Paul Gascoigne, commonly referred to as "Gazza", is widely regarded as a footballing genius, with his former teammate Chris Waddle describing him as England's last "real creative midfield player". Gascoigne began his career at Newcastle United, where he played in 92 games and scored 21 goals.
He then moved to Tottenham Hotspur, where he also played in 92 games and scored 19 goals. It was during his time at Tottenham that he received his first call-up to the England squad under manager Bobby Robson.
Gascoigne was a key member of England's 1990 FIFA World Cup team, which reached the semi-finals, the best run by an England team since their 1966 World Cup victory. He became a national hero during the tournament due to his outstanding performances, with Bobby Robson later describing him as the best young player of the tournament.
Despite being overlooked by FIFA for the award, Gascoigne finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or for 1990 behind Lothar Matthäus, Totò Schillaci, and Andreas Brehme, with no other English player making it into the top ten.
The next few years were a barren spell for England under the management of Graham Taylor, with an exit at the group stage of Euro '92 and failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, leading to Taylor's sacking.
However, between 1995 and 1998, Gascoigne enjoyed his best goalscoring spell while at Rangers, scoring 30 goals in 74 games. In 1996, he was included in the England squad for Euro '96, which was being held at home, and won acclaim for a brilliant goal against Scotland and for his role in the 4-1 defeat of the Netherlands.
Although he narrowly missed an incredible chance to score a winning goal against Germany in the semifinal, England eventually lost the game in a penalty shootout following a miss from Gareth Southgate, and Germany went on to win the final against the Czech Republic.
The next England manager, Glenn Hoddle, controversially decided not to include the 31-year-old Gascoigne in the England squad for the 1998 World Cup, citing his lack of fitness, and this marked the end of his England career, in which he played a total of 57 games and scored ten goals.
Gascoigne also left Rangers in 1998, moving to Middlesbrough, although he was no longer in his previous form, scoring just four goals in 41 games for the club. He also made 32 appearances for Everton between 2000 and 2002, and finished his career at Burnley, Gansu Tianma in China, and Boston United.
Despite never winning a major tournament with the national team, Gascoigne remains one of England's most iconic footballers and has been interviewed numerous times about his career, including for Piers Morgan's Life Stories (2009),Alan Shearer's Euro 96: When Football Came Home (2016),and Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager (2018).
