Topic: Name the best and the worst World Cup so far

[rob1966]

One great thing about '66 (although I thought the competition was a bit shit) was that Liverpool was the base for the Brazilians who played their group games at Goodison. Their fans were brilliant, and one of them gave one of my mates his massive conga drum before he went home.

My stepdad went to the games at Goodison, saw Pele get kicked out of the tournament.

[darragh85]

Can't believe Diana Ross missed that penalty in the Final...




To be fair, the keeper was well off his line - and it should have been retaken...

Remember this so well. Was roaring laughing at how the goal broke apart even though she kicked it wide.

[Fromola]

One great thing about '66 (although I thought the competition was a bit shit) was that Liverpool was the base for the Brazilians who played their group games at Goodison. Their fans were brilliant, and one of them gave one of my mates his massive conga drum before he went home.

Always a shame that Pele was kicked out of that tournament with the aid of shit officials (some things never change at Goodison).

[Iska]

Can't believe Diana Ross missed that penalty in the Final...

It would be the greatest thing ever if she got to act out a Stuart Pearce-style redemption arc at the opening ceremony in four years’ time.

[Fromola]

It would be the greatest thing ever if she got to act out a Stuart Pearce-style redemption arc at the opening ceremony in four years’ time.

"And Diana screaming!"

[Wingman]

Depends what age you are surely?  I was 10 in 1986 and 14 in 1990, so those two.  Objectively though 1986 must be the best cos of Maradona, plus it had games on in the middle of the night and everything.

2010 easily the worst on every metric.

Yeah, age will play a big part in people’s memories / decisions. 82 (and that wonderful Brazil team) is the first I remember, 86 and 90 were also fantastic. 94 - crap, 98 - good, 02 - OK. After that they’ve all been a bit .. meh, 2010 being the worst.

No World Cup will ever be as enjoyable for me as those first 3

[redtel]

Yeah, I think your age does determine which you think are the best.

I agree with Dr B. that for football the 1970 finals were great with stand out teams and individual brilliance.
The first time I saw a North or South American tournament live thanks to communication satellites in orbit. The crowds were colourful (colour tv had just arrived) and happy and the weather baking hot in Mexico. With just 16 teams taking part the quality was high. In fact 1950 and 1962 are the only post war WCs I haven’t seen as no live communications from Brazil or Chile.

I naturally enjoyed the ‘66 version even though the football wasn’t great. The best games were definitely at Goodison where the crowds were below capacity believe it or not. I paid at the gate for 2 games there, Brazil 2 Bulgaria 0 and Hungary 3 Brazil 1 where the crowd got behind the underdog in an exciting match with a couple of brilliant goals.
The highest crowd at Goodison was 58,000 believe it or not, well below capacity. That includes a quarter and semi final.

The quarter final at Goodison looked to be the biggest shock in the making as N Korea, yes North, led Portugal 3-0 after 25 mins only for Eusebio to score 4 as Portugal ran out 5-3 winners. Pak Doo-Ik had incredibly scored the goal in N.Korea’s final group game win 1-0 over Italy at Ayesome Park, Middlesbrough.

2010 was a low point for me although the current offering hasn’t had me eagerly tuning in to watch. FIFA have damaged the greatest sporting event after the Olympics by letting money dominate their selection process in that fateful 2010 decision.

[Stubbins]

The quarter final at Goodison looked to be the biggest shock in the making as N Korea, yes North, led Portugal 3-0 after 25 mins only for Eusebio to score 4 as Portugal ran out 5-3 winners. Pak Doo-Ik had incredibly scored the goal in N.Korea’s final group game win 1-0 over Italy at Ayesome Park, Middlesbrough.

That North Korea v Italy game sticks in the memory bank and was probably my real introduction to football.

I was nine years old, in the infants school and my class teacher went to the match. I couldn't believe how exotic it all seemed. Going all the way to Middlesbrough - we only lived in Newcastle - to watch a game of football between two international teams who were strikingly different to 'us' in just about every way possible?! And then him regaling us the next day with the whole experience of it all. A day in school I never forgot.

[redtel]

That North Korea v Italy game sticks in the memory bank and was probably my real introduction to football.

