Best world cup ever

giorno

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I'd prefer the cagey high-stakes of the 1994 final over, for instance, the slight anti-climactic farce of the 1998 and 2018 finals where there were players on the park evidently unfit to be there.
I mean, sure, but also, the '94 final was cagey because *both* teams were evidently unfit. One in particular couldn't do anything more than play for penalties...
 

PepG

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France 1998 was the best World Cup i have seen although USA 1994 will live on forever in the mind of every Bulgarian as The Crazy American Summer..
 

Bertie Wooster

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I think the 1986 world cup is what sparked by love of the #10's.

I was 8 then, and was being taken to watch poor quality lower league English football games. Suddenly I was watching great attacking football from the likes of Maradona, Platini, Laudrup, Francescoli, Scifo, Sanchez, etc. I've enjoyed watching the 'Hero' film of that world cup many times. :drool:
 

Eurotrash

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Best I've seen are 1998 and 2018.

Only have vague memories from 82 and 86, but I'm sure they where great.

Worst is 2010.
 

Steffa Barnesa

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'94 my first, and my favourite. But '98 was the best (just think of the names - Zidane, Henry, Thuram, Desailly, Ronaldo, Bebeto, Cafu, R. Carlos, Dunga, Bergkamp, Batistuta, Laudrup brothers, Schmeichel, Suker, Boban, Prosinecki, Savicevic, Hagi, Salas & Zamorano, Maldini, Baggio, Stoichkov, Hierro, Raul, Scifo, Matthaus, Klinsmann, Shearer, Beckham, Owen, Scholes, Valderrama, Craig Burley, I could go on. . .)

For me in terms of overall quality and enjoyment '98 > '14 > '94 > '18 > '06 > '02 > '10
 

Buchan

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Brazil 2014 was an amazing tournament. Incredible goals, phenomenal individual displays, major upsets and, of course, the games themselves in the main were of a high quality. The group stage alone has a genuine claim to the best group stage of all-time. It hit a tiny lull around the last 16/quarter-final stage but then crescendoed with the infamous 1-7 in the semis… what a super tournament overall, IMO.
 

largelyworried

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Italia 90 was the first one where I watched pretty much every game I could. I wanted Cameroon to win and cried when they got knocked out. It wasn't actually a vintage tournament in terms of quality, but it felt like high drama.

France 98 was probably the best in terms of the quality of football. That side of the draw that had Brazil, Netherlands, Argentina and even England was incredibly heavyweight and produced a bunch of classics.
 

SirAF

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Probably 2002 and 2006, mainly due to my age then and nostalgia.
 

Josh 76

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It’s Usually your first one you remember. Mine was Mexico 1986. I was like what they hell is happening here. The World Cup seemed so fascinating. All these games live on TV, with players you didn’t see or only heard about vaguely. In those days, there was one live game on a week. Yes that’s right, one game a week. There was no internet, you tube or sports channels to watch football 24 hours a day.

The tournament seemed unreal as a kid. The strange thing is, I’ve watched so many of those games now and they were not really that exciting. It must have been a lot to do with nostalgia.

I actually think the World Cup in Brazil 2014 was one of the best for entertainment. USA 1994 was another one that stands out. Had the final not been so dull, it would have been one of the best. My older family always say it was Spain 1982.

The worst one was actually Italy 1990. The quality of football was very poor.
 

John_Jensen

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Weird to see people say 94.generally considered a quite shit world Cup overall. 98 was much better and probably the best we have had. I did really enjoy Russia 2018 as well, but 98 was the best imo.
1994 was actually very good with lots of goals & good matches up until the semi-final stages when the goals ran out. The fact the final was tumescent seems to negatively affect how some see the rest of the tournament.
 

giorno

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1994 was actually very good with lots of goals & good matches up until the semi-final stages when the goals ran out. The fact the final was tumescent seems to negatively affect how some see the rest of the tournament.
It shouldn't. When's the last time a world cup final produced a high quality game? Argentina '78?

Mexico '86 for entertainment, maybe, but the game itself wasn't of particular quality
 

DrRodo

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For me it has got to be 1998. The first world cup which i got to see my NT qualify, the people going out to the streets to celebrate all over the country, also the amount of stars etc, the reasons have been listed here a lot. I was 14 years old and we got to watch Chile matches on a big screen at school around 11 am, stopping classes meanwhile. That by itself to my teenage self was the best thing in the world
 

Josh 76

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1994 was actually very good with lots of goals & good matches up until the semi-final stages when the goals ran out. The fact the final was tumescent seems to negatively affect how some see the rest of the tournament.
That’s why Mexico 86 stands out. The final was a classic. The knockout games were poor and not many goals. I think 3 of the 4 quarter finals went to pens. The 3 knock out games which stand out was the France v Brazil, Spain v Denmark and USSR v Belgium.
 

