Top 10 FIFA World Cup Finals. What will today be?
Ten legendary battles for the World Cup plus one match up front. The list is formed based on your votes.
On December 18, we will find out the winner of the next World Championship. The main event of the four-year period will end with a match between the national teams of Argentina and France. It’s time to remember the memorable finals of some previous world championships.
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Rating: The best finals in the history of the World Cup
1 PLACE
World Cup 1986: Argentina – West Germany – 3: 2
Diego Maradona showed himself very brightly at the World Cup in Mexico. At that tournament, the short, strong man scored five goals and won the gold medal. And with a huge margin, he became the best player in the World Cup. I especially remember Diego’s performance in the quarter-finals with the English (2:1), when he first scored with his hand, and then made a solo pass from the center of the field, beating half the opponent’s team along the way, including the goalkeeper.
It so happened that Diego did not score a single goal in the final, but it was his brilliant pass to Burruchaga that, in fact, sentenced the German national team. The Germans in the end bounced back with 0:2, but they did not have enough time for the third scoring combination. The teams collected a total of six yellow cards, and this final was the roughest in history until 2010.
Argentina became the world champion for the second time, the French received bronze medals. In the match for third place, they defeated Belgium (4:2, a.e.). Englishman Gary Lineker took first place in the list of scorers (six goals). Three players scored five goals at once: Maradona, Spaniard Emilio Butragueño and Brazilian Careca.
June 29, 1986, Mexico City. Final World Cup 1986.
Argentina – Germany – 3:2 (1:0).
Goals: Brown, 23 – 1:0, Valdano, 56 – 2:0, Rummenigge, 74 – 2:1, Völler, 81 – 2:2, Burruchaga, 84 – 3:2.
2ND PLACE
World Cup 2006: Italy 1-1 France (5-3 pen.)
Final named after Marco Materazzi and Zinedine Zidane. First, each of them scored a ball at the beginning of the meeting, and already in overtime, the guys created the most memorable moment of the game. The Italian provoked the Frenchman, who put his opponent on the lawn with a headbutt to the chest and received a red card.
Zidane finished the last match in the national team shirt ahead of schedule – he did not endure 10 minutes before the penalty shootout.
And then the nerves failed David Trezeguet. The one who scored the golden goal in the Euro 2000 final six years earlier (it was the Italians who suffered then). This time the Frenchman scored with a minus sign – his kick in the penalty shootout was taken over by the crossbar. All other players (both Italian and French) realized their attempts.
FIFA World Cup
Bronze medals went to the German national team, who defeated Portugal (3:1) in the match for third place. German Miroslav Klose became the top scorer of the tournament, scoring five goals. It was in Germany that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made their debut at the world championships.
July 9, 2006, Berlin. Final World Cup 2006.
Italy – France – 1:1 (1:1, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 5:3 pen.)
Goals: Zidane, 7 (pen.) – 0:1, Materazzi, 19 – 1: one.
3RD PLACE
World Cup 1998: France – Brazil – 3: 0
The first presence of the French team in the final brought them success. Aimé Jacquet’s team crushed the Brazilians thanks to a double from Zinedine Zidane and a goal from the long-haired Emmanuel Petit. The French in the middle of the second half were ten men after the removal of Marcel Desailly, but not only did not miss but also scored the third goal. A few days after the final, Jacquet announced his resignation as head coach of the French national team.
Third place went to the sensational Croatian team, who beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the bronze medal match. It was the player of the Balkan team who became the best sniper of the tournament – Davor Shuker scored six goals. The World Cup in France is the first in which 32 teams competed.
July 12, 1998, Saint-Denis. Final World Cup 1998.
France – Brazil – 3:0 (2:0).
Goals: Zidane, 27 – 1:0, Zidane, 45+1 – 2:0, Petit, 90+3 – 3:0.
4TH PLACE
World Cup 2002: Germany – Brazil – 0: 2
German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn conceded only one goal in the previous six matches of the tournament, and in the final he was upset twice by the same person. In the middle of the second half, the goalkeeper decided to fix the ball instead of just kicking it aside. As a result, Ronaldo instantly took advantage of such a gift.
“That was my only mistake in the tournament,” Kan will say after the match. “It’s 10 times worse than any other mistake I’ve ever made. Unfortunately, there’s no way to fix it.” After 12 minutes, Ronaldo will make a double, receive the title of the best player of the meeting and become the top scorer of the 2002 World Cup (eight goals). Kahn, in turn, is recognized not only as the most valuable goalkeeper but also as the best player in the tournament. Surely he would gladly exchange all these titles for a gold medal.
