Best Of World Cup
1) Diego Maradona (1986): Just minutes after punching the ball into the net with the infamous “Hand of God” goal against England in the quarter-finals, the Argentine ace scored what many consider not only the greatest goal ever at the World Cup, but also the greatest in the history of the game.
Maradona collected the ball inside his half and as he picked up speed, he majestically slalomed his way through half the England team, burst into the penalty area and ended his 75-yard run to glory by coolly slotting the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the back of the net. Pure poetry.
2) Pele (1958): With Brazil sitting on a slender 2-1 lead over Sweden in the final, a 17-year-old Pele took control of the game in the 55th minute when he scored a stunningly breathtaking goal. Standing in a crowd in the penalty area with his back towards goal, he trapped a high pass with his chest, knocked the ball over his head while being marked by a defender, whirled around and volleyed it past Swedish goalkeeper Karl Svensson. And with that goal, a legend was born.
3) Esteban Cambiasso (2006): Argentina’s second goal in a 6-0 destruction of Serbia and Montenegro in the first round was the picture of perfection, a goal crafted with equal parts South American flair and German precision. A fluid 24-pass movement climaxed with Juan Roman Riquelme slipping a pass inside for Esteban Cambiasso, who then knocked the ball to Hernan Crespo. The Argentine forward sent a back-heeled return pass into the path of Cambiasso, who thumped the ball into the net from 12 yards out. Incredible.
4) Saeed Owairan (1994): Like Maradona’s goal against England in 1986, Owairan’s strike for Saudi Arabia against Belgium in the first round was the result of a fantastic individual effort. Owairan started slowly with the ball deep in his end and began to pick up pace as he moved forward. With nobody coming over to close him down, the Saudi midfielder just kept running straight down the middle, sped past four Belgian players and blasted the ball home past goalkeeper Michel Preud’homme.
5) Diego Maradona (1986): Proving his goal against England was no fluke, Maradona scored on another brilliant solo effort just three days later against Belgium in the semifinals. This time he shrugged off three Belgian players and left them for dead as he made a penetrating run deep into the attacking third of the field. With only one man to beat, he juggled the ball over to his left foot, swerved away from the last defender and rifled a shot into the net.
6) Archie Gemmill (1978): The Scotsman’s goal in a surprising 3-2 win over the Netherlands in the first round was a picture of pure grace and ballet. With his team leading 2-1 in the 68th minute, Gemmill picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and effortlessly danced and skipped his way past three Dutch defenders, leaving them purely awestruck in his wake, before sublimely chipping the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed and into the net.
7) Roberto Baggio (1990): The Italian will always be remembered for his penalty-shot miss against Brazil in 1994, but this sublime goal against Czechoslovakia in the first round showed he was player of pure class. After receiving the ball at the half-way line, he dribbled past two Czech defenders, made a timely cut into the penalty area after a mazy run down the right side and slotted a low shot past the goalkeeper.
Arie Haan (1978): Goals don’t come any powerful than this one against Italy in the semifinals. The Dutchman casually drifted down the right side before unleashing a blistering rocket from 40 yards out that somehow beat Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff and tucked just under the crossbar.
9) Dennis Bergkamp (1998): A fantastic effort from the Dutch master. A thrilling quarter-final between the Netherlands and Argentina was settled in the 89th minute when Bergkamp calmly controlled a 50-yard pass in the air from teammate Frank de Boer, sidestepped Argentina defender Roberto Ayala and hammered the ball into the roof of the net past a helpless Carlos Roa.
10) Carlos Alberto (1970): A memorable strike that capped off an emphatic 4-1 win for Brazil over Italy in the final. Pele started the move down the left side before moving towards the middle. He found some open space and sensing Alberto was coming down the right side, he played a perfect square pass 25 yards from goal that Alberto lashed onto without breaking stride and hammered past static Italian goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi.
1) Brazil (1970): Regarded by the majority of historians and critics as the greatest soccer team of all time. The Brazilian squad that competed in Mexico boasted a slew of world-class players – Pele, Jairzinho, Tostao, Rivelino and Carlos Alberto – and won all six of its games en route to capturing its third World Cup. It’s fitting that the 1970 World Cup was the first to be broadcasted on TV in colour – while every other team employed a predictable black and white approach, Brazil thrilled the Mexican crowds with its brilliant Technicolor style.
2) Italy (1982): The Azzurri started slowly in Spain, tying all three of their opening round games and scraping into the quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth. Once they made it to the knockout stage, the Italians underwent an amazing transformation, dispatching defending champions Argentina, a Brazil side many said was even better than the 1970 team, Poland in the semifinals and a dangerous West Germany team in the final. The victory of the 1982 Italian team, led by Paolo Rossi’s tournament-leading six goals, is proof that anything is possible.
3) Argentina (1986): The magical Maradona dominated the tournament in Mexico, but he was ably abetted by the hard-working Jorge Luis Burruchaga, the sublime talents of Jorge Valdano and Oscar Ruggeri, a solid presence in the centre of Argentina’s defence. With Maradona at his best, the Mexican crowds adopted Argentina as their team, as the South American nation won its second World Cup.
4) West Germany (1974): An incredibly talented team with Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Gerd Muller. The Germans overcame a first-round loss to lowly East Germany to win their second World Cup much to the delight of the hometown fans. That the Germans were able to overcome Johan Cruyff and a Netherlands side that was at the height of its “Total Football” revolution made their victory in the final all the more memorable.