I was nine years old, in the infants school and my class teacher went to the match. I couldn't believe how exotic it all seemed. Going all the way to Middlesbrough - we only lived in Newcastle - to watch a game of football between two international teams who were strikingly different to 'us' in just about every way possible?! And then him regaling us the next day with the whole experience of it all. A day in school I never forgot.

Great point about the culture of World Cups.

The Olympics have huge crowds but mostly the home nation whereas World Cup games have many thousands of the 2 teams gathered together in team colours and often National dress. Close ups give us some insights into the culture and joy/despair of different nations with Brazilian fans top of my list.

[Nitramdorf]

I dont think Ive seen someone say 1974 as yet. I was only 6 and didnt get into football till 1976. Was just aware of it a few years later.

Does anyone have any memories of '74? It always had a bit of an aura when we were lads because of Cruyff and Beckenbauer. I know Brazil tried to kick Holland out in the semis. The famous Zaire free kick thing happened and that West Germany played East Germany.

[rob1966]

Ha Ha - Adidas have just announced that the technology in the ball proves that he who fannies about and dives around didn't touch the ball last night

Thats Harry Kane fucked then

[dutchkop]

I dont think Ive seen someone say 1974 as yet. I was only 6 and didnt get into football till 1976. Was just aware of it a few years later.

Does anyone have any memories of '74? It always had a bit of an aura when we were lads because of Cruyff and Beckenbauer. I know Brazil tried to kick Holland out in the semis. The famous Zaire free kick thing happened and that West Germany played East Germany.

I remember the final.. I was big into Ajax's European team at the point (after liverpool) and thought a lot of Cruijff, Neeskens, Rensenbrink, Knol, Jansens, Coach RInus Michels that invented total football and got his revenge when the Dutch knocked out Germans and beat Russia in the 1988 UEFA Europe nations win for the Dutch.

I listened to the final on BBC world service and went the following week to watch the match on a big screen movie house because we had no television coverage.

I was devasted that the Dutch lost to the Germans. Respected the Germans, but I really wanted to the Dutch to win.. that team was the best nations team not to win the World Cup in 1974 & 1978. 

a more recent experience was reliving the 1988 final by spending 3,5 - 4 quality hours with RuudGullit and  Lothar Matthäus for a football master class, 9 a side football match and then 90 mins in the bar afterwards hearing them share experiences from 1988 and in the Italian league when they were both rivals at AC MIlan and INter milan  - very special moment that.

they gave a practical football masterclass  at the TCS summit in 2018 - https://www.tcs.com/who-we-are/worldwide/summit/insights/football-legends-share-their-9-top-tips-to-succeed

[Red Bird]

Well, blue me down a gale, this World Cup has exploded into life. I think I was a tad premature in writing it off!

[Terry de Niro]

78 and 82 World Cups stick out for me.
Remember them both vividly.

Hardly watched any after 94.

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

78 and 82 World Cups stick out for me.
Remember them both vividly.

Hardly watched any after 94.

94 was a bit shite, wasn't it

[Terry de Niro]

94 was a bit shite, wasn't it

Depends on who you were watching.
Enjoyed watching the Irish.

[Yorkykopite]

Spot on mate. Best header I've ever seen too, goes over Mullery' s head but Pele manages to head it down!?

Pele's headed goal in the Final is one of the greatest too. The leap, the timing, the power, the accuracy.

This was my first World Cup. It's still the best.

I'd say that the World Cup has been in decline since '82 when it became increasingly obvious that the best teams in the world played club football, not international football. That's mainly because the top club teams themselves - at least in Europe - became internationalised. The process also made World Cup football less interesting because it deprived the competition of its exotic quality. In 1978 it was a thrill to see Kempes and Housman, Zico and Cubillas because they were just 'names'. We knew their reputations, but how could we ever see them play? The answer was "in the World Cup" - and only the World Cup. Even the great Dutch players were a little exotic since, short of Ajax reaching a European Cup Final, they were out of range of British TV cameras.

And as the game became more 'internationalised' the wild varieties in playing styles also flattened out. From the ritual thuggery of Uruguay and the grinding catenaccio of Italy, to the 'total football' of the Netherlands and the wild flair of Brazil. That flattening process has made international competition less interesting too. The Brazil team from 1970 was almost intergalactic in its strangeness.

