The wait was already long enough when Skinner, Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds first coined the phrase.

Now, after another three decades of pain, punishment and, of course, penalties, the release of Three Lions is closer to Sir Alf Ramsey's boys of '66 lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley than the present day, and '30 years of hurt' has doubled to 60.

In the agonising wait since Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst produced our finest hour, England have had 19 managers, played 673 matches and used nearly 500 players in search of bringing the World Cup trophy 'home' again.

On Wednesday, precisely 21,868 days on from Hurst's hat-trick, Moore wiping clean his dirty hands before greeting the late Queen and Nobby Stiles' dancing, England will get their latest quest underway, under the guidance of Thomas Tuchel against Croatia in Dallas.

It's been a painful ride. From Jan Tomaszewski to the Hand of God, Ronaldinho's cheeky chip to Cristiano Ronaldo's cheeky wink, Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle to Paul Ince and David Batty, and a Golden Generation to Gareth Southgate's waistcoat, it has always ended the same way.

Daily Mail Sport has spoken to a player from each of the 14 tournaments since 1966 and rifled through our archives to reveal the untold stories, off-field chaos, agony and ecstasy of playing for England at the World Cup. This is the 60 Years of Hurt.

1970, Mexico: Alan Mullery

Manager: Sir Alf Ramsey. England lost 3-2 to West Germany (after extra time) in the quarter-finals. Group stage: 1-0 v Romania, 0-1 v Brazil, 1-0 v Czechoslovakia.

There were people who thought we had a better squad at the World Cup in 1970 than 1966. They were probably right. The one thing we couldn’t do anything about was the heat. Hot. Really hot. Really, really, hot.

We knew it would be difficult. We were in Mexico weeks before the first game to acclimatise because it wasn’t just heat but altitude. We were there for so long we were looking for ways to pass the time. Alf Ramsey suggested horse racing. It was all organised for us and we had armed bodyguards with us.

At the racecourse, we asked one of the bodyguards how to go about placing a bet. He said, ‘Number nine will win’. We said, ‘What are you talking about? This race isn’t run yet’. He said, ‘Yes, but number nine will win’. Number nine took off at an incredible rate and won by about 10 lengths.

That was the first race, and this bodyguard knew every horse that was going to win. It was so funny. There was Alan Ball, Bobby Moore, me and a few others collecting money on every race.

The football was more difficult. They wouldn’t let us stop for water during the games like they will this year. In the dressing room, players were falling to the floor and having water poured over them. It was the worst I experienced. The doctor weighed us before and after we played and I lost 2st during one game. I spent the next two days in bed.

But people remember it as a terrific tournament, and it was. There were top quality players. Brazil was a magnificent team and Pele such a wonderful footballer. When we played them, Alf gave me orders. ‘Follow him everywhere he goes,’ he said, so I did. I followed him all the way down the tunnel at half-time and back into their dressing room.

It’s true Pele did get away from me for the header, when Gordon Banks made that fantastic save to push it around the post. I ruffled Gordon’s hair and said, ‘Why didn’t you catch it?’ and he shot one or two expletives back in my direction.

Some people blamed Peter Bonetti because Gordon was sick and Catty, as he was known, came in for the quarter-final against West Germany, but the conditions beat us more than anything. That stopped us doing what we had been doing. We had been playing well and winning quite easily. I scored my one and only England goal. Martin Peters made it 2-0.

Players stopped doing their jobs because they were exhausted. People started to walk. We became cautious. We couldn’t maintain the same intensity. Alf took Bobby Charlton off because he wasn’t the quickest and we needed to get some pace out there.

I can’t explain how bad it was to play in that heat for 90 minutes and this game went into extra time. I’d never played in anything like it. None of us had. It was entirely different. It was a killer.

1974, West Germany: Roy McFarland

Manager: Sir Alf Ramsey. England did not qualify, finishing behind Poland in their qualifying group.

We had players like Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Alan Ball, who had won the World Cup. There were talented young players emerging. Up front, Martin Chivers and Allan Clarke, the strikers of the day.