Josh 76

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It shouldn't. When's the last time a world cup final produced a high quality game? Argentina '78?

Mexico '86 for entertainment, maybe, but the game itself wasn't of particular quality
Very thin line between entertainment and high quality.
 

General_Elegancia

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1982 World Cup- It's one of the best WC of all time in terms of squad depth. This world cup was full of amazing talents/future legendary players, a lot of dramatic moments, provided great quality football, and some of the best matches of all time in football history. Before this tournament started, 7 teams had a chance to win this World Cup( Brazil, Argentina, USSR, Italy, West Germany, and Poland), and a lot of dark horses like Algeria, England, Austria, Scotland, and more. That showed the quality of teams and players that participated in the 1982 WC.

1990 World Cup- A low-scoring WC, a defensive-minded tournament but it's a very competitive tournament, full of amazing players. It was a very tactical World Cup with the lowest scoring per game in the history of the World Cup. However, it's worth enough to study/analyze the tactics( especially in the defensive organization part)

1970 World Cup- It could be the best World Cup of all time. The first WC broadcast in color. This WC had full of legendary players, and classic games that would be mentioned 50 years later like Italy-West Germany, West Germany-England, the finals, and Brazil vs England.

1974 World Cup- A quality World Cup, this WC was an offensive/balanced-minded WC with a lot of great sides playing attractive football like Holland, Yugoslavia, and Poland( West Germany played more defensive-oriented compared to the 1972 side). The birth of total football on the National Stage( tactical revolutionized).

1986 World Cup- Diego's tournament, overall it's a great WC. However, it's also the last dance of some superstars like Platini, Zico, Falcao, Socrates, Rummenigge, and some old veterans of the Italian.

1998 World Cup- The first WC with 32 teams, the quality of football was very high. This WC had a lot of beautiful goals and tremendous shots. This WC also had so many superstars and the great talents spread to many teams. The French Backline is considered to be one of the greatest backlines of all time.

1966 World Cup- Outstanding tournament with some excellent teams like Eusebio's Portugal, Charlton's England, West Germany, and USSR. North Korea also surprised the world by beating a very strong Italian and took the lead of Eusebio's Portugal 3-0( in the end, Portugal came back).

2014 World Cup- Some memorable moments in the history of football like Spain losing to Holland 5-1 and Brazil losing to Germany 7-1. Great attacking football although the final wasn't that good.

My rankings would be 1. 1982
2. 1970
3. 1990
4.1998
5.1986
6.1974
7.2014
8.1966
 
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Ole'sattheWheel

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As a youngish England fan, the most recent one in Russia is up there for me. We had a solid run into the semis- it was a cracking summer and everyone in the country were in great spirits.
Personally for me I’d just overcome a really bad bout of agoraphobia where I couldn’t leave the house for about 6 months, but after a lot of hard work on myself I finally was able to get out there, with all my friends again, to all support the same team for a change (a lot of blue noses and a villa fan).
The “it’s coming home“ chants, good vibes and me being accepted onto a masters course that summer after a long horrible winter/spring just puts a smile on my face whenever I think back to it.
Take me back
 

giorno

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Very thin line between entertainment and high quality.
So Mexico '86 then(full disclosure: the game was a bore and looked done until the last 20 minutes, which were entertaining)

Argentina '78 (high quality game, drama, extra time)

England '66 (ditto)

That's about it?
 

General_Elegancia

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The underrated one would be the 1978 World Cup- I know that many people don't rate this WC but maybe I'm a bit weirdo. This WC was a very attacking-minded tournament, in which a lot of teams played beautiful football( Poland, Holland, Argentina, Italy, West Germany, Austria, Peru.......). It was a transition period from the Johann-Kaiser era to another era( Zico, Kalle, young Maradona, and Platini). Some old veterans( early 1970s top/superstar players) played this WC as the last WC( Chumpitaz, Vogts, Maier, Benetti, Deyna, Rivelino, and Pirri) and some of the youngsters who would be the legend in the future played this as the first World Cup( Rummenigge, Cabrini, Hugo Sanchez, Boniek, Tardelli (23 years old) and Platini). This WC also had some of the best long rangers and screamers in the history of the World Cup the examples were Haan's against Maier and Zoff and Nelingo against Zoff.