5) Hungary (1954): The greatest team never to win the World Cup. Led by the legendary quartet of Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis, Nandor Hidegkuti and Jozsef Bozsik, Hungary was the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite in Switzerland. Gold-medal winners at the 1952 Helsinki Games, Hungary was unbeaten (24 wins, four draws) since May 1950 prior to the World Cup, but it fell victim to a miraculous comeback in the final against the West Germans in Berne.
6) The Netherlands (1974): Another fantastic team that somehow did not win the World Cup. Featuring the likes of the incomparable Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, the Dutch mesmerized fans and opponents alike with an attacking brand of “Total Football”. Stylish and sleek, the Netherlands toyed with the Germans in the final, but failed to put them away when it had the chance.
7) Brazil (1958): Often overshadowed by the 1970 team, Brazil’s 1958 squad was equally brilliant. Unknown to the world at the start of the tournament, a 17-year-old Pele became a global icon by leading Brazil past a Swedish team packed with superstars to win its first World Cup title. The 1958 Brazilian side is still the only South American team to win the World Cup on European soil.
France (1998): Led by the unrivalled Zinedine Zidane, Les Bleus romped to its first World Cup crown on home soil in considerable style. France put Italy and Croatia to the sword in majestic fashion before humiliating the favoured Brazilians in the final with an emphatic 3-0 victory. France was champions of the world and over a million French fans danced the night away on the Champs Elysées.
9) England (1966): The World Cup came “home” in 1966 when England, the inventors of the game, won the Jules Rimet Trophy in an epic and dramatic final over West Germany at Wembley Stadium. Inspired by manager Sir Alf Ramsey, a hard-working England team answered the call on home soil and Geoff Hurst became a national hero with his hat trick in the final.
10) Italy (1938): The Azzurri were first crowned champions in 1934 but critics contended the Italians only won because the tournament had been staged on home soil. It was an argument Italy emphatically refuted four years later. Led by the dangerous duo of Giovanni Ferrari and Giuseppe Meazza, and guided by legendary manager Vittorio Pozzo, Italy became the first nation to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
Top 10 World Cup player performances
1) Pele (1958): The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was the first to receive international television coverage. It was the perfect stage from which the career of the most recognized athlete of the 20th century and the greatest soccer player of all time was launched: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, more famously known as Pele. Nobody captured the imagination of the Swedish fans like the Brazilian. With six goals to his credit, including a pair in the final, the 17-year-old who grew up in poverty announced his presence to the world.
2) Maradona (1986): No one player dominated a tournament the way Maradona did in Mexico. The brilliant Argentinean artist single-handedly delivered his country its second World Cup title, scoring five goals – most of them brilliant – setting up several others and dominating games with his wizardry, skill and vision. England’s Gary Lineker finished as the tournament’s top scorer, but Maradona was the hero and won the Golden Boot award as the MVP.
3) Just Fontaine (1958): Fontaine scored more goals in the World Cup than Pele even though the Brazilian played in three more tournaments. The Frenchman’s 13 goals in six games at the 1958 competition is one of the game’s most revered records – it’s the soccer equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941, a mark that will never be broken.
4) Gerd Muller (1970): Nicknamed “Der Bomber,” Muller was the tournament’s top scorer with 10 goals – he recorded a hat trick in two consecutive games in the opening round – as he guided West Germany to the semifinals in Mexico.
5) Paolo Rossi (1982): What can possibly be said that already hasn’t been stated about the man that led the Azzurri to their first World Cup in 44 years? Rossi was kept scoreless through the first four games in Spain, but he exploded out of his slumber with a hat trick against Brazil in the quarter-finals en route to scoring a tournament-leading six goals – including one in the final – and cementing his place as one of the greatest World Cup heroes of all time.
6) Eusebio (1966): Eusebio was the engine room of a talented and dangerous Portugal team that made its World Cup debut in England. Eusebio, dubbed “The Black Pearl,” used his dazzling combination of speed, skill and power to score a tournament-high nine goals and lead his country to the semifinals. Sadly, he never played in another World Cup.
7) Sandor Kocsis (1954): With Ferenc Puskas injured, the legendary Hungarian forward took centre stage in Switzerland and finished the competition as top scorer with 11 goals. Nicknamed “Golden Head” for his aerial ability, Kocsis became the first man to score two hat tricks in the same World Cup (three goals against South Korea, four against West Germany in the first round).
Garrincha (1962): Nicknamed the “Little Bird,” no player flew higher in Chile. When Pele was knocked out of the tournament with an injury, it was the Brazilian winger, renowned for his dribbling skills, who hoisted the team on his shoulders. Garrincha scored four goals – including two in the semifinals – to help Brazil repeat as World champions
9) Zinedine Zidane (1998): Yes, Davor Suker was the top scorer, and yes, Ronaldo was given the Golden Ball award as the tournament MVP in France. But without Zidane pulling the playmaking strings from midfield and dominating games with his dazzling skills – not to mention his two goals in the final against Brazil – France never would have won the World Cup.
10) Giuseppe Meazza (1934): He wasn’t even Italy’s top scorer – Angelo Schiavio scored four times – but there’s no doubting Meazza’s influence at the 1934 competition. The Inter Milan forward scored two goals, including the winner against Spain in the quarter-finals, and was the backbone of an Italian team that won its first World Cup, much to the delight of Mussolini and the hometown fans.
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