We didn’t play well away in Poland. They scored early. I gave away a free kick with a tackle out on the right. It was smacked across with lots of pace on it. I’m not sure how but it was deflected in at the near post. Bobby Moore got caught on the ball for the second, which was not like Bobby at all.

Still, we would’ve qualified with a win in the second game at Wembley. And how we didn’t score more than once in that game, God only knows. We had so many chances. We played them off the park. The goalkeeper made some good saves.

The whole night was surreal, the way we played. The goal they scored. Norman Hunter tried to dribble past somebody and lost it, and they raced onto me two-v-one. I couldn’t stop it and Shilts was caught out with the ball going under his body.

Then the way we struggled to put the ball in the net. The saves. Goals we had disallowed. It all flew by so quickly. Kevin Hector came on for his debut and almost scored the winner with his only touch.

We should’ve won but we didn’t. It’s hard to put a finger on why. I suppose we just weren’t good enough when it mattered. It was soul destroying. Still is. It’s not something I’m proud of.

Missing out on a World Cup was one of the big disappointments in my career and it still brings back bad memories when I think back to that game or see footage from it. We should have won at Wembley. It just wasn’t to be.

1978, Argentina: Dennis Tueart 

Manager: Ron Greenwood. England did not qualify, finishing behind Italy in their qualifying group.

It was a funny qualifying campaign, missing out on the World Cup on goal difference to Italy. We thought we were in a good position and had good players, that even as second seeds getting to the finals in Argentina would be no problem.

But we never really had a settled team. Don Revie was never sure. Don had three or four players who he wanted to rely on – Kevin Keegan and Mick Channon up front, Dave Watson at the back – and the rest was a mix and match.

The 2-0 defeat in Rome did for us. I watched on from the bench as the Italians absolutely murdered us physically. They had Claudio Gentile at the back – he was an animal. Stan Bowles came out of nowhere for that match, not only coming into the squad but then starting and starting up front, where he never played for QPR. It was a bit strange.

We had a few issues as a group. Stan had a few issues with Don. But I always felt Don was very positive from a players’ perspective. He got the players good bonuses and was innovative tactically. I enjoyed it.

And then the UAE job happened. All over the news, massive in the newspapers – broken by the Daily Mail. You could tell before then that he didn’t care because he was going to the Middle East. That was the feeling we had, we knew well before the end of the campaign. It doesn’t lend itself to a good atmosphere in the camp, does it?

Don quit before the end of qualifying, Ron Greenwood taking over for the last two matches but I was out of the picture by then. I didn’t get selected for one of the squads and that is what made me go to New York Cosmos, to try something new.

1982, Spain: Bryan Robson

Manager: Ron Greenwood. England went out in the second group stage. First group stage: 3-1 v France, 2-0 v Czechoslovakia, 1-0 v Kuwait. Second group stage: 0-0 v West Germany, 0-0 v Spain.

If Kevin Keegan had been 100 per cent fit we could have gone all the way in 1982.

Kevin had won the Ballon d'Or twice, he was a tremendous player, but he hadn't played for a month going into that tournament because of a back injury.

After a couple of painkilling injections, he managed to get on the pitch for 27 minutes in the decider against Spain. I managed to set him up for a header, but he glanced it wide. That wasn't the reason we went out, because I missed chances too, but Kevin showed in those minutes what a difference he could have made. It ended up being his last game for England.

It's ridiculous to think we went out of that World Cup without losing a game, conceding just one goal, because of the format. It's probably the biggest disappointment of my career.

People always say to me 'if only you hadn't dislocated your shoulder in '86' or 'if only you hadn't got injured at Italia 90'. I'm not sure I'd have helped England get to the final in those tournaments but 1982 we should have got there.

I'd got off to a great start, scoring after 27 seconds against France, then scoring an even better goal as we won 3-1. It changed my life. I was later presented with a gold watch by Seiko with the inscription ‘fastest World Cup goal, England v France 1982, 27 seconds’. Every now and again I take it out, normally when one of the family want to see it.

