (2008–09), K-On! (2009), Bakemonogatari (2009), and Fairy Tail (2009); these shows typically last several years and achieve large fanbases. Nevertheless, original anime titles continue to be produced with the same success.

text: The 2000s marked a trend of emphasis of the otaku subculture. A notable critique of this otaku subculture is found in the 2006 anime Welcome to the N.H.K., which features a hikikomori (socially withdrawn) protagonist and explores the effects and consequences of various Japanese sub-cultures, such as otaku, lolicon, internet suicide, massively multiplayer online games and multi-level marketing.

text: In contrast to the above-mentioned phenomenon, there have been more productions of late-night anime for a non-otaku audience as well. The first concentrated effort came from Fuji TV's Noitamina block. The 30-minute late-Thursday timeframe was created to showcase productions for young women of college age, a demographic that watches very little anime. The first production Honey and Clover was a particular success, peaking at a 5% TV rating in Kantou, very strong for late-night anime. The block has been running uninterrupted since April 2005 and has yielded many successful productions unique in the modern anime market.

text: There have been revivals of American cartoons such as Transformers which spawned four new series, Transformers: Car Robots in 2000, Transformers: Micron Legend in 2003, Transformers: Superlink in 2004, and Transformers: Galaxy Force in 2005. In addition, an anime adaptation of the G.I Joe series was produced titled G.I. Joe: Sigma 6.

text: The revival of earlier anime series was seen in the forms of Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior (2006) and Dragon Ball Z Kai (2009). Later series also started receiving revivals in the late 2000s and early 2010s, such as with Studio Khara's Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy (2007–), and new adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga Appleseed XIII (2011) and Ghost in the Shell: Arise (2013–2016).

text: The decade also dawned a revival of high-budget feature-length anime films, such as Millennium Actress (2001), Metropolis (2001), Appleseed (2001), Paprika (2006), and the most expensive of all being Steamboy (2004) which cost $26 million to produce. Satoshi Kon established himself alongside Otomo and Oshii as one of the premier directors of anime film, before his premature death at the age of 46. Other younger film directors, such as Mamoru Hosoda, director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) and Summer Wars (2009), also began to reach prominence.

text: During this decade, anime feature films were nominated for and won major international film awards for the first time in the industry's history. In 2002, Spirited Away, a Studio Ghibli production directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and in 2003 at the 75th Academy Awards it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the first non-American film to win the award and is one of only two to do so. It has also become the highest grossing anime film, with a worldwide box office of US$274 million.

text: Following the launch of Toonami on Cartoon Network and later Adult Swim, anime saw a giant rise in the North American market. Kid-friendly anime such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Doraemon, Bakugan, Beyblade, and the 4Kids Entertainment adaptation of One Piece have all received varying levels of success. This era also saw the rise of anime-influenced animation, most notably Avatar: the Last Airbender and its sequel The Legend of Korra, Ben 10, Chaotic, Samurai Jack, The Boondocks, RWBY and Teen Titans.

text: At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, directed by Mamoru Oshii, was in competition for the Palme d'Or and in 2006, at the 78th Academy Awards, Howl's Moving Castle, another Studio Ghibli-produced film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was nominated for Best Animated Feature. 5 Centimeters Per Second, directed by Makoto Shinkai, won the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007, and so far, anime films have been nominated for the award every year.

text: By 2004, over two hundred shows were aired on television.[35]

text: In 2012, the Toonami block in the US was relaunched as an adult-oriented action block on Adult Swim, bringing uncut anime to a far wider audience. In addition to re-releasing older shows, the block (as well as Adult Swim itself) oversees the premiere of English releases for various new shows, including: Durarara!! (2010), Deadman Wonderland (2011), Hunter x Hunter (2011), Sword Art Online (2012), Psycho-Pass (2012), Attack on Titan (2013), Kill la Kill (2013), Space Dandy (2014), Akame ga Kill! (2014), Parasyte -the maxim- (2014), and One Punch Man (2015).[citation needed]

