3/1 To Win
Thirty years ago today, on 21st June 1990, Mark Wright became the first-ever Derby County player to score at the FIFA World Cup.
The central defender bagged the only goal of the game for England as they defeated Egypt 1-0 in Group F.
The goal was a crucial one for Bobby Robson’s side too as the win saw the Three Lions reach the knockout stages of the competition as group winners.
The Derby centre-back headed home from Paul Gascoigne’s left-wing free-kick with 59 minutes on the clock to fire England to victory.
It proved to be his only goal for his country during his international career, but it was one that saw him go down in Derby County history.
In scoring, Wright became the first player to be on Derby’s books to score in a World Cup and, to date, he is the only Rams player to have achieved such a feat.
The defender was joined in the England squad for the 1990 World Cup in Italy by Derby goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who also captained the side in the win over Egypt.
Wright won 45 caps for England in total and he was a key player as Robson’s side progressed to the Semi-Final stage, where they were beaten by West Germany on penalties, 30 years ago.
It is a tournament, and a time in his career, that the now 56-year-old looks back on with great fondness.
“When you play for your country it is always nice to have a bit of personal recognition or glory,” Wright told RamsTV whilst appearing as a special guest on the Derby County Community Trust’s recent Zoom call with participants of their Team Talk programme last month.
“Under Bobby Robson, god rest his soul and we all still love him now as much as we did back then, we went to that World Cup as a team.
“While I was excited to score, of course I was, it was about England and how well we could do and far we could go.”
He added: “We believed we could do something, and we went on to the Semi-Finals. We played against Germany and produced our best performance of the tournament, but it wasn’t to be.”
Wright made 171 appearances in total for Derby between 1987 and 1991 under Arthur Cox, before leaving to join Liverpool.
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