[rob1966]

Pele's headed goal in the Final is one of the greatest too. The leap, the timing, the power, the accuracy.

This was my first World Cup. It's still the best.

I'd say that the World Cup has been in decline since '82 when it became increasingly obvious that the best teams in the world played club football, not international football. That's mainly because the top club teams themselves - at least in Europe - became internationalised. The process also made World Cup football less interesting because it deprived the competition of its exotic quality. In 1978 it was a thrill to see Kempes and Housman, Zico and Cubillas because they were just 'names'. We knew their reputations, but how could we ever see them play? The answer was "in the World Cup" - and only the World Cup. Even the great Dutch players were a little exotic since, short of Ajax reaching a European Cup Final, they were out of range of British TV cameras.

And as the game became more 'internationalised' the wild varieties in playing styles also flattened out. From the ritual thuggery of Uruguay and the grinding catenaccio of Italy, to the 'total football' of the Netherlands and the wild flair of Brazil. That flattening process has made international competition less interesting too. The Brazil team from 1970 was almost intergalactic in its strangeness.

This is why I don't get the fuss over International Football these days. I remember when we played England for Alan Hansens testimonial in 1988, they used it as a warm up for the 88 Euros and we beat them 3-2 and looked a better side than them.

Depends on who you were watching.
Enjoyed watching the Irish.

Loved following their progress in that W/C

[Iska]

This is why I don't get the fuss over International Football these days

For me it’s that the flattening out that Yorky talked about is now way more pronounced in the club game.  Of the remaining games in this World Cup, the only thing I’m certain about is that Brazil will beat Croatia.  Portugal will probably beat Morocco, but for me every other game could go either way, and you don’t even really know what it will look like.  The high levels of the club game are certainly better quality, but they’re rarely as interesting as that.

[liverbloke]

ah they're all good

obviously liverpool winning (almost) anything is preferable to england winning the world cup - but do i want england to win it every time fuck yes!

i always enjoy the classic games, the controversies, the drug cheats, the fixed games (well, you got to ain't you otherwise you're gonna get pretty upset)

get the mates over - get the family involved - nowadays get the whatsapp groups going - wear the cheap t-shirts and wave the large flags yeh

other motorists with their car flags and kids getting all excited and people walking their dogs wrapped in the flag - yes it would be great to have a fair, honest, philanthropic, unprejudiced tournament but you ain't got a fair, honest, philanthropic, unprejudiced world yet so let's not get too high on our holier-than-thou pedestals

fifa's a wank satin but until the clubs and players make a stance then that's all we got - the players and clubs are weak

but it ain't gonna spoil my enjoyment sorry

of course equal rights for all and i hate the extremist zealots who determine who should live and who should die but i won't let them take away my game

this one ain't finished yet but bring on the next tournament and hopefully it's a fairer one and takes place in a fairer world

...and make it every 3 years too as life's too short

[Walshy nMe®]

Italia 90 was my first, and the best.

[Yorkykopite]

Italia 90 was my first, and the best.

Wasn't that when Diving reached a new level of Art? We still having diving now of course, but - Neymar apart - the modern divers don't flip, buckle and roll in the way they did at Italia 90. It was beautiful.

[Crosby Nick]

Wasn't that when Diving reached a new level of Art? We still having diving now of course, but - Neymar apart - the modern divers don't flip, buckle and roll in the way they did at Italia 90. It was beautiful.

Sometimes the flips, buckles and rolls were justified! Benjamin Massing (?) of Cameroon on Claudio Caniggia for example!

[Iska]

Sometimes the flips, buckles and rolls were justified! Benjamin Massing (?) of Cameroon on Claudio Caniggia for example!

Good point, could probably have introduced F1-style runoff areas on the back of that foul.  My favourite detail is afterwards, when his boot’s come off and he’s remonstrating with the ref trying to avoid a red card, a couple of the Argentines crowd in and put in sneaky treads on his stocking foot.  Absolutely 1000% committed to the shithousery, that team.