text: On September 6, 2013 Hayao Miyazaki announced that The Wind Rises (2013) would be his last film, and on August 3, 2014 it was announced that Studio Ghibli was "temporarily halting production" following the release of When Marnie Was There (2014), further substantiating the finality of Miyazaki's retirement. The disappointing sales of Isao Takahata's comeback film The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) has also been cited as a factor.[36] Additionally, various international anime distribution companies, such as ADV Films, Bandai Entertainment, and Geneon Entertainment, were shut down due to poor revenue, with their assets spun into new companies like Sentai Filmworks or given to other companies.[37]

text: Both Attack on Titan and The Wind Rises reflect a national debate surrounding the reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, with Miyazaki's pacifism in the film coming under fire from the political right,[38] while Attack on Titan has been accused of promoting militarism by people in neighboring Asian countries, despite being intended to show the haunting, hopeless aspects of conflict.[39] The mecha anime genre (as well as Japanese kaiju films) received a Western homage with the 2013 film Pacific Rim directed by Guillermo del Toro.[40]

text: In 2015, an all record-high of three hundred forty shows aired on television.[41]

text: Firsts[edit]

text:
First
Native language name
English name
Released
Type
Broadcast

Oldest known
活動写真
Katsudō Shashin
Unknownα
short film

Oldest confirmed film release
凸坊新画帳・名案の失敗
Bumpy new picture book – Failure of a great plan
February 1917[1]
short film

Publicly shown in a theater
芋川椋三玄関番の巻 or 芋川椋三玄関番之巻
Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
April 1917[1]
short film

Talkie
力と女の世の中
Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka
April 13, 1933[42]
film

Entirely cel-animated
茶釜音頭
The Dance of the Chagamas
1934[12]
film

Feature film
桃太郎 海の神兵
Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei
April 12, 1945[43]
film

Appearance on television (non series)
もぐらのアバンチュール
Mole's Adventure
July 14, 1958[44]
short film
Yes

Color feature film
白蛇伝
The Tale of the White Serpent
October 22, 1958
film

Television series
インスタントヒストリー
Instant History
May 1, 1961
series
Yes

Late night series
仙人部落
Sennin Buraku
September 4, 1963
series
Yes

Giant robot series
鉄人28号
Tetsujin 28-go
October 20, 1963
series
Yes

Color television series
ジャングル大帝
Kimba the White Lion
October 6, 1965
series
Yes

Magical girl series
魔法使いサリー
Sally the Witch
December 5, 1966
series
Yes

Adult-oriented (animated) film
千夜一夜物語
A Thousand and One Nights
June 14, 1969
film

Space opera series
宇宙戦艦ヤマト
Space Battleship Yamato
October 6, 1974
series
Yes

Real robot series
機動戦士ガンダム
Mobile Suit Gundam
April 7, 1979
series
Yes

OVA
ダロス
Dallos
December 12, 1983
OVA
Yes

Hentai OVA
ロリータアニメ
Lolita Anime
February 21, 1984
OVA
Yes

Fully computer animated[45]
A.LI.CE
A.LI.CE
February 5, 2000
film


document_title: List of box office records set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens

question_text: box office collection of star wars the force awakens

text: Worldwide[edit]

text:
Fastest film to gross $1 billion – 12 days.[2]
Biggest worldwide opening weekend and single weekend gross – $529 million.[3] Surpassed by The Fate of the Furious in 2017, which grossed $542 million in its opening weekend.
Highest-grossing Star Wars film. It was the second Star Wars film, following The Phantom Menace, to gross $1 billion.[4]
Biggest December international opening weekend – $281 million.[5]
Biggest Disney international opening – $281 million.[3]
Highest-grossing 2015 film – $2.068 billion.[6]
Highest-grossing Disney release, surpassing Marvel's The Avengers.[6]

text: IMAX[edit]

text:
Widest worldwide IMAX release – 937 IMAX screens.[7] This includes 391 IMAX screens in the United States and Canada, 270 screens from China and 276.[7][8]
Biggest IMAX worldwide opening weekend – $48 million.[9]
Biggest single day IMAX worldwide gross – $17.7 million (on Friday, December 18, 2015).[9]
Biggest single day IMAX international gross – $4.8 million (on Saturday, December 19, 2015).[9]
Fastest to:

