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2018 was truly remarkable for the football fans around the globe. The year marked the 22nd edition of FIFA world cup.
Fans worldwide wait for a hefty period of 4 years to indulge in a fantasy ride with their favourite teams. The quadrennial competition was hosted by Russia and it is fair to say the event was a major hit. The year was an absolute stunner in terms of records created and did bring a lot of surprises along.
Apart from the magnificent FIFA World Cup, the footballing universe was treated with an impressive Champions League campaign, an enthralling Premier League season, a dominant La Liga campaign and much more. The thing with football is that there are certain moments which truly make a year worth remembering.
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From sensational goals to milestones, it takes something special to make a year memorable. Talking about memorable, 2018 was no different as some monumental instances occurred which shall be cherished forever. Here we rank down the top 10 footballing moments of the year.
#10 Ronaldo's overhead kick vs Juventus
Very rarely does it happen that the home crowd stands up and applauds an away player but such is the genius of Cristiano Ronaldo that he makes the impossible possible.
Ronaldo’s goal against Juventus ranks as one of his greatest goals of all time and considering the fact that it was scored in the champions league that too in an away fixture, makes it all the more worthy. Cristiano displayed a performance well worthy of being called the best in the world and his goal sealed the deal as Real Madrid ran out as 0-3 winners after an utterly dominant performance courtesy of Cristiano’s immense footballing prowess.
Real Madrid met Juventus in the quarterfinals of the 17/18 edition of the Champions League in a classic rematch of the previous season's final which Real Madrid won 4-1. The tie was expected to be a close one but Real won the first leg pretty impressively by thrashing Juventus 0-3 away.
The Portuguese legend is the greatest goalscorer in the history of the UCL with a number of goals but this goal against Bianconeri at the Allianz Stadium, Turin will surely be one of the most memorable ones.
#9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring 500th career goal
The world has seen some great forwards but it is no secret that Zlatan ranks among the greatest of all time. The blunt mouthed player from Sweden is a living embodiment of a player with great skills and even greater attitude. Often considered as one of the most acrobatic footballers of all time, Zlatan's list of next to impossible goals does support our statement to perfection.
The Swede aged like fine wine and has played for some of the top clubs in the world ranging from Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan to Barcelona, Manchester United and more.
Talking about goals, the Swede has scored lots of goals in his illustrious career which spans over top nations of Europe. One thing that made Zlatan so dangerous and appreciated was his sheer willpower.
Willpower is what kept the former captain of Sweden go on and on for years and here we stand with Zlatan having scored more than 500 career goals. Even reaching a century of goals is what many players dream of and seeing Zlatan achieve this tremendous feat does sweep us off our feet.
#8 Wayne Rooney's well-deserved curtain call
Wayne Rooney is probably one of the most underrated players of all time. The all-time top scorer for England retired this year and the fans were disappointed not to see their hero one last time in what was to be his farewell match.
The Evertonian is a legend of English football and his name will be embedded in the history books forever. Wazza spent the majority of his career at Manchester United, winning trophy after trophy and scoring goals for fun for the Red Devils. Wayne is the all-time top scorer of Manchester United, having scored a commendable 253 goals in a career spanning well over 12 years.
The Football Association did give Wayne Rooney and most importantly his fans, fans of English football something they all wished for and that was a fitting end to Wayne's England career.
53 goals in 120 appearances do suggest that the former English skipper was a one of a kind and glorious end at Wembley was all that was needed to mark an end to a glorious career.
To top it, England did beat USA 3-0 at Wembley as Wayne walked out a winner for the one last time in an England shirt.
#7 England's coming home world cup party
2018 was a year full of bliss and exuberance in the world of football as Russia hosted the 22nd edition of the Fifa World Cup. The competition was loved by fans worldwide as it gave moments to cherish and remember for a lifetime.
One thing that will stay fresh in the memory of fans and players will be the COMING HOME party. England’s surprising display at a major did get fans optimistic and thus began the most famous anthem of 2018. The coming home hashtags conquered social media and it was all over the internet.
England were truly impressive at the world cup and many feel that this English side will actually do what the previous "Golden Generation" couldn't do and that is win a major international trophy.
Despite the 3 Lions not winning the world cup, their performance in Russia is admired by everyone and the English fans do have something to cheer about.
#6 Roma's comeback win over Barcelona
On 3rd September 2017, Barcelona recorded probably the greatest comeback of all-time in the UCL knockout phase as they overcame PSG’s 0-4 deficit by beating the French side 6-1 at Camp Nou and thus completing a remarkable comeback.