[Yorkykopite]

Sometimes the flips, buckles and rolls were justified! Benjamin Massing (?) of Cameroon on Claudio Caniggia for example!

Quite so. The interesting thing though was that Cannigia had been trying to get his Diving PhD throughout that match. Some of his leaps and pirouettes were genuinely path-breaking and apparently unsurpassable (little did we know what Klinsmann had up his sleeve). Only after Cameroons scored did he abandon that course and decide to play football the old-fashioned way. Massing however - and what a perfect name Massing was - was equally determined to dice poor Cannigia into small cubes of meat and take him home for supper.

Happy Days.

[Yorkykopite]

Good point, could probably have introduced F1-style runoff areas on the back of that foul.  My favourite detail is afterwards, when his boot’s come off and he’s remonstrating with the ref trying to avoid a red card, a couple of the Argentines crowd in and put in sneaky treads on his stocking foot.  Absolutely 1000% committed to the shithousery, that team.

Yes, I'd forgotten that too. The sight of a bootless foot was simply too tempting for the cunning Argentines. Practically the whole team bent their remonstrative runs to the referee to include a quick jab at Massing's exposed metatarsals. 

Wasn't this the first game of the World Cup too? I remember watching it with my mates Tim and Eric the Goalie. We were beside ourselves thinking about all the violence and chicanery to come. And Italia '90 did not disappoint on that score.

[tubby]

I have a vague memory of the front pages of the newspapers the next day going on about how horrible a final it was in Italia 90 with all the diving and gamesmanship.  My only other real (non-England) memory was Baggio's solo goal.

[Stubbins]

Meanwhile back at the 66 World Cup, it was still eleven v eleven because substitutes weren't allowed. It was the 1970 World Cup when they were first introduced. Mind you, you could pass back to your keeper and light up a cheeky ciggie, while he held on to the ball for five minutes to give everyone a breather.

Some auld arses might recall, but in the Hungary v Brazil game at Goodison, one of the Hungarian players had to go off with what looked like a serious arm injury. He reappeared five minutes later with his arm in a make shift sling and proceeded to play the rest of the match like that, because otherwise they'd have been down to ten men. Sounds like a Michael Palin ripping yarn, but it definitely happened.

[Yorkykopite]

Meanwhile back at the 66 World Cup, it was still eleven v eleven because substitutes weren't allowed. It was the 1970 World Cup when they were first introduced. Mind you, you could pass back to your keeper and light up a cheeky ciggie, while he held on to the ball for five minutes to give everyone a breather.

Some auld arses might recall, but in the Hungary v Brazil game at Goodison, one of the Hungarian players had to go off with what looked like a serious arm injury. He reappeared five minutes later with his arm in a make shift sling and proceeded to play the rest of the match like that, because otherwise they'd have been down to ten men. Sounds like a Michael Palin ripping yarn, but it definitely happened.

Talk of Michael Palin and Ripping Yarns reminds me of another great World Cup memory, which I think I saw live at Soldier Field at the (exceptionally boring) World Cup of '94. The Bulgarian goalkeeper had a thick thatch of black hair. After making a very good save down by his near post he had to go to collect the hair because it had flown into the back of the net. I seem to remember there was a bit of a goal-mouth scramble after he'd saved the initial shot and so we all watched his gleaming bald pate for a few seconds until he re-attached the accessory. I dread to think what the Kop would have made of that if the match had been at Anfield. But it was America and so everyone pretended it hadn't happened.

Funnily enough Bulgaria's best player in that World Cup - not counting the contract killer Hristo Stoitchkov - was a bald bloke called Letchkov. He didn't play in a wig though.

[Crosby Nick]

Didn’t we have that Bulgarian keeper’s son on our books briefly? I might have made that up?!

Mickhailov or similar?

[Yorkykopite]

Didn’t we have that Bulgarian keeper’s son on our books briefly? I might have made that up?!

Mickhailov or similar?

Rings a bell. I do think the be-wigged Bulgar ended up playing for Reading FC many years later. For a few weeks anyway. And I want to say - this is deep dredging now - that the whole thing ended in a scandal.

[Yorkykopite]

Didn't they also have a player who could look up and down the street at the same time - without moving his head?