$100 million in IMAX ticket sales – 12 days. It earned a total of $106 million in that period. The previous record was held by Jurassic World, which took 18 days to reach the mark.[2]
$150 million in IMAX ticket sales – 19 days. It earned a total of $152 million in that period. The previous record was held by Avatar, which took 47 days to reach the mark.[10]
$175 million in IMAX ticket sales – 24 days. It earned a total of $179 million in that period. The previous record was held by Avatar, which took 58 days to reach the mark.[8]

Biggest IMAX fourth-weekend gross worldwide – $19 million. This broke Avatar's previous record of $12.27 million.[8]
Highest-grossing IMAX film of 2015 – $179 million.[8]

text: United States and Canada[edit]

text: Numbers and records are not adjusted for inflation unless otherwise noted.

text:
Record Grosses[11]

Day
Gross
Rank[12]
Total[13]

1 (F)
119.1m
#1
119.1m

2 (Sa)
68.3m
#15
187.4m

3 (Su)
60.6m
#22
248m

1st wknd
248m
#1

4 (M)
40.1m
#69
288.1m

5 (Tu)
37.4m
#86
325.5m

6 (W)
38m
#81
363.5m

7 (Th)
27.4m
#213
390.9m

1st week
390.9m
#1

2nd wknd
149.2m
#12
540.6m

3rd wknd
90.2m
#54
742.2m

20 (Th)
6.2m
>#1000
764.4m

23 (Sa)
19.2m
#549
800.3m

50 (F)
1.8m
>#1000
900.8m

text:
Highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Avatar.[14] The Force Awakens surpassed Avatar's gross on January 6, 2016, taking 20 days to break the record. In comparison, Avatar took 318 days to reach its final gross, including the revenue it earned from a re-release in 2010.[15][16]

Fastest to become highest-grossing film – 20 days.[17]
Highest grossing Star Wars film, surpassing the $431 million gross of The Phantom Menace.[18]
Highest-grossing film released in the IMAX format.[19]
Highest-grossing film released in 3D.[20]

Highest-grossing film of the 21st century adjusted for inflation, surpassing Avatar. Adjusted for inflation, The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing film since Titanic, which was released in 1997.[21][22]
Fastest to:[23][24]

$100 million – 1 day.
$150 million – 2 days.
$200 million – 3 days.
$250 million – 4 days.
$300 million – 5 days.
$350 million – 6 days.
$400 million – 8 days.
$450 million – 9 days.
$500 million – 10 days.
$550 million – 11 days.
$600 million – 12 days.
$650 million – 14 days.
$700 million – 16 days.
$750 million – 18 days.
$800 million – 23 days. It was the first movie to reach that gross.
$850 million – 31 days. It was the first movie to reach that gross.
$900 million – 50 days. It was the first movie to reach that gross.

Biggest opening weekend and single weekend gross – $247.97 million.[25]

Biggest opening weekend of 2015 – $247.97 million.[25]
Biggest Holiday opening weekend – $247.97 million.[26]
Biggest PG-13 rated opening weekend – $247.97 million.[27]
Biggest December opening weekend – $247.97 million. It was the first film to gross more than $100 million in a December opening weekend.[28]
Biggest opening weekend in the Star Wars franchise – $247.97 million.[18]

Biggest opening week (Friday-Thursday) – $391.5 million[29][30]
Biggest second weekend – $149.2 million.[31] Its second weekend was also the 12th highest grossing weekend of all-time.[25][32]
Biggest third weekend – $90.2 million.[33]

Biggest January weekend – $90.2 million.[34] This surpassed American Sniper's wide release opening weekend gross of $89.3 million, which remained the January opening weekend record.[35]