 

John_Jensen

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That’s why Mexico 86 stands out. The final was a classic. The knockout games were poor and not many goals. I think 3 of the 4 quarter finals went to pens. The 3 knock out games which stand out was the France v Brazil, Spain v Denmark and USSR v Belgium.
Argentina - England stood out too, iconic moments. Argentina - Romania in '94 is an overlooked WC classic imo.
 

Red Dreams

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A thread for the football history enjoyers out there and it's pretty straightforward , which Edition of the aforementioned competition was the best.
You could list your criteria as well it being the footballing strength and quality , breadth of good teams , atmosphere, the narrative surrounding it and most importantly how enjoyable it may have been.

I'm a bit biases over here due to my love of the 80s but to me 2 world cups stand shoulders above the rest the 1982 and 1986 editions, packed full of stars, enjoyable matches (legendary in fact) and even more legendary winners.

So what's your opinion.

(Mods I'm aware there are threads similar in nature to this already but I think it's a topic worth going over again and after all we're closings the occasion itself.)
I was thinking about the World Cup I enjoyed the most as I was watching FIFA Uncovered on Netflix.
And I agree with you.

It was the 1982 and 1986 ones.

1982 simply for an amazing Brazil team that has not been bettered and the 1986 one for Maradona.
But both had some memorable games.
 

Josh 76

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Argentina - England stood out too, iconic moments. Argentina - Romania in '94 is an overlooked WC classic imo.
I watched the whole match last year (Argentina v England) and I was shocked how poor England actually were. Gary Lineker was terrible.
 

Josh 76

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The underrated one would be the 1978 World Cup- I know that many people don't rate this WC but maybe I'm a bit weirdo. This WC was a very attacking-minded tournament, in which a lot of teams played beautiful football( Poland, Holland, Argentina, Italy, West Germany, Austria, Peru.......). It was a transition period from the Johann-Kaiser era to another era( Zico, Kalle, young Maradona, and Platini). Some old veterans( early 1970s top/superstar players) played this WC as the last WC( Chumpitaz, Vogts, Maier, Benetti, Deyna, Rivelino, and Pirri) and some of the youngsters who would be the legend in the future played this as the first World Cup( Rummenigge, Cabrini, Hugo Sanchez, Boniek, Tardelli (23 years old) and Platini). This WC also had some of the best long rangers and screamers in the history of the World Cup the examples were Haan's against Maier and Zoff and Nelingo against Zoff.


I agree. It was definitely the World Cup with the best goals.
 

P-Ro

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The last truly great world cup was 1986, a few years before I was born. I think the last World Cup was probably the best of my lifetime with a lot of close games, upsets, quality group stage games and a decent final. I really don't get the love for France 98, average tournament with a poor final.
 
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FriedClams

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Surprised to not see 2006 get more of a mention. Here's a list of players who played

Brazil: Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Kaka, Adriano, Lucio
Argentina: Messi, Tevez, Riquelme, Ayala, Crespo
France: Zidane, Henry, Vieira, Makelele, Thuram
Netherlands: Van Nistelrooy, Robben, Sneijder, Van Persie
England: Beckham, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, A. Cole
Italy: Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Totti, Del Piero
Spain: Casillas, Puyol, Raul, Xavi, Torres, Iniesta, Ramos
Germany: Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Klose, Ballack, Kahn
Portugal: Figo, Deco, Ronaldo

We also had Nedved, Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Drogba, Essien, Modric,Nakata, Park, Shevchenko

That's as star-studded a tournament as I can think of.

There were lots of good group games (plus the discussion around the new ball, and the first goal of the tournament from Phillip Lahm showed just how much it could swerve) and the knockouts were unbelievable, particularly germany v italy.

Then in the final, you have zidane chipping a penalty off the underside of the bar against Buffon, his headbutt sending off, and the only player who missed a penalty was the guy who beat italy with a golden goal 6 years previous in the euros.
 

ROFLUTION

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may I ask the reason for disliking 2002 ? it it because of south korea ?

:lol:
2002 for me sucks. We know now the refs were bribed, so that makes it automatically shite for me.

My favorite was 98 followed by Italy’s win over Zidane and co.

im too “young” for ‘86 but that one sounded like a blast. Would probablybe my favorite had I witnessed it
 

mshnsh

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The one's I've seen

1. 1982

2. 1986

3. 1998

4. 2014

5. 2010

6. 1994

7. 1990

8. 2006

9. 2002: People may be surprised but this was a world cup without match ups among heavy weights apart from Brazil vs England. Made it boring.

10. 2018