The third place went to the Turkish team – it beat South Korea in the bronze medal match with a score of 3: 2. It was in this game that Turkish striker Hakan Shukur scored the fastest goal in the history of the World Cup – it took him only 11 seconds. The second place in the list of top scorers with five goals was shared by the Brazilian Rivaldo and the German Miroslav Klose.
June 30, 2002, Yokohama. Final World Cup 2002.
Germany – Brazil – 0:2 (0:0).
Goals: Ronaldo, 67 – 0:1, Ronaldo, 79 – 0:2.
5TH PLACE
World Cup 1958: Brazil – Sweden – 5: 2
The most productive final in the history of the world championships. In the Swedish tournament, they scored quite often (an average of 3.6 goals per game), and the Frenchman Just Fontaine scored 13 goals at all (a record result for one World Cup). He added a bronze medal to the title of the tournament’s top scorer – the French beat the Germans (6:3) in the match for third place.
In the final, the future King of Football Pele entered the field at the age of 17 and marked the matter with two goals after the break. Forward Vava did not lag behind a younger compatriot. As a result, for the entire tournament, this bunch of South American forwards upset rivals 11 times (four times in the final). Brazil won the gold medal for the first time in history, and the Swedes have never played in a World Cup final since.
June 29, 1958, Stockholm. Final World Cup 1958.
Brazil – Sweden – 5:2 (2:1).
Goals: Lindholm, 4 – 0:1, Vava, 9 – 1:1, Vava, 32 – 2:1, Pele, 55 – 3:1, Zagallo, 68 – 4:1, Simonsson, 80 – 4:2, Pele, 90 – 5:2.
6TH PLACE
World Cup 2022: Argentina v France
We have added the final of the World Cup in Qatar to the ranking. Naturally, it is not yet clear what it will be. The French are approaching the match in the status of current world champions, and Lionel Messi plans to say goodbye to tournaments of this level with positive emotions. Will the Qatari final take its rightful place in the rankings? We will find out the answer on December 18th.
December 18, 2022, Lusail. Final World Cup 2022.
7TH PLACE
1966 World Cup: England – West Germany – 4: 2 (a.m.)
The first and only time in history that English footballers have won World Cup gold medals. Two people immediately went down in history following the results of the match in the capital of Great Britain. The Englishman Geoffrey Hirst scored a unique achievement (he scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final), and the Soviet linesman Tofig Bakhramov contributed to the triumph of the tournament hosts.
In the 101st minute, the ball after hitting Hurst hit the crossbar, bounced into the goal line (or slightly crossed it), and flew into the field. Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst turned to Bakhramov for help, and the mustachioed linesman gestured to the center of the field. Disputes about whether there was a goal or not, do not subside until now.
1966 WORLD CUP: ENGLAND – WEST GERMANY – 4: 2 (A.M.)
With just a few moments left before the final whistle, Hirst forever entered his name in history. The Englishman rushed to someone else’s gate and shied into the near nine past the astonished goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski. Hirst later admitted that he simply wanted to throw the ball far away into the Wembley stands in order to buy time. That rare case is when a footballer is very glad that he did not realize his plan.
On the way to the final, England and West Germany conceded only three goals between them. But the final match at the tournament turned out, in modern terms, “riding”. In the meeting for third place, the Portuguese team beat the USSR team (2:1), and the legendary Eusebio became the top scorer of the tournament, who scored nine goals. Hurst took first place in the list of the best snipers in England – he scored four goals (three in the final).
July 30, 1966, London. 1966 World Cup final
England – Germany – 4:2 (1:1, 1:1, 1:0, 1:0)
Goals: Haller, 12 – 0:1, Hurst, 18, – 1:1, Peters, 78 – 2:1, Weber, 90 – 2:2, Hirst, 101 – 3:2, Hirst, 120 – 4:2.
8TH PLACE
World Cup 2018: France – Croatia – 4: 2
The final of the Russian World Cup turned out to be rich in goals. Croatia for the first time in history reached such a stage, but it was not possible to beat the strong French. The first and last goals of the match were scored by Mario Mandzukic. First, he cut the ball into his own net (the first own goal in the history of the World Cup finals), and then upset Hugo Lloris. True, by that time France was leading with a comfortable advantage and eventually kept the winning score until the final whistle.