Biggest overall pre-sales – $100+ million.[36][37][38]
Biggest Thursday night previews – $57 million.[39] This figure incorporates revenues generated from the "Star Wars Marathon Event" show from 135 theaters in which all six previous Star Wars films were shown along with Star Wars: The Force Awakens; tickets to the marathon event were sold at a significant premium. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 held the former previews record, with $43.5 million.[40][41][42]
Widest December release – 4,134 theaters.[43] Surpassed by Rogue One, which was released in 4,157 theaters.[44]
Widest 3D release – 3,300 theaters.[43]
Biggest Friday to Saturday drop – $50.83 million.[45] However, in percentage terms, the film dropped 43%, which was far from The Ringer's wide release record of 72%.[46]
Biggest RealD 3D opening weekend – $78 million.[47] The previous record was jointly held by The Avengers and Jurassic World, as both earned $70 million.[48]
Biggest weekend per-theater average for a wide release – $59,982 per theater.[49]
Largest number of tickets sold in an opening weekend – 28.8 million tickets.[50]
Biggest share of weekend tickets sales on Fandango – 37% of the film's $247.97 million opening.[51]
Number one film of the highest-grossing single aggregated weekend – $313 million.[52] That number represents the total combined gross of all movies in theaters on the weekend of December 18–20.[52] With a weekend gross of $247 million, The Force Awakens took in over 75% of that $313 million gross, as well as 81.2% of the combined gross of the top 12 films that weekend ($305.5 million).[53] The previous record for top 12 aggregated gross had been $266 million, set on the weekend of June 12–14, 2015.[53]
Biggest opening weekend for a film released in 4DX format with 84% occupancy rate in its opening weekend.[54]
Biggest gap between first and second highest-grossing films in a weekend – $233.7 million over Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (December 18–20).[55]
Number one film of the highest-grossing aggregated December – $1.3 billion. The Force Awakens earned 50% of that total. December 2009 had held the former record for highest-grossing December, with a gross of $1.07 billion.[56]
Highest-grossing film in any single December. It surpassed Avatar, which grossed $283.6 million in December 2009.[56]
Biggest three-day gross at a single U.S. location – $715,010 at Pacific's Arclight Hollywood.[57]
Biggest Christmas Day pre-sales on Fandango. It broke the record previously held by Les Misérables and Django Unchained in 2012.[58]
Biggest pre-sales in Canada.[59]
Biggest 3-day, 4-day, 5-day, 6-day, 7-day, 8-day, 9-day, and 10-day opening gross.[60]

text: IMAX[edit]

text:
Highest-grossing film released in the IMAX format.[19]
Biggest IMAX single day pre-sales – $6.5 million.[61]
Biggest Thursday night IMAX previews – $5.7 million.[39]
Widest IMAX release – 392 IMAX theaters.[43]
Biggest IMAX opening weekend – $30.1 million.[62]
Highest-grossing 2015 IMAX film – $108.7 million.[63]
Fastest film to reach $100 million in IMAX ticket sales – 24 days.[63] The previous record was held by Avatar, which took 57 days to cross the mark.[63]

text: Single-day records[edit]

text:
Biggest single day gross – $119.1 million on December 18, 2015.[64] It was the first film to gross over $100 million in a single day.[64] This figure incorporates the $57 million it earned from its Thursday night previews. Excluding this amount, it earned the third biggest "single Friday" gross with $62.1 million which was behind Jurassic World ($63.4 million) and The Avengers ($62.7 million).[65]

Biggest opening day gross – $119.1 million.[66]
Biggest Friday gross – $119.1 million.[67]
Biggest December single day gross – $119.1 million.[68] On nine separate days, the Force Awakens surpassed the former December single day record, which had been held by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ($37.1 million on December 14, 2012).[69]

Biggest Sunday gross – $60.5 million on December 20.[70]
Biggest Monday gross – $40.1 million on December 21.[71][72] This broke the $27.7 million Monday record held by Spider-Man 2 since July 5, 2004.

Biggest non-holiday Monday gross – $40.1 million.[73]
Smallest Sunday-to-Monday drop – 33.8% (tied with Avatar).[74]

Biggest Tuesday gross – $37.3 million on December 22.[75][76] This topped the $35 million Tuesday record that Spider-Man 3 had set on its opening day in 2007, though the latter film's Tuesday gross was higher after adjusting for inflation.[77]
Biggest non-opening Wednesday gross – $38.1 million on December 23.[78][79] This broke the record for largest non-Wednesday opening gross held by Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($37 million). However, the $38.1 million gross ranked sixth in terms of single Wednesday gross behind Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($68 million) and four other films that opened on Wednesdays.[80]
Biggest Christmas Eve gross – $27.1 million on December 24. This broke Avatar's former record of $11.2 million.[30]
Biggest Christmas Day gross – $49.3 million on December 25.[81] This broke Sherlock Holmes' former record of $24.6 million in 2009.[82]

