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TOP
10 MENU
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[GOALS]
Our list of
the ten best goals in WC history. |
[GAMES]
Ten of the
most dramatic and best games. |
[MOMENTS]
The memorable
moments we remember from the past. |
[PLAYERS]
Our list of
the 100 best players in WC history. |
[RESULTS]
The ten most
shocking results. |
[TEAMS]
The ten best
WC teams of all time. |
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BEST
TEAMS
| 1. |
Brazil
1970
Often described
as the best football team of all time. It had individual world class players
overall in midfield and attack. Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostao, Rivelino,
the list goes on and on. They won all their six games in the cup of 1970. |
| 2. |
West Germany
1974
This was also
a superb team. Beckenbauer as leader in defence and behind him was Sepp
Maier, one of the best goalkeepers of all time. Overath and Bonhof also
were quality players and of course the notorious Gerd Müller up front,
who averaged more than a goal a game for the Germans, and scored the winning
goal in the final itself. |
| 3. |
Italy 1982
They started
the tournament with three draws, but then found form and beat Argentina,
Brazil, Poland and West Germany in consecutive matches. They based their
team on defensive strength. 40 year old Dino Zoff was the captain and goalkeeper
and he had Gentile and Scirea as leaders in defence. Dangerous winger Bruno
Conti was instrumental as well as midfielder Tardelli. Up front was Paolo
Rossi in top form as the tournament progressed, and scored six times in
Italy's last three matches. |
| 4. |
Brazil
1994
Brazil had
in 1994 for once a solid defence, and that was the main reason why they
for the first time in 24 years managed to win the World Cup. Romario was
their outstanding player, and he had Bebeto as colleague up front. Other
great players were Leonardo, Dunga and Jorginho. |
| 5. |
Holland
1974
They didn't
win the World Cup, but they still deserve a place on the Top 10 list of
great teams. They scored 15 goals in the cup and only let in one goal on
their way to the final and that was an own goal. Cruyff, Neeskens, Rep,
Rensenbrink and van Hanegem thrilled the world, and could with a little
more luck have won the cup. They had all the qualities. |
| 6. |
West Germany
1990
Definitely
a worthy champion of the dull tournament in Italy in 1990. They were one
of very few teams who relied on attacking skills, rather than defensive
safety and were rewarded with the cup. Matthäus was their great player,
alongside attacking left-back Brehme who scored the winning goal in the
final itself. Other great names were Klinsmann, Völler and Kohler. |
| 7. |
France
1998
The latest
champions had their strength in a central line with Blanc and Desailly
in defence to Petit and Deschamp in midfield. The team was built around
those players. Attacking fullbacks Lizarazu and Thuram helped in attack
as France lacked world class strikers. This was tactically a very strong
team. |
| 8. |
Hungary
1954
Another team
who failed to win the cup, but had all the qualities. Scored an incredible
27 goals in the 1954 cup. They beat both Brazil and defending champions
Uruguay 4-2, but lost 3-2 in the final to West Germany. This team had legends
like Puskas, Kocsis and Hidegkuti and hadn't lost in 30 games before the
final. |
| 9. |
Argentina
1986
This team
of course had Maradona and that made them automatically a great team. But
other players contributed as well, among them were Burruchaga, Valdano
and the great centerback Ruggeri. They helped Argentina win the cup in
1986. This team was also the last team so far to become champions without
needing extra-time or penalty shoot-outs on their way. |
| 10. |
Brazil
1958
This class
of '58 invented the famous 4-2-4 system. It also saw Pelé emerge
as a 17 year old having started the tournament on the bench. Garrincha,
Vava, Didi and Zagallo were other famous names in Brazil's first ever World
Cup triumph. |
There are so many great teams who we also would have liked to see on the
list, but didn't quite make it. For instance, the great Brazilian team
of 1982. But when you can't get past the second phase, do you really deserve
a place on the top 10 ranking of all time? Lots of quality players in midfield
and attack, but the defence was unstable to say the least.
Another team in contention was Italy of 1990. In many ways the counterpart
of the Brazilian team I just mentioned. They kept a clean sheet until the
semifinal, but didn't quite have the edge in attack to win tournaments.
Schillaci was virtually the only offensive player who was shining.
Uruguay had teams who won the World Cup, but because it's now half a century
since they won, we decided not to add them. The game has changed a lot,
but we still respect and rate them highly. England of 1966 also was a team
we debated over, but suffered the same fate as Argentina in 1978, they
used the home advantage to a high degree of efficiency in years when heavyweighters
like Brazil, Italy and West Germany were rebuilding for the future and
appeared with some of their weaker teams.
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[HOME]
BACKGROUND
Info on how
the World Cup was founded and about the trophy as well. |
THE
WORLD CUPS
Detailed info
on every match in every tournament. |
COLUMNISTS
Interesting columns about the past, present and future of the World Cup. |
THE
NATIONS
Every nation
with appearances in the World Cup. Detailed info on every country. |
LEGENDS
Player profiles
of many of the most influential players in history. |
A-Z STORIES
An A-Z collection
of strange and different stories in World Cup history. |
STATISTICS
A big collection
of various statistics and records. |
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Every mascot
since it was introduced in 1966. |
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TOP
10 RANKINGS
Rankings of
lots of stuff. For instance Best Goals, Best Players and Best Matches. |
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Our collection
of links to other soccer sites with World Cup connection. |
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A little information
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