2. Diego Maradona He was born in Argentina in 1960 he appeared in 4 world Cups, and scored 8 world Cup goals and his highlight of his career is winning the world cup in 1986. Maradona proved his talent against the english men in the quarter finals of the 1986 world cup. As he scored two amazing goals. Many fans especially the english still comment about “ Hand Of God Goal”. Maradona career actually started getting to an end in the 1994 US cup when he failed a drug test with a cocktail of five different substances.
3. Pele He was born in Brazil in 1940 he appeared in 4 world cup championships, and scored 12 goals in the World Cup. The highlight of his career was the win of the world cup in 1970. It is said that he scored the best header you may ever see. Pele’s role in the 1962 cup was very little as he suffered from an injury and he missed most of his country’s games including a final against Czechoslovakia. Also four years later he was virtually kicked out of the tournament by some brutal defending. His best goal was in the 1970 world cup final when he scored an amazing goal against Italy.
4. Johann Cruyff He was born in Holland in 1947, and appeared once in the World Cup, and scored 3 times. The highlight of his career was Holland's 1974 campaign. He introduced a new dimension to the sport as he had a fantastic mind and amazing feet. He also can run rings around defenders perfectly. He also won the European footballer of the year award three times. He was a fan favorite. Cruyff only played in one world cup. Which many people thought otherwise and people thought he led Holland to the final in 1978 but actually he did not attend this tournament because of financial problems.
5. Zinedine Zidane He was born in France in 1972 and appeared in two world cups which are 1998 and 2006. and he scored only 2 goals in the 1998 cup. Zidane’s dream is to become a tennis player after he retires and his idol is Andre Agassi, and he slept in the hotel room next to the American champion before.
6. Bobby Moore He was born in England in 1941 and appeared three times in the world cup the highlight of his career is winning the world cup in 1966, and he actually did not score any goals. The way Bobby Moore timed his tackles was unbelievable, especially with the match against brazil in the final. Almost no one knows that Bobby Moore’s World Cup winning performance in 1966 came just two years after he battled a war against cancer. He kept it as a secret but it spread after his death of the disease in 1993.
7. Franz Beckanbauer He was born in West Germany in 1945, and attended three World Cups, and scored 5 goals. His highlight of his career was winning the world cup as a player in 1974 and as a coach in 1990. He had an amazing view in the field and although he was a defender he could sweep and score goals easily. Brazils Mario Zaglo is the scoring player and coach to win the cup in both cases but Beckanbauer is the only player and coach to loose in the finals as a player and a coach and win in the finals as a player and a coach.
8. Great Games The 5th of July 1982 ( Italy 3 – 2 Brazil ) Brazil and Italy was the huge clash of the 1982 world cup as if each had won there games they would meet each other so in the first phase Brazil won USSR, Scotland, New Zealand without dropping any points. At the second phase they beat Argentina who are the holders of the cup 3-1 and young Maradona was sent off. Italy on the other hand had started slowly as it faced some problems in the second stage draws with all of Poland, Peru, Cameroon . Despite beating Argentina as well it had to beat Brazil to continue. The signs did not look very good as their striker Paolo Rossi just came back from a ban and did not look at his best. But however in the first five minutes of the game Rossi put his team in the lead. But it did not last long as Socrates scored the equalizer. But on 25 minutes Brazilian defender made a mistake allowing Rossi to score his second goal. But Brazil finally broke through scoring the equalizer through Falcao but it was not long that Rossi scored his hatrick making the score 3 – 2 although both Socrates and Antognoni scored but none were counted also Zoff the 40 year old Italian goalkeeper saved a penalty making it a joyful day for the Italians.
9. England VS Argentina 1962 These two countries have produced outstanding World Cup Matches in the past. First is the first round in the 1962 cup. England 3 – 1 Argentina. Argentina had won its first match but England had lost so England had to win to qualify. First Ron flower gave England the head start in the 17th minute scoring a penalty then came young bobby Charlton to score the second before the first half ending then Jimmy Greaves scoring the third before Jose Cransisco scoring the lonely goal for Argentina. Argentina lost its last match against Hungary and made an early exit but England continued until it lost from Brazil in the quarter final.
10. England VS Argentina 1966 This time both sides met in the last eight in the tournament so you either win or your out. England 1 – 0 Argentina. It was a great game but Argentina spoiled it by making a huge amount of fouls. Their captain Antonio Rattin couldn’t control himself and harassed the referee so much that he was sent off. It took him about 10 minutes to leave the field and he was also ushered off by the Fifa Officials. They played well and thanks to there larger number of players and eventually scored the only goal by Geoff Hurst.
11. Argentina VS England 1986 This game will forever be remembered for Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand Of God goal.’ Argentina 2 – 1 England. The first goal was in the beginning of the second half when Maradona punched the ball over the goalkeeper into the net than after it by a couple of minutes he scored a legendary goal that is considered one of the best goal in World Cup history.
12. Argentina VS England 1998 This time it was a match that went to the penalties and England got knocked out of the tournament. Argentina 2 – 2 England ( Argentina win penalties 4 – 3 on pen.) Argentina took the lead in the fourth minute by Gabriel Batistuta. Alan Shearer quickly equalized then came Michael Owen to pass by two defenders with his amazing speed and score the second goal to put England ahead. Then came Zanetti to score a smart free kick to equalize. The game took a turn in the second half as the Manchester United star David Beckham was sent off after crucially fouling Diego Simeone. Then England achieved to keep it a tie in the 90 minutes and the extra time. But lost in the penalty shootout.
13. France VS Brazil 1998 It was on the 12th of July 1998 that the world saw the amazing 3 – 0 victory over Brazil. Weird things took place before the game especially with the Brazilian superstar Ronaldo as his name was not on the list. As all coaches hand in the papers with the lineup 72 minutes before the start of the game then before the game starting by 30 minutes he was chosen to play. It was a competition or more like a battle between Zidane and Ronaldo and obviously Zidane won as he scored two goals against Brazil.