The excitement was even too much back home because my wife Denise ended up going into labour, giving birth to our second daughter Charlotte. I did an interview with ITV after the game and Jim Rosenthal said they’d messed it up so I’d have to go back the next day to do it. Unbeknown to me they’d sent a TV crew to the hospital to film Denise with Charlotte.

Then they sat me in a room and put the video on and that was the first time I’d seen Charlotte — broadcast live on TV. Privacy? I had no choice. But it’s a tournament I’ll never forget.

1986, Mexico: Peter Reid

Manager: Sir Bobby Robson. England lost 2-1 to Argentina in the quarter-finals. Group stage: 0-1 v Portugal, 0-0 v Morocco, 3-0 v Poland. Last 16: 3-0 v Paraguay.

I've always said if Peter Shilton had just punched Diego Maradona's head, instead of going for the ball, we wouldn't have had the handball, and Diego may have been too concussed to score the second.

My Everton mate Graeme Sharp said the 'Hand of God' was the greatest goal in World Cup history, but he would, typical Scotsman. I still get stick today for not being able to catch Diego for the second but he went past five other players. My chest felt like it was going to explode in the Azteca that day, such were the conditions with heat and altitude.

We lost because of his brilliance and his cheating. But if Gary Lineker had handballed a winner in off a John Barnes cross that day, would I have owned up? Would I hell.

It all kicked off in the tunnel afterwards. They were singing about the 'Malvinas' (the Falklands) and Terry Butcher wanted to box a few. There was a bit of fisticuffs before security bundled us all into the dressing rooms. Then afterwards, I am lying in my hotel, disconsolate, with my room-mate Steve Hodge when he reaches into his bag and says, 'what do you think of this?' It was Maradona's shirt. I told him what I thought at the time, but fair play.

Fast forward 36 years and I'm in London, walking past Sotheby's, when this broadcaster spots me and ushers me in. In the room they were auctioning Hodgey's Maradona shirt. I pose for photographs with it then look on as it sells for £7.15million! Incredible.

I met Diego, a couple of times over the years. Once in Abu Dhabi I got criticised for kissing his hand when I wanted to try and bite it. He didn't speak English, so I said to the interpreter, 'tell him he's a cheat'. He just came back with, 'Reid, you were always very slow'.

He did sign a few shirts for me though, one 'to my mate, Peter'. I'm not sure I'd sell that one... unless someone's got a spare £7m.

1990, Italy: Stuart Pearce

Manager: Sir Bobby Robson. England lost on penalties to West Germany in the semi-finals. Group stage: 1-1 v Republic of Ireland, 0-0 v Netherlands, 1-0 v Egypt. Last 16: 1-0 v Belgium (after extra time). Quarter-finals: 3-2 v Cameroon (after extra time). Third-place play-off: 1-2 v Italy.

The draw played a big part in it. We did not navigate what we should have navigated and we came up against a world-class team, the winners.

Lack of preparation on the penalty shootout cost us. When you consider Chris Waddle had only ever taken one penalty before then and he stepped up as one of England’s five. That was quite damning. 

The preparation was good in terms of the build-up and we got better over the tournament and the team evolved. Mark Wright had a brilliant tournament in the centre of defence. Des Walker was magnificent and Gazza was brilliant. The players who were at their first tournament really punched above their weight. We had one of the top scorers in Gary Lineker.

A lot went right but lack of preparation on penalties was a weakness. And I will throw into the mix the fact that we didn’t put Dave Beasant in goal for the penalty shootout. 

1994, USA: David Platt

Manager: Graham Taylor. England did not qualify, finishing behind Norway and the Netherlands in their qualifying group.

I won’t lie, the fact we didn’t qualify really hurt. I was coming up to 28 and probably knew there wouldn’t be another one left for me. I felt for Graham Taylor, obviously. He had been my manager at Aston Villa.

People always talk about Ronald Koeman and the sending off that should have been when we lost to Holland in Rotterdam. Of course he pulled me down. It’s obvious. A big moment. But, you know, we were 2-0 up against the Dutch at Wembley six months earlier and drew 2-2. That killed us as much as anything.

