#8 Germany 2006
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After 2002’s plethora of upsets, the traditional powers dominated the 2006 World Cup – the only sides in the quarter-finals who hadn’t won it before were Portugal and Ukraine, and for once the group stage saw no unexpected casualties.
The main story of the tournament was the final hurrah of the great Zinedine Zidane, who had helped France to win the tournament in 1998. His individual performance in the quarter-final against Brazil was one of the all-time great World Cup showings, as he inspired his side and set up Thierry Henry’s winning goal.
Unfortunately for Zidane, things came off the rails in the final against Italy. After he’d scored an early penalty to put France in the lead, defender Marco Materazzi equalised for the Italians. Both sides missed key chances throughout the game and with the score deadlocked at 1-1, the final headed to penalties. But not before the most shocking moment in World Cup history, as Zidane reacted to a taunt from Materazzi by headbutting him in the chest. He was shown the red card and France went on to lose the penalty shootout.
The football at World Cup 2006 was largely pedestrian outside of a couple of games and moments, but the picture of Zidane walking past the trophy in disgrace is so iconic that it makes the top ten.
#7 USA 1994
People complained that the Americans just didn’t understand football, and an odd opening ceremony featuring Diana Ross botching a penalty didn’t help. But in the end the tournament was pretty great even if the final turned into a damp squib; Brazil and Italy playing out a 0-0 draw that led to the World Cup final’s first penalty shoot-out.
Brazil claimed their fourth World Cup when Italy’s Roberto Baggio sent his penalty miles over the bar – an iconic moment as Baggio had arguably been the tournament’s best player.
Baggio scored five goals – all in the knockout stages to take Italy to the final – and the only player who came close to his greatness was Brazil’s Romario, who also scored five and created a formidable striking partnership with Bebeto, who got three himself.
The best game? The thrilling quarter-final between Brazil and the Netherlands, which saw the Dutch come from two goals down to equalise, only for Branco to hit a late winner via a free-kick.
Other iconic moments included Ireland upsetting Italy in the group stages, Maradona’s positive test for ephedrine, Bulgaria’s upset of Germany in the quarters, and – sadly – the shooting of Colombian Andres Escobar after he scored an own goal against the hosts.
This was a classic tournament for sure.
