#12 Sweden 1958
Trending
Eight years after the notorious Maracanazo, Brazil finally won the World Cup, inspired by the attacking talents of winger Garrincha and a then-unknown 17-year-old called Pele. Pele scored six goals in three matches in the knockout stages to take Brazil to victory, including two in the 5-2 final win over hosts Sweden. The five goals scored by Brazil remains a record for a World Cup final and another goal record that still stands from 1958 is that of Frenchman Just Fontaine – he scored 13 in six games, including two hat-tricks.
On the other hand, the tournament also saw the World Cup’s first ever 0-0 draw between England and Brazil in the group stages. England were eliminated in the group stage following a draw with Austria and a loss to the Soviet Union, but more famously, Wales got through the group stage to make the quarter-finals where they lost to Brazil.
They did it the hard way though via a playoff against Hungary, as both teams ended on the same points and goal difference hadn’t been introduced.
Although 1958 is memorable for being Brazil and Pele’s first victory, they’d go on to achieve much more memorable feats later on.
#11 Mexico 1986
Mexico had hosted the World Cup in 1970 but got a bonus one in 1986 when Colombia had to withdraw from hosting due to economic reasons. The winners? Argentina, but this time they didn’t need any corruption to win – just the genius of the world’s best player at the time, Diego Maradona.
He scored five during the tournament and created another five for his teammates, including an assist for the winning goal in the final – Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2. While some have argued Argentina were a one-man team, others such as Jorge Valdano and Jorge Burruchaga also played a hand in the win.
Undoubtedly the key game for Maradona was in the quarter-final with England – he scored probably the most notorious goal of all time with his hand (the ‘Hand of God’) but then went on to score perhaps the greatest World Cup goal ever as Argentina won 2-1. While it was Maradona’s tournament, the likes of France’s Michel Platini, England’s Gary Lineker, and West Germany’s Lothar Matthaus also starred with some excellent performances.
World Cup 1986 remains memorable to this day for perhaps the best individual performance throughout one tournament – and in England, of course, it remains infamous due to the Hand of God.
