The finest FIFA World Cup Finals

On the face of it, literally nobody expected France and Croatia to be vying for the World Cup 2018 trophy – the former may be, the latter definitely not. But these two teams have masterminded their paths all the way to the final showdown in Moscow, and their places in the final are absolutely deserved.

While Croatia’s steely resolve paved the way for them all the way to the summit clash, French flair outdid the best of teams in their run to the Luzhniki Stadium.

It certainly shapes up really well; a young and exciting French team ready to dominate world football for the better part of the coming decade, while their Croatian counterparts seek to achieve the impossible with a team full of sagging superstars in their swansong.

All this promises excitement and drama aplenty, which really would be a fitting finale for what has been an incredible month of phenomenal football.

As the curtains come down on the world’s showpiece sporting event, this article chronicles the highs and lows of World Cup finals - the champions and the nearly-men; the fine lines between the most famous victories and the most ignominious defeats; the celebrated winners and the forgotten losers.

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#4 France vs Brazil, 1998

France hosted the World Cup for the first time which was cause enough for excitement – France’s run all the way to the final led to pandemonium in the country. Lying between the French and a maiden World Cup triumph was Brazil, the one team nobody wanted to play in a final. The South American football behemoths had won every World Cup final they had played since 1950, and had been crowned world champions four times already. Led in attack by the rampant Ronaldo, Brazil swatted away opponents to comfortable make it to the final in Paris.

Upstarts, France had never played a World Cup final before, with their run almost always petering out by the semifinal stage. 1998 too nearly saw a repeat, with the hosts trailing Croatia in the semifinal. Lillian Thuram, however, had other plans, as his only two international goals saw France through.

The days before the final, however, were dominate with speculation around Ronaldo and whether or not he would play, with reports of an injury coming from the Brazil camp. It was widely expected that the talismanic Brazilian would sit out the final. However, in a startling turn of events, he was named in the starting lineup an hour before kickoff.

This surprise, however, didn’t startle France.

Backed by a raucous home crowd, France took the lead through a Zinedine Zidane header from a corner. Zidane repeated the trick in first half stoppage time with a carbon copy of his first goal to double the French advantage.

Brazil were offered a lifeline in the second half when Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second booking. Immediately, attacking changes were made and the likes of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto and Rivaldo looked increasingly menacing.

For all their star names, however, Brazil were unable to penetrate the French rearguard, and in second-half stoppage time, Patrick Viera picked up the ball to thread it through for his Arsenal teammate Emmanuel Petit, whose strike bulged the Brazilian net for the third time.

Brazil were comprehensively outplayed by France. The likes of Thiery Henry, Robert Pires, Fabian Barthez, Zidane, Didier Deschamp and Bixente Lizarazu cemented their own statutes as legends while earning the Les Bleus the tag of being one of the best teams in modern football. The 3-0 victory at the Stade De France kicked off a brief period of French supremacy in football – France won the European Championship in 2000, becoming the only team at that time to be holders of both the European Championship and the World Cup simultaneously.

#3 Brazil vs Uruguay, 1950

Action during the 1950 World Cup final, in Rio de Janeiro

When you think of Brazil, one of the first things that come to your mind is football. To say that the Brazilian love for ‘jogo bonito’ or the beautiful game is well documented is an understatement. Their footballing success is arguably their biggest selling point - five triumphs and the sheer talent to come out of that nation testament to the previous statement.

Unsurprisingly, football is a source of massive pride in that part of the world, and rightly so. Hence, when Brazil waltzed their way into the final of the World Cup they were hosting in 1950, the whole country had already decided to party. The win against Uruguay that was needed to secure the trophy was reduced to a dead rubber; a mere formality, for Brazil had, in the eyes of the locals, already won.

When Brazil took the lead in the first half through Friaca, the Maracana erupted in joy. To Brazil, the game was over.

This general dismissive attitude the Brazilians had towards their fellow finalists inevitably fired up the latter, and soon, a resurgent Uruguay equalized in the second half to restore parity at 1-1 through Juan Schiaffino.

In those days, the World Cup only had a league stage where Brazil had, before the final, finished a point ahead of Uruguay. All the hosts, therefore, had to do was avoid defeat. With the scores at 1-1, Brazil would still be world champions. And they certainly were playing with the swagger befitting would be champions, passing the ball around nonchalantly and displaying outrageous skill in their moves.

In the 79th minute, Uruguay recovered the ball and launched a rare attack of their own. Alcides Ghiggia rampaged down the right wing, looking for teammates to pass the ball to. But with the Uruguayans refusing to commit men forward, Ghiggia was forced to continue his run all by himself. Without support, he decided to take a chance himself, and his low shot squirmed below Barbosa in the Brazilian goal to hand Uruguay an improbable 2-1 lead.

The hosts tried and tried in the last ten minutes but they couldn’t breach Uruguay’s defence, who held on for what still is one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.

Out of the many Brazilians who burst into tears at full time, one went up to his son and explained the cause of his sorrow. We could’ve been the best in the World Cup, he explained to his 10-year-old. The son assured his grieving father that he would make Brazil the best team in the world.

Said son is today known to the world as Pele, and he won his father – and his compatriots – three such World Cups.

#2 England vs West Germany, 1966

The controversial third goal that never was

Having declared themselves as the best in the world in football, and having flattered to deceive when it came to prove their superiority on the world stage, England were gradually sliding down from the high perch they had placed themselves on.