Who knew that the Spanish giants will taste their own medicine exactly one year later as Roma came back from 4-1 down in the first leg to defeat Barcelona 3-0 in the second leg and record one of the most memorable scorelines in the UCL.
Barcelona were heavy favourites to proceed and it needed a stupendous effort from the Italian side to overcome the first leg deficit. Edin Dzeko started the scoring the 6th minute before veteran De Rossi added the second one via a 58th-minute penalty which gave Roma Fans a lot of hope and with Manolas' 82nd-minute goal, AS Roma completed a fairytale comeback which will be remembered forever.
#5 Real Madrid winning 3rd straight UCL
Los Blancos have made a name for themselves by being the very best there is to offer in the UEFA Champions League. The Spanish giants have won the famous trophy a record 13 times. They are the undoubted kings of Europe having won the trophy the most number of times.
Real Madrid did struggle in the domestic league where they finished behind Barcelona in the race for La Liga glory but they were outstanding in the UCL.
Los Blancos faced quite a number of challenges on their way to claiming the prestigious club trophy for the 3rd time in three years. Los Blancos overcame the star-studded team of PSG in the round of 16 before battling Italian giants- Juventus in the quarterfinals.
Real faced a dynamic Bayern Munich side in the semifinal before going head-to-head with the mighty Liverpool in the finale. The season was enticing but in the end, there was one team with the trophy- Real Madrid.
#4 Mohamed Salah breaking Premier League record
2018 will surely be remembered as the year when Mohamed Salah took the premier league by a storm. The Egyptian scored goals for fun and in his journey of being acknowledged as one of the best players in the world, Salah broke the premier league record for scoring most goals in a season.
The former Chelsea man scored 32 goals, beating the previous number of 31 scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2007/08 season.
Salah proved to a nightmare for the defenders as his speed was too much to handle for defences all over England. The Egyptian had a great run in other competitions as well including the UCL and the Fa Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo is often tipped as the greatest goalscorer of all time and to break a record held by the Portuguese legend is in itself a remarkable feat.
#3 Manchester City winning the premier league in a record-breaking fashion
When Pep Guardiola arrived in England, great things were expected of him and the Spanish manager has done his bit to be mentioned in the English record books. Manchester City won the premier league in 2018 in a monumental fashion by slamming record after record.
The citizens won the most number of matches-32, earned most number of points in a season-100, won the most away games in a season-16 and the list goes on and on.
Manchester City brought the title back to the blue half of Manchester by pipping rivals Manchester United by a humongous margin of 19 points. The English premier had a never seen such a dominant performance but so good was this city team that they now are being mentioned in the greatest sides to win the premier league.
#2 France winning the Fifa World Cup in Russia
When the World Cup in Russia commenced, there were many favourites. Many were tipped to win the most elusive prize in world football- the Fifa World Cup but in the end, we had one winner as France claimed their 2nd world title.
Les Bleus displayed an around beautiful show as the Crowd in Russia was delighted to witness one of the greatest Fifa triumphs. Stars like Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann made France a force to be reckoned with and courtesy of their masterclass.
Russia hosted the 22nd edition of FIFA World Cup and it is fair to say the fans a got tremendous show. The goals, the bliss, the exuberance all accounted for one of the most entertaining football world cups of all time.
Talking about entertainment, Didier Deschamps' men were a delight to watch. From their mouth-watering tie against Argentina to their nerve-wracking win over Croatia in the Final, France were the side to beat in the tournament.
#1 Luka Modric winning the Ballon d'Or
There is a certain award which is highly acknowledged by the football community. An award which is desired by every player, an award that speaks volumes of a player’s performance in a particular year and that award is none other than the Ballon for.
For the last 10 years, the famous trophy was repetitively swinging between 2 men- Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The world has never witnessed a rivalry like this where 2 players who most certainly are 2 of the greatest footballers of all time, have battled for the ballon dor for 10 consecutive years and the fact that no one won other than them is pretty darn impressive.
With all that said, this brings us to the 2018 edition of the Ballon d'Or. Finally, we have a new face. After all these years, the trophy became habitual of being won by Messi and Ronaldo but now there is a new man on the list who can boast of being the best player on the planet and that man is Luka Modric.
The Croatian won the UCL with Real Madrid and came close to winning the FIFA world cup in Russia as Croatia were beaten by France in the final. Modric was deservingly named as the best player of the tournament.
Breaking the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo was no easy task but Luka was just that damn good!