Biggest non-opening Friday gross – $49.3 million. This broke Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith's former record of $43.6 million, which the latter film grossed in its second day of release.[83]
Biggest non-opening week Friday gross – $49.3 million, surpassing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($31.6 million). It was the first film to record two $40 million+ Friday grosses.[84]

Biggest non-opening week Saturday gross – $56.7 million on December 26, surpassing The Avengers ($42.9 million). It was the first film to record two $50+ million Saturday grosses.[85]
Biggest non-opening week Sunday gross – $43.15 million on December 27, surpassing Jurassic World ($38.36 million). It was the first film to record two $40+ million Sunday grosses.[70]
Biggest non-opening week Monday gross – $31.4 million on December 28, surpassing Shrek 2 ($23.4 million); also the second biggest Monday gross behind its own Monday record. Rogue One surpassed the non-opening week Monday gross record in December 2016. The Force Awakens was the first film to record two $20+ million Monday grosses.[71]
Biggest non-opening week Tuesday gross – $29.5 million on December 29, surpassing Avatar ($18.3 million). It was the first film to record two $20+ million Tuesday grosses.[75]
Biggest non-opening week Wednesday gross – $28.1 million on December 30, surpassing Avatar ($18.5 million). It was the first film to record two $20+ million Wednesday grosses.[78]
Biggest non-opening week Thursday gross – $22.9 million on December 31, surpassing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($15.5 million). It was the first film to record two $20 million+ Thursday grosses.[86]
Biggest New Year's Day gross – $34.5 million on January 1, 2016. This broke Avatar's former record of $25.3 million.[87]

text: United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta[edit]

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Highest-grossing film of all time in the U.K. and Ireland – £119.4 million ($172.1 million)[88] or $176.5 million.[89] This surpassed Skyfall's previous record of £103.2 million ($161.1 million).[90][91] It reached the mark on January 8, 2016, taking 22 days to break the record. In comparison, Skyfall took 66 days to reach this goal.[92][93][94]
Biggest opening weekend – £34,011,849 ($50,686,789).[95] The $50.6 million record is based on a 4-day total. In terms of all-time opening weekend – irrespective of the number of days – Spectre holds the record with $63.7 million in its 7-day opening (including Monday previews).[96]
Biggest three-day opening weekend – £24.33 million ($36.2 million).[97] This broke the former record of £23.75 million ($35.3 million) achieved by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in July 2011.[97]
Biggest opening and single day gross – £9.68 million ($14.3 million).[98] This includes revenues generated from 12.01 am previews on Wednesday night.[97]
Biggest advance ticket sales – 2 million.[99][100]
Widest release of all time – 670 theaters.[90][101] Spectre previously held the record by releasing across 647 theaters and on 2,500 screens.[102]
Biggest midnight gross – £2.4 million ($3.6 million).[98]
Biggest opening weekend of 2015 – $50.6 million.[95]
Biggest Disney opening weekend – $50.6 million.[95]
Biggest share of weekend gross – 83% of the weekend's total gross.[97]
Biggest Saturday gross – £8.71 million ($12.9 million).[97]
Biggest Sunday gross – £8.58 million ($12.7 million).[97]
Biggest Monday gross – £5.83 million ($8.6 million).[97][103] This eclipsed the former record of £5.05 million ($7.4 million) held by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 during the Bank holiday.[97]
Fastest film to reach £50 million ($74.3 million) – 6 days.[104] It grossed a total of $76.5 million in the said period.[104]
Biggest 7 day/1 week gross – £55.8 million ($82.9 million).[105] It is also the first (and only) film to earn over £50 million within a week.[90]
Biggest Boxing Day gross.[2]
Fastest film to earn £80 million ($118 million) – 13 days.[106] It earned £83.5 million ($123 million) in the said period besting the previous record held by Skyfall which took 23 days to reach the milestone.[106]
Highest-grossing IMAX film – £8.2 million ($12.16 million).[106]
Highest-grossing Disney film.[106]
Highest-grossing 2015 film – £108.8 million ($161.4 million).[8]
Fastest film to reach £100 million – 20 days.[92] This broke Skyfall's former ascend record of 66 days.[92]

text: China[edit]

