Moore was the leader of the side which gave English football its crowning glory and established him as a magnificent player, gentleman and sporting icon. With all their games at Wembley, England had got through their group with little trouble, beaten a violent Argentina in the quarter finals and a skilful, dangerous Portugal team in the semis. West Germany awaited in the final.
Remarkably, according to Geoff Hurst's autobiography, England full back George Cohen overheard Ramsey talking to his coaching staff about the possibility of dropping Moore for the final and deploying the more battle-hardened Norman Hunter in his place. However, eventually they settled on keeping the captain in the team. It remains a strange scenario, rendered almost unthinkable with hindsight. Moore had not been playing badly, nor had he given the impression that he had been distracted by his contract dispute prior to the competition. The only possible explanations were that the Germans had some rather fast attacking players, which could expose Moore's own lack of pace, and that Hunter - who was of a similar age to Moore but only had four caps - was the club partner of Moore's co-defender with England, Jack Charlton.
In the final, England went 0-1 down through Helmut Haller, but Moore's awareness and quick-thinking helped England to a swift equaliser. He was fouled by Wolfgang Overath midway inside the German half and, rather than remonstrate or head back into defence, he picked himself up quickly while looking ahead and delivered an instant free kick on to Hurst's head, in a movement practised at West Ham. Hurst scored.
The West Ham connection to England's biggest day became stronger when Peters scored to take England 2-1 up, but the Germans equalised in the final minute of normal time through Wolfgang Weber - as Moore appealed unsuccessfully for a handball decision - to take the match into extra time.
Ramsey was convinced the Germans were exhausted, and after Hurst scored probably the most controversial and debated goal in world football, the game looked over. With only seconds remaining, and England under the pressure of another German attack, the ball broke to Moore on the edge of his own penalty area. Team-mates shouted at Moore to just get rid of the ball, but he calmly picked out the feet of Hurst 40 yards (40 m) upfield. Hurst took the ball on and, although his intention was to kick it into the stands and waste time, his shot found the inside corner of the net, completing a hat-trick which remains unique. There was no time to restart.
Of many timeless images from that day, one is of Moore gallantly wiping his hands clean of mud and sweat on his shorts and shirt before shaking the hand of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as she presented him with the World Cup.
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