[Crosby Nick]

Didn't they also have a player who could look up and down the street at the same time - without moving his head?

Ivanov! Looked a bit werewolfy? Thought he was a free kick specialist. He spent most of Euro 96 twatting balls into the River Tyne I think.

[Iska]

Some auld arses might recall, but in the Hungary v Brazil game at Goodison, one of the Hungarian players had to go off with what looked like a serious arm injury. He reappeared five minutes later with his arm in a make shift sling and proceeded to play the rest of the match like that, because otherwise they'd have been down to ten men. Sounds like a Michael Palin ripping yarn, but it definitely happened.

Same thing happened to Beckenbauer in the ‘Game of the Century’ World Cup semifinal(!) in 1970.

[Terry de Niro]

Meanwhile back at the 66 World Cup, it was still eleven v eleven because substitutes weren't allowed. It was the 1970 World Cup when they were first introduced. Mind you, you could pass back to your keeper and light up a cheeky ciggie, while he held on to the ball for five minutes to give everyone a breather.

Some auld arses might recall, but in the Hungary v Brazil game at Goodison, one of the Hungarian players had to go off with what looked like a serious arm injury. He reappeared five minutes later with his arm in a make shift sling and proceeded to play the rest of the match like that, because otherwise they'd have been down to ten men. Sounds like a Michael Palin ripping yarn, but it definitely happened.

Just googled it. Kálmán Mészöly was his name.

"He had crashed down on his left shoulder making a clearing header, and when Baróti came on to check his player, the coach ran from the field with his head in his hands, convinced that Mészöly had broken his collarbone."

[Davidbowie]

98.

Players taking part in that tournament include:

Zidane, Henry, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Bergkamp, Batistuta, Suker, Prosinecki, Owen, Shearer, Scholes, Hagi, Matthaus, Maldini, Baggio, Del Piero, Brian Laudrup, Schmeichel, Okocha, Zamorano, Mihajlovic, Savicevic, Raul, Hierro... to name just a few!

[Iska]

It is cool how many bucket list names you can see at one of these tournaments.  I took in a couple of games when I was in Portugal in 2004 and picked up Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Pires, Vieira, Zidane, Trezeguet, Henry, Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Panucci, Gattuso, Pirlo, Del Piero, Cassano, Totti, Vieri, Ljungberg, Larsson, Ibrahimovic (didn’t get on: Lizarazu, Makelele, Materazzi).  Obviously Greece ended up winning the whole thing

[rob1966]

Meanwhile back at the 66 World Cup, it was still eleven v eleven because substitutes weren't allowed. It was the 1970 World Cup when they were first introduced. Mind you, you could pass back to your keeper and light up a cheeky ciggie, while he held on to the ball for five minutes to give everyone a breather.

Some auld arses might recall, but in the Hungary v Brazil game at Goodison, one of the Hungarian players had to go off with what looked like a serious arm injury. He reappeared five minutes later with his arm in a make shift sling and proceeded to play the rest of the match like that, because otherwise they'd have been down to ten men. Sounds like a Michael Palin ripping yarn, but it definitely happened.

Gerry Byrne did it in the 1965 FA Cup Final, broke his collarbone in the 3rd minute and played the rest of the 90 and extra time. After that you daren't not play on

[rob1966]

It is cool how many bucket list names you can see at one of these tournaments.  I took in a couple of games when I was in Portugal in 2004 and picked up Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Pires, Vieira, Zidane, Trezeguet, Henry, Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Panucci, Gattuso, Pirlo, Del Piero, Cassano, Totti, Vieri, Ljungberg, Larsson, Ibrahimovic (didn’t get on: Lizarazu, Makelele, Materazzi).  Obviously Greece ended up winning the whole thing

My Stepdad went to the games at Goodison in the 66 WC and my Father In Law went to the Final itself - both ticked off some great names.

I've done OK watching LFC, Cryuff, Neeskins, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Dalglish to name a few

[Huytonian]

Can't believe Diana Ross missed that penalty in the Final...




To be fair, the keeper was well off his line - and it should have been retaken...

If I remember correctly, she was announced onto the pitch as:
Miss Diana Ross

…she duly obliged!