The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international football matches played by the national football teams of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at the end of both the First and Second World Wars. The matches were organised to celebrate the Victory of the Allied Powers in both wars. The term specifically refers to those matches played after the conflicts were over, making them distinct from the wartime internationals which were played during the course of the wars.

Among the games regarded as Victory Internationals were those played as part of the 1945–46 British Victory Home Championship. The 1945–46 season also saw England play Victory internationals against France, Switzerland and Belgium. Scotland also played the latter two national teams. The status of these internationals is open to debate. England, Ireland and Wales do not recognize any of these games as full internationals. Scotland, however, does list the games against Belgium and Switzerland as full internationals. Similarly, Belgium, Switzerland and France all regard their Victory Internationals as full internationals.[1][2][3][4]

World War I matches (1919)

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Scotland 2–1 Ireland
Andrew Wilson 2 Billy Halligan

Ireland 0–0 Scotland

England 2–2 Scotland
Robert Turnbull
Sydney Puddefoot
John Stewart Wright
James Bowie

Scotland 3–4 England
Andrew Wilson 2
Alan Morton
Arthur Grimsdell 2
Sydney Puddefoot 2

Wales 2– 1 England
Billy Meredith
George Wynn
Sydney Puddefoot

England 2–0 Wales
Bob Whittingham
Joe Smith

World War II matches (1945–46)

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Ireland 0–1 England
  Stan Mortensen

England 0–1 Wales
  Aubrey Powell

Scotland 2–0 Wales
William Waddell
Jock Dodds
 

England 2–0 Belgium
Robert Brown
Jesse Pye

Scotland 2–2 Belgium
Jimmy Delaney 2 Victor Lemberechts
Freddy Chaves

Ireland 2–3 Scotland
Davy Walsh 2 Billy Liddell 2
George Hamilton

Scotland 1–0 England
Jimmy Delaney  

Wales 0–1 Ireland
  Paddy Sloan

England 4– 1  Switzerland
Raich Carter 2
Robert Brown
Tommy Lawton
Hans-Peter Friedlander

Scotland 3– 1  Switzerland
Billy Liddell 2
Jimmy Delaney
Georges Aeby

France 2– 1 England
Jean Prouff
Ernest Vaast
Jimmy Hagan

See also

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References

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