The Belgian team also broke into the top three after beating England (2:0) in the bronze medal match. The top scorer of the tournament was the Englishman Harry Kane – he scored six goals (three – from the penalty spot). The Russian national team showed the best result in recent history at the home world championship, reaching the quarterfinals.
July 15, 2018, Moscow. Final World Cup 2018.
France – Croatia – 4:2 (2:1).
Goals: Mandzukic, 18 (bus) – 1:0, Perisic, 28 – 1:1, Griezmann, 38 (pen.) – 2:1, Pogba, 59 – 3:1, Mbappe, 65 – 4:1, Mandzukic, 69 – 4:2.
FIFA World Cup
9TH PLACE
1954 World Cup: Germany – Hungary – 3: 2
The “golden team” of Hungary was considered a clear favorite. She approached the final with an impressive streak – not a single defeat in five years (31 matches). And it seemed that the German footballers did not shine, because by the eighth minute they were losing by two goals. However, the nominal hosts quickly came to their senses and bounced back before the middle of the first half. Events unfolded rapidly – four goals by the 18th minute!
At the end of the meeting, Helmut Rahn scored a double and brought the Germans forward. The Hungarians seemed to bounce back with the efforts of Ferenc Puskas, but the referee recorded an offside position. West Germany goalkeeper Tony Turek saved a dangerous shot from Zoltan Cibor in the final minutes. The final whistle sealed the victory of the Germans and the end of the impressive series of the Hungarian national team.
Bronze medals were won by the Austrians, who beat Uruguay in the match for third place (3:1). The first line in the list of scorers was taken by the Hungarian Sandor Kocsis, who scored 11 goals. In general, an abnormally high number of goals were scored at that tournament – 5.38 goals per game!
July 4, 1954, Bern. Final World Cup 1954.
Germany – Hungary – 3:2 (2:2).
Goals: Puskas, 6 – 0:1, Cibor, 8 – 0:2, Morlock, 10 – 1:2, Ran, 18 – 2:2, Ran, 84 – 3:2.
10TH PLACE
World Cup 1978: Argentina – Netherlands – 3: 1 (a.m.)
The Netherlands took part in the final match of the World Cup for the second time in a row, but again they were left without gold. The Europeans arrived at the tournament without Johan Cruyff, and this news shocked the whole country. At the end of his career, the footballer himself said that he missed the World Cup after being attacked by an unknown person.
The man pointed a gun at Cruyff’s face in front of his wife and children and began to tie the player. The player’s wife ran to the exit, and the criminal followed her. In the end, the unknown disappeared, there were no casualties. But after such an incident, Johan realized that he could not leave his family.
In the second group stage, the Argentines went to the trick and moved the start of the match against Peru. The hosts of the tournament knew how the game ended with the participation of Brazil. To leave the group, the Argentines needed to beat the Peruvians with a big score, and they coped with their task – 6:0. Many years later, the Peruvian senator said that the presidents of both countries had agreed that the Argentines would supply their neighbors with a large consignment of grain. In exchange for this, the Peruvian players should not have resisted much on the field.
In the final, the key moment took place in the last minute of normal time. Dutchman Rob Rensenbrink hit the post and Mario Kempes scored the winning goal in overtime. The Argentine received the title of the best player of the meeting and took first place in the list of scorers (six goals). The bronze medals were given to the players of Brazil, who defeated Italy (2:1).
June 25, 1978, Buenos Aires. Final World Cup 1978.
Argentina – Netherlands – 3
: 1 , Bertoni, 115 – 3:1.
FIFA World Cup
11TH PLACE
2010 World Cup: Netherlands 0-1 Spain (a.m.)
This match was rich in yellow cards. English referee Howard Webb handed out 14 warnings, while Dutch defender John Heitinga scored a send-off. In the first half, midfielder Nigel de Jong kicked Spaniard Xabi Alonso in the chest, but the referee felt that the kung fu-style kick did not deserve a red card.
FIFA World Cup 2010
The Spaniards scored the only goal in the 116th minute with the efforts of Andres Iniesta. This is the latest winning goal in World Cup final history. For the first time in history, the Spaniards became the best team on the planet, and the bronze medals went to the Germans, who in a bright match for third place coped with Uruguay – 3:2. Four players scored five goals at once and shared the title of top scorer of the tournament: Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Thomas Müller (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) and David Villa (Spain).
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