We have all seen the documentary and the players knew the cameras were there. Graham spelled it out and it didn’t really worry us. What you have to remember is that it would have been a bloody good documentary, had we qualified. The problem was that we didn't.

It was actually really insightful and Graham's mentality was very much: 'People should know this. People should know what's going on.'

In hindsight, should it have been done? No. But the controversy around it is because we didn't qualify. It’s as simple as that.

1998, France: Tony Adams

Manager: Glenn Hoddle. England lost on penalties to Argentina in the last 16. Group stage: 2-0 v Tunisia, 1-2 v Romania, 2-0 v Colombia.

It was a great team, great squad of players and it was so close, Becks kicks the guy (Diego Simeone) and it’s penalties and you’re out.

It’s such fine margins in a tournament. We were coming close under Terry Venables at Euro 96. We were going in the right direction and it changed from Terry to Glenn and went a bit more defensive, defending with a five. I think that was the big change and you think Glenn would have been a bit more adventurous. He got us there in the last qualifying tie in Rome and he didn’t go away from that.

One of the biggest compliments from him was that Glenn didn’t think I was very good. He tested me on more than one occasion. He didn’t think I could kick it with my left foot. Glenn was a fantastic player, but he also tries to belittle you at times. He did it with Becks with the free-kicks and stuff.

So he gets a ball out in training with me and he's smacking it left foot and right foot to me, and I'm 60 yards away, and smacking it back on my left foot and right foot. He's gone: ‘Wow, that's better than I remember.’ Thanks, Chocolate. Bless him.

But he's changed as well. He’s a very spiritual man and I've got a lot of time for Glenn today. We've come at it from different paths, I suppose. But he's gone through some journey. You put people in a box and all of a sudden they change. 

2002, South Korea & Japan: Michael Owen

Manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson. England lost 2-1 to Brazil in the quarter-finals. Group stage: 1-1 v Sweden, 1-0 v Argentina, 0-0 v Nigeria. Last 16: 3-0 v Denmark.

Against the very, very best, we hardly got a kick under Sven.

In the Brazil game, we played against 10 men for the last half hour and still didn't get a kick. Not even a chance. It was the most flat effort I've ever seen, considering it was a World Cup quarter-final. We just weren't smart enough. 

Some people will say it's nothing to do with formations, it's just about players. I really don't get that. I've been on the pitch so many times where you just think, 'Oh my word, how do we beat them? They're set up so well you can't even see a pass'. Even my goal to put us 1-0 up was just a hopeful chip forward and a mistake that I jumped on.

Let's get it right - we played long ball! Not because we wanted to, but because we were so outnumbered in midfield with a rigid 4-4-2. Everyone said Gerrard and Lampard couldn't play together.

It didn't matter. All we did, every time we played good teams, honestly, was launch it to (Emile) Heskey.

Brazil's wing-backs were Cafu and Roberto Carlos - ours were Danny Mills and Ashley Cole. Their front three was Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Ronaldo - we had Owen and Heskey! Do you know what I mean? I'm laughing at myself saying this. We were so blasé to think we deserved to win, but I do believe we would have had a better chance with Hoddle.

2006, Germany: Theo Walcott

Manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson. England lost to Portugal on penalties in the quarter-finals. Group stage: 1-0 v Paraguay, 2-0 v Trinidad & Tobago, 2-2 v Sweden. Last 16: 1-0 v Ecuador.

It was too much, too soon for me.

You’ve just turned 17, you’ve just gone to Arsenal from Southampton in the Championship, you haven’t yet played in the Premier League. When you're older and you're an adult and you've got more responsibilities and you have your own children, I do look at it now and think, where was the protection side of it then?

For me, no, I shouldn’t have gone. I knew how to play football. On the pitch, that’s where I actually knew what to do. That’s where I could have connected with the other players.

Off the field? No, not really, because of the age gap, but big Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole really looked after me. I saw them both recently and actually thanked them because they didn’t realise what they did for me at the time.

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2010, South Africa: Peter Crouch

Manager: Fabio Capello. England lost 4-1 to Germany in the last 16. Group stage: 1-1 v USA, 0-0 v Algeria, 1-0 v Slovenia.

