 England was chosen as host of the 1966 World Cup in Rome, Italy on 22 August 1960, over rival bids from West Germany and Spain.This is the first tournament to be held in a country that was affected directly by World War II, as the four previous tournaments were either held in countries out of war theatres or in neutral countries.Despite the Africans' absence, there was another new record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with 70 nations taking part.