1966 England World Cup

The FIFA World Cup has been around for almost a century. The cup has brought the spotlight on numerous players such as Pele, Ronaldo, Neymar and many more. It is a rarity as it only occurs every four years. 

There are many speculations on this year’s World Cup, but due to the scandal about Qatar’s human rights issues and the splitting of the Champions/Premier League is making it look rushed. 

Numerous important players were unable to join this year’s World Cup due to injuries from the Premier League. Furthermore, it is still unclear if Son Heung-Min is able to play in it after his eye socket injury. 

 

Fans have already begun making memes about the 2022 World Cup and claimed that Spain will pass the ball until they “die.” Portugal will pass the ball to Ronaldo constantly for him to strike, Brazil will constantly dribble the ball to confuse other players and jokingly claim that for Argentina, if another team hurts him, they will die. 

Now, the list of the 5 best World Cups was made by shortlist.com and it has quite a number of interesting facts to it. 

Number 5, South Korea/Japan 

2002 World Cup logo
Image of the 2002 World Cup logo, from Wikipedia.

The 2002 World Cup, 20 years ago, is listed as the fifth best in this list. Brazilian Ronaldo led Brazil to be the best team of the cup. 2002 was the year that Brazil beat Germany in a 2-0 final match. 

In the list, they mentioned the most shocking things that happened in the year. Namely, the questionable refereeing that was done in the South Korea vs Italy match where South Korea saw an advantage over the latter. The United States also managed to beat Portugal and send them home. This is only for them to be sent home by Germany. 

Number 4, England 

1966 England World Cup
The Queen presenting the World Cup to England captain, Bobby Moore. Image from Wikipedia.

The 1966 World Cup, which was hosted by England and was brought up by numerous Qatar defenders when it came to the LGBT rights issue the Middle East country had. Again, Italy lost to Korea, but this time it was North Korea. It appears that the Italians have a weakness for Koreans. 

England had a third goal in the 1966 finals and it is considered to be one of the most memorable moments in FIFA’s history as it is the most contested goal in any World Cup Final. Furthermore, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from the exhibition and it caused panic right before the cup started but it was later found wrapped in paper under some bushes in London. 

Number 3, Mexico

Mexico World Cup
Image of Maradona holding the World Cup trophy. From Wikipedia.

The 1986 World Cup was listed as the third best. Argentina was listed as the best team for the year and the centre of attention was Maradona. Argentina, under Maradona’s amazing skills, managed to beat West Germany in a shocking 3-2 final. It was dubbed the victory of the ‘poor countries’ by some.

Morocco was considered to be one of the biggest shocks of the 1986 Cup as they managed to beat England, Portugal and Poland. However, in the end they were beaten by West Germany. Furthermore, Maradona’s goal was regarded as “the goal of the century.” 

Number 2, Italy

1990 Italy World Cup
Image of an ongoing match in the 1990 Italy World Cup. From Wikipedia.

The 1990 tournament was held by Italy. West Germany won the match and Argentina was a close runner up. It appears that Cameroon also made the list of one of the notable countries of that year’s World Cup. 

Cameroon beat Argentina in a 1-0 match and it was said to be a tough game but Cameroon deserved the win. Roger Milla was the ultimate star for Cameroon. Their tackle against Argentina was said to be one of the greatest of all time. Costa Rica then humiliated Scotland and Ireland had an amazing quarter final.

Number 1, Mexico (again) 

1970 Mexico World Cup
Image of Pele in the 1970 Mexico World Cup. From Wikipedia.

Not to be confused with the 1986 Cup as this one is the 1970 Finals. Apparently, Mexico is good at hosting the World Cup as they appeared on the list twice. Brazil won the cup that year and it’s mostly thanks to Pele, Carlos Alberto, Gerson, Tostao, Rivelino and Jairzinho. They are called the ‘Giants of Brazil’ until today.

The biggest shock was that England was leading their match against West Germany with a 2-0 scoreboard. However, West Germany fought back and whacked them with a 3-2 scoreline at the end of the game.

Brazil destroyed Italy that year with a remarkable 4-1 result. This specific event was ranked as the best due to the fact that the highest score per game ratio was seen in 1970. Apparently it has not been beaten ever since. 

What will happen in the next World Cup? 

Will the 2022 World Cup measure up with these five best cups? We will have to wait and see when the games commence next week. 

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