South Africa in 2010 was a real disappointment. If you talk about the pressure around playing for England at a World Cup, surrounding it, you do feel it, there's no denying it.

You put yourself in a bubble as much as you can, but you do feel the outside noise. And it's hard to get away from. It's a massive, massive tournament, and as a country, as a nation, we just will it so much, we want it so much that you do feel that. It’s hard to ignore.

But also I'm immensely jealous of the players that are going into this tournament. I look at that and think, you have the opportunity here to do something that so many great players in previous times haven't done, and you get the opportunity to play in games that are why you play the game.

When you're dreaming as a kid, it's about playing in a World Cup, playing for your country, singing the national anthem, you know, perhaps scoring, even winning it. I mean, that's the stuff for dreams, when you're in that moment and you're taking a penalty, go, yeah, this is a pressure moment, but you've worked all your life to get there, so enjoy it and embrace it. I'm very jealous of them.

Watch Peter Crouch record his podcast from Paddy Power’s oversized green underwear in the latest episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast on YouTube 

2014, Brazil: Steven Gerrard

Manager: Roy Hodgson. England went out in the group stage. Group stage: 1-2 v Italy, 1-2 v Uruguay, 0-0 v Costa Rica.

A mixture of emotions. Frustration, pain. The season for Liverpool ended badly for me. I was coming out of that, trying to put it to bed, trying to get some positivity back. 

There was a small, tiny glimmer (when England equalised in their second game against Uruguay before Luis Suarez struck again), but that made the pain even worse when the game was gone. It was a desperate position to be in.

We were bitterly disappointed. It was exactly what I didn’t want to happen, the exact way. It hurts. It’s killing me not to have any positives to speak about.

2018, Russia: Jesse Lingard

Manager: Gareth Southgate. England lost 2-1 to Croatia (after extra time) in the semi-finals. Group stage: 2-1 v Tunisia, 6-1 v Panama, 0-1 v Belgium. Last 16: 1-1 v Colombia (4-3 on penalties). Quarter-finals: 2-0 v Sweden. Third-place play-off: 0-2 v Belgium.

When I look back at my life and all that I achieved with Manchester United, that summer with England will always stand out. It was the culmination of all the hard work I had put into my career.

There had been times when it wasn’t certain I would make it but there I was, playing for my country in a World Cup semi-final.

Gareth Southgate had given me my debut in the qualifiers for Russia and I owe him an awful lot. He believed in me and that gave me even greater confidence. I started five games in the tournament and scored in the group win over Panama.

The key to our success was the fact we had good players who, thanks to Gareth’s efforts, all gelled together to become a powerful unit. Gareth worked so hard on that and it paid off. It’s so important in football.

The semi-final against Croatia was where it all ended and of course I have mixed feelings. It was great to be on that field but to come so close, to lose in extra time, was a heartbreak.

To play in a World Cup final would have been the fulfilment of a boyhood dream.

2022, Qatar: Harry Kane

Manager: Gareth Southgate. England lost 2-1 to France in the quarter-finals. Group stage: 6-2 v Iran, 0-0 v USA, 3-0 v Wales. Last 16: 3-0 v Senegal.

I think Qatar was one our best tournaments in recent history. I know we didn’t get as far as the other tournaments but it was the general feeling of how we played, the goals we scored.

And even if you look at that quarter-final with France it was very small margins that didn’t go in our favour and that was the difference.

A lot of people spoke after about how that was the game that could have changed things for us.

It didn’t go our way but I think we took a lot of confidence from that tournament, and I think from the fans’ point of view they enjoyed watching the freedom that we played with and how we enjoyed being out there.

I feel like the downs especially have almost motivated me to be better, looking back at the last World Cup and the disappointment with the way that ended.

After the time it took me to process it all and move on, it gave me an extra bite, an extra edge to really improve and push on.

INTERVIEWS BY: Matt Barlow, Jack Gaughan, Simon Jones, Oliver Holt, Ian Ladyman, Craig Hope, Kieran Gill and Tamara Prenn.