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Biggest Saturday opening day – ¥217.5 million ($33 million).[107] However, this figure is based on numbers reported by Disney. Chinese box office tracking service Ent Group reported a different gross of $30.7 million (including $2.88 million from previews) from just under 78,900 screenings from a total of 4.48 million ticket sales.[108][109] Other Chinese sources have the film open to $32.1 million.[110]
Biggest Disney opening day – $33 million.[107][109] While Avengers: Age of Ultron is ahead of The Force Awakens in terms of US dollars with $33.9 million over $33 million, the latter is higher in terms of local currency with ¥217.5 million over ¥210.5 million.[8]
Biggest Saturday to Sunday opening weekend – $52.6 million.[8][111][112] This broke the former record held by Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) by 70%.[8][113] China box office tracking firm Ent Group reported $53.2 million from 170,000 screenings from 9.19 million admissions.[114] This record was later overtaken by Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back the following year with 348 million yuan ($80.4 million).[115]
Biggest Saturday to Sunday IMAX opening weekend – $8.1 million.[111][116]
Biggest IMAX Saturday gross – ¥27.7 million ($4.3 million). The former record was held by Avengers: Age of Ultron with ¥22.82 million ($3.4 million).[8]
Biggest two days IMAX gross – $8.1 million. This broke Avengers: Age of Ultron's former record of $6.6 million.[8]

text: Records in other territories[edit]

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Biggest opening weekend of all time – Australia ($19.6 million), Russia, Germany ($27.5 million), Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia and New Zealand.[95] The record in Russia was overtaken by Deadpool in February 2016.[117][118]
Biggest opening day of all time – Germany ($7.1 million), Australia ($6.8 million), Sweden ($1.7 million), Norway ($1.7 million), Brazil, New Zealand, Belgium ($800,000), Finland ($600,000), Netherlands ($800,000), French-speaking Switzerland, Austria, Ukraine, Slovakia, Croatia, Iceland, Serbia, Chile, Peru, Poland and Hungary.[119][120]
Biggest December opening day – Mexico ($3.4 million), Italy ($3.1 million), Argentina, France, Kazakhstan, Spain, Russia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.[119][120]
Biggest IMAX opening day – Australia, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Austria, Turkey, Portugal, Qatar, UAE, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica, and Trinidad.[119]
Biggest opening day for Disney – France, Denmark, South Africa, Czech Republic, Turkey and Serbia.[119]
Biggest single day – Germany ($7.1 million), Sweden ($1.7 million), Norway ($1.1 million), Hungary and Iceland.[119]
Biggest Monday gross – Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and Ukraine.[103]
Biggest second weekend gross in Australia.[2]
Highest-grossing Disney film – Germany ($94.7 million), France ($76.6 million) and Russia ($25.3 million).[8][121]
Highest-grossing film of 2015 – Germany and Italy ($24.9 million).[121]
Biggest pre-sales in Germany.[122]
Fastest film to reach 5 million admission in France – 12 days.[2]
Fastest film to pass the ￥7 billion ($60 million) mark in Japan – 20 days. This broke the former record held by the animated film Frozen.[123]
Single-screen record at Toho Cinema's MX4D theater in Shinjuku, central Tokyo – (￥101 million) $890,000.[124]

text: Achievements and milestones[edit]

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It is the third film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide, joining Titanic and Avatar.[125] It is also the second film to reach that number in its first theatrical run without a rerelease, after Avatar.[126]
It is the fifth film to gross more than $1 billion excluding US and Canada gross, after Titanic, Avatar, Furious 7, and Jurassic World.[127]
It is the first film to earn more than $300 million in a single week domestically.[29]
It is the first film to cross $800 million domestically.[128][129] It took 23 days for the film to cross the mark.[130] Using Box Office Mojo's inflation adjustments, fifteen films had previously grossed over $800 million when adjusting for inflation to 2016 dollars.[131][132]
It is the first film to cross $900 million domestically, doing so on its fiftieth day of release.[133][134] Using Box Office Mojo's inflation adjustments, ten films had previously grossed over $900 million when adjusting for inflation to 2016 dollars.[131][132]