Damn, I was writing a ridiculously long explanation of my World Cup Final-only XI before realizing that this is about the whole final stage of the tournament. It's makes it easier though.
Pelé - Gerd Müller - Garrincha
Diego Maradona
Franz Beckenbauer - Lothar Matthäus
Paul Breitner - Bobby Moore - Franco Baresi - Cafu
Oliver Kahn
Pelé — Mr. World Cup. Enigmatic match-winner in 1958 as a teenager, literally kicked out of the next 2 tournaments and that the legendary campaign in 1970 as a main creative hub of arguably the greatest international team ever
Gerd Müller — however great Luis Ronaldo and other candidates were, I'd pick Müller for his consistency. Unstoppable in 1970 and key to the win in 1974 — a pattern quite similar to Ronaldo (1998 -> 2002), but without the spoilt final
Garrincha — before Maradona in 1986 his 1962 campaign was widely considered to be the most influential individual performance in World Cup's history
Diego Maradona — no explanation needed. His 1986 World Cup was simply the best individual World Cup performance ever and then you can add other impressive campaigns on top of it
Lothar Matthäus — one of the players with the most tournament appearances ever and the man who came the closest to stopping Maradona in 1986
Franz Beckenbauer — played two of his tournaments in midfield before assuming the libero role in 1974. His 1966 campaign was out of this world
Paul Breitner — a key component to West Germany's unlikely win against the Dutch totalvoetbaal juggernaut who also has a brilliant 1982 campaign (as a midfielder though) under his belt
Bobby Moore — impeccable in both 1966 and 1970 in a distinctly different roles. His master-class against Brazil in 1970 has a claim to be the greatest individual defensive performance in tournament's history...
Franco Baresi — ... challenged by the 1994 World Cup final by Franco Baresi. Coming back from an injury only to stop Romário in the form of his life. He was also the key member of Italy's defensive unit from the 1990, which until this day remains the greatest in history of competition
Cafu — played in 3 successful World Cup finals, winning two of them. He's the greatest right back ever in my book, so he takes his rightful place
Oliver Kahn — his miracles from 2002 has to be one of the highest praises for goalkeeping in general. Rarely before or after, if ever, a keeper was so crucial to the success of his side
Germany: 5, Brazil: 3, Italy: 1, Argentina: 1, England: 1.
Notable mentions:
GK: Manuel Neuer, Gigi Buffon, Lev Yashin
RB: Djalma Santos, Carlos Alberto, Philipp Lahm
CB: Fabio Cannavaro, Elías Figueroa,
LB: Paolo Maldini, Nílton Santos, Andreas Brehme
CM: Xavi, Didi, Obdulio Varela
AM: Bobby Charlton, Zinedine Zidane, Andrés Iniesta
FW: Mario Kempes, Johan Cruyff, Thomas Müller
ST: Luis Ronaldo, Paolo Rossi, Mario Klose
