Best World Cup

[RichardL]

What's so great about 1982?
The draw of italy France Brazil Argentina was great and the final was great, but not many great teams participated in the tournament, besides those teams. Football quality in 1982 wasn't as great as up to date
1982 was fantastic.

Full of drama and some great stories. Algeria beating W Germany, then the contrived 1-0 win over Austria that saw both sides go through. The record score of Hungary 10 El Salvador 1, and Hungary still got knocked out. The fastest ever world cup goal, with England scoring after 27 seconds against France. The pitch invasion by the Kuwaiti royal family over a disputed decision. N Ireland stunning the hosts Spain, by beating them 1-0. The tears of Honduras as they realised they hadn't qualified for the second phase.
The sublime football of Brazil in a terrific Group F with a good USSR side, and an attacking Scotland.
The second phase, where England bowed out without losing a game, because they couldn't beat an already eliminated host nation. The emergence of France into a quality team. The Brazil-Argentina-Italy group - probably the best world cup group ever, and in Brazil v Italy, a real candidate for the best world cup match ever. The Germany-France semi-final. Everyone remembers the controversy, but less for some reason remember the fantastic 3-3 draw that surrounded it. And the Final, where most neutrals thought W Germany got their come-uppence, and Italy freed themselves of their defensive shackles to light up a truly memoerable final.
And above all the atmosphere, the passion of which I don't think has come close to being matched in any world cup since.

Don't let anyone tell you the quality was lower. Perhaps there was a certain naivety in some of the lesser team's play, but I'd rather have that, and see some good open football, than see every single 'minnow' country play defensive football like they do these days.

[Vic#10]

1982 was fantastic.

great summary. '82 was fantastic because, in the group stages you held your breath, wondering it the Italians could pull through which they barely did with three ties. As the competition continued, 1982 showed to be a wonderful year not only for Italy but for soccer. I must admit that if you only look on paper it seems as if it where a dull event.

[Power_of_foot]

I saw those games too. But didn't fascinated me much

1982 was fantastic.

Full of drama and some great stories. Algeria beating W Germany, then the contrived 1-0 win over Austria that saw both sides go through. The record score of Hungary 10 El Salvador 1, and Hungary still got knocked out. The fastest ever world cup goal, with England scoring after 27 seconds against France. The pitch invasion by the Kuwaiti royal family over a disputed decision. N Ireland stunning the hosts Spain, by beating them 1-0. The tears of Honduras as they realised they hadn't qualified for the second phase.
The sublime football of Brazil in a terrific Group F with a good USSR side, and an attacking Scotland.
The second phase, where England bowed out without losing a game, because they couldn't beat an already eliminated host nation. The emergence of France into a quality team. The Brazil-Argentina-Italy group - probably the best world cup group ever, and in Brazil v Italy, a real candidate for the best world cup match ever. The Germany-France semi-final. Everyone remembers the controversy, but less for some reason remember the fantastic 3-3 draw that surrounded it. And the Final, where most neutrals thought W Germany got their come-uppence, and Italy freed themselves of their defensive shackles to light up a truly memoerable final.
And above all the atmosphere, the passion of which I don't think has come close to being matched in any world cup since.

Don't let anyone tell you the quality was lower. Perhaps there was a certain naivety in some of the lesser team's play, but I'd rather have that, and see some good open football, than see every single 'minnow' country play defensive football like they do these days.

[RichardL]

I saw those games too. But didn't fascinated me much
but you rate 2002, 1994 and 1986 better?

2002 was a good world cup, but perhaps a little too memorable for the wrong reasons. 1986 had a few good games in the latter stages, but pretty much the entire first phase was ruined by the awful 16 from 24 qualifying system (which marred 1994 and 1990 as well).

1994? There wasn't a single side on form in the whole tournament. It was like a battle of the least mediocre. Pretty much the only game everyone remembers is the final, and that's just for being so unmittigatingly dreadful. How is it leading the poll? How?

1970 really should be a big contender, but people are less likely to vote for a world cup they didn't see.

[mellon002]

'86

[Power_of_foot]

yeah still besides those games, nothing great about other games

1982 was spectacular and by far the best cup I have seen since I have been watching which dates back to 74.

Not only did Italy led by Paolo Rossi go through Argentina, Brasil and W Germany (all the favorites) to claim the title; the elimination game between France v W Germany was the best world cup match ever played.

[crewzer1308]

i think 1994 because if it wasn't for that year and the great turnout it had the organization wouldn't create the MLS.

[RichardL]