This isn't quite true. He said specifically that he hit the ball as hard as possibly (still aiming for the goal) because he wanted to be sure that, if he missed, the ball would have gone well into the stands to wind the clock down more. It wasn't exactly a mishit.
Chasing_Uberlin t1_j194li0 wrote
Reply to TIL During the 1966 World Cup final between England and West Germany, England were ahead in extra time, and striker Geoff Hurst tried to hit the ball as far into the stands as possible to waste time. Instead, he mishit the ball and sent it into the top corner of the German goal. England won 4-2. by haddock420
This isn't quite true. He said specifically that he hit the ball as hard as possibly (still aiming for the goal) because he wanted to be sure that, if he missed, the ball would have gone well into the stands to wind the clock down more. It wasn't exactly a mishit.