Top 10 Football World Cup Moments

29 June 2015

There have been a number of controversial moments in the history of the world cup, however here are our top 10 World Cup moments:

1) Maradona's Hand of God and Goal of the Century (1986): Nothing illustrated the flawed genius that was Diego Maradona like the 240 seconds between the 51st and 54th minutes of Argentina's World Cup quarter final with England in 1986. A cheeky handball goal which he later said was the Hand of God, and then his sublime dribbling run of 60 yards regarded as the greatest World Cup goal in history. Maradona - the World Cup's greatest cheat or greatest ever player?

2) They think it's all over.....it is now (1966): No goal in the history of sport sparks as much debate and controversy as Hurst's second goal against the Germans in the 1966 final at Wembley, when his fierce shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down on the goal-line. Did the ball cross the line? According to the Russian linesman, Yes, it did. But it was Hurst's hat-trick goal in the final that lives in the memory, mainly thanks to the legendary commentary of Kenneth Wolstenholme.

3) Pele and Carlos Alberto bury Italy (1970): A memorable strike that capped off an emphatic 4-1 win for Brazil over Italy in the final. Pele 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 the ball past static Italian goalkeeper. The goal was symbolic of the attacking genius of the 1970 Brazilians, possibly the greatest team to ever play in the World Cup.

4) Uruguay silences the Maracana (1950) Buoyed by the crowd of 174,000 spectators at Rio's Maracana stadium, the invincible Brazilians seemed assured of victory against Uruguay in the tournament finale. All the hosts had to do was earn a draw against Uruguay to be crowned world champions. But Uruguay pulled out the victory in the 79th minute when Ghiggia scored. When the final whistle blew, the stunned and silent Maracana crowd broke into tears.

5) Zinedine Zidane's head-butt (2006): With 10 minutes left in extra time of the final, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane turned to face Italian defender Marco Materazzi and head-butted him in the chest, earning a red card for himself. France, deprived of their best penalty-taker, lost the deciding penalty shoot-out.

6) Brazil 2-3 Italy - 1982 Second Round Group C: Brazil's magnificent 1982 team are widely regarded as the greatest side never to win the World Cup. Prior to their match with Italy, they had scored 13 goals in 4 games and delighted fans with some sublime football. However, a mix of lax defending and lethal finishing from Italian striker Paolo Rossi ( who helped himself to a hat-trick ) saw the Italians go through and Brazilians go home.

7) Gazza's tears and penalty heartache (1990): Paul Gascoigne's tears for his booking in the semi-final of Italia 90 that ruled him out of the Final (if England had won) did not simply endear the Geordie to a nation, but laid the ground for the gentrification of football into the sport it has become. Penalty heartache for Stuart Pearce when the left-back had his penalty saved and the Germans went on to the Final.

8) Marco Tardelli's celebration (1982): Tardelli's goal gave Italy a 2-0 lead against West Germany in the final, but it was his legendary celebration that everybody remembers. Initially he slowly jogged away from the net, but when the enormity of what he had done sank in, Tardelli picked up speed and frantically ran around the field, wildly flailing his arms about with tears in his eyes while screaming '"goal" over and over again.

9) Archie's Army, 1978: It may not have been enough to save over-confident Ally McLeod's side from ignominious elimination, but Archie Gemmill's waltz through the Dutch defence to help Scotland to a 3-2 win at least salvaged some wounded Caledonian pride from the 1978 tournament.

10) The Miracle of Berne (1954): The Magical Magyars seemed unbeatable as they travelled to Berne to play West Germany in the 1954 final on the back of an incredible 31-match unbeaten run. Leading 2-0 within 8 minutes, it seemed as if Hungary would romp home but in pouring rain they were on the receiving end of a famous German comeback. An 84th minute Uwe Rahn goal clinched a 3-2 triumph for Germany.