1966 represented the best chance for the English to finally break the World Cup voodoo and emerge victorious. The tournament was to be hosted by England for the first time. The Three Lions certainly took advantage of their vociferous home support which swept them all the way to Wembley for the final, against the old enemy, West Germany. Both teams had seen off tricky opposition in the semifinals, with England dispatching Eusebio’s Portugal, while West Germany saw off Soviet Union.

An end to end encounter saw Germany take the lead after just 12 minutes when Ray Wilson’s misdirected header fell at the feet of Helmut Haller, who drove home beyond Jack Charlton and Gordon Banks in goal.

England weren’t trailing for long, however: Geoff Hurst’s glancing header from a Bobby Moore free-kick cancelled out the German lead within seven minutes of the opener.

After the opening strikes, neither side was willing to throw caution to the wind and dominate the game, making it increasingly cagey.

The second half saw a few chances being wasted by both teams, before Martin Peters struck from close range after an England corner, to hand England the lead for the first time in the final, with a quarter of an hour left to play. West Germany pressed forward looking for their equalizer but Banks was relatively untroubled, till the last minute, when a melee in the England penalty box saw the ball bounce off one German to another before falling for Wolfgand Weber, who smashed it in to make it 2-2. England’s protests about an alleged handball in the buildup to the goal fell on deaf ears; the winner was to be decided after extra time.

England came racing out of the blocks in extra time, with Bobby Charlton hitting the post and then sending his shot just wide. Geoff Hurst then got in the act when he swivelled and shot from close range. The ball struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced on the goal line, before being hastily cleared by the Germans.

English forward Roger Hunt, however, wheeled away in celebration of what he believed was a goal. The English players ran towards him in joy, while the Germans were left stunned – they were convinced it wasn’t a goal. In this confusion, Swiss referee Gottfried Diense referred to his linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, who sided with the English. Diense was thus left with no choice but to award the English their third goal, and Geoff Hurst’s second. Studies later found out that the ball never crossed the line, and that the linesman was mistaken. The Germans alleged that the Soviet linesman was nursing a grudge against the Germans for the horrors they had inflicted in the war, and he took his revenge by denying the Germans justice in the World Cup final.

Outraged at the decision to award England their goal, Germany poured forward searching for an equalizer. In their desperate attempts to score their third goal, they committed everyone forward, leaving acres of space at the back. England duly exploited this lack of defensive cover when a Bobby Moore hoof found Hurst, who sprinted with glee, bearing down on the German keeper, before blazing it past him into the net, to score England’s fourth and to secure their maiden, and so far only, World Cup triumph. The West Ham forward also remains the only player to score thrice in a World Cup final.

At long last, England could finally claim that they were indeed the best when it came to football.

#1 Hungary vs West Germany, 1954

The calm before the storm: the World Cup final, 1954

Hungary came into the World Cup in 1954 with the whole world expecting them to take home the trophy. After all, the ‘Mighty Magyars’ hadn’t lost a match since 1950, and in Ferenc Puskas, they had arguably the best player of the time.

They blew away teams who dared to stand in their way, with embarrassing scorelines such as 9-0 and 8-3. One of the teams on the receiving end of the Hungarian blitz was West Germany, and when they recovered and made it to the final, they arrived with vengeance on their minds.

All such plans of seeking revenge were thwarted when Hungary raced into a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes. Onlookers concluded to themselves that this was going to be a repeat of the previous shellacking – Hungary would soon become world champions and establish themselves as legends of the game.

This time, it was the Germans who embarked on plan-foiling of their own. Within minutes, they got their first goal through Max Morlock’s lucky strike.

This goal fired up the Germans, and Morlock in particular – he went on a rampaging run eight minutes later, and Hungary could only clear it for a corner, which resulted in yet another corner. Fritz Walter, the playmaker in the German lineup scooped the ball all the way to the penalty spot, where Helmut Rohn headed home sumptuously.

Less than twenty minutes had been played, and already four goals had been scored. Having seen their 2-0 lead vaporize in no time, the Hungarians came out all guns blazing throughout the rest of the first half. Nandor Hidekguti’s venomous strike needed an acrobatic stop from the German custodian, and minutes later, Hidekguti was it again – only this time, his shot cannoned off the post. Only towards the end of the first period could the Germans fashion a chance for themselves, with only a goal-line clearance preventing a third German goal.

Hungary picked up the second half where they left off, and soon, a glut of chances came their way. An unmarked Puskas fired straight at the German goalkeeper; ten minutes later, two successive goal-line clearances from Kohlmeyer kept Hungary at bay; a Sandor Kocsis header clattered the bar soon after; a string of saves denied Hungary yet again, while the irrepressible Hidekguti this time drove his shot into the side netting with the goal at his mercy. West Germany were being destroyed by Hungary in a lopsided second half and they were hanging on by the finest of threads. Hungary looked like scoring every time they poured forward.

In the 84th minute, the Germans finally managed to break out of their own half having being barricaded in by the Magyars, and Hans Schafer wasted no time in driving forward. His cross was only half cleared, and Ottmar Walter picked up the loose ball and fed it for Rohn, whose low drive flashed beyond Grosics in the Hungarian goal to make it 3-2 to West Germany.

Just when they thought they had nicked an improbable victory, Puskas equalized for Hungary. As he wheeled off to celebrate the all-important goal, he saw the linesman with his flag raised. Hungary’s equalizer didn’t count – it was offside.

With that, the Mighty Magyars saw their unbeaten run come to an unexpected end in the World Cup final of all games, starting their downfall as a footballing giant.

As for West Germany, the newly crowned world champions, this victory was not just limited to the realms of sport. This win put the Germans back on the map, after the utter humiliation faced by them in the World War.

A nation regained its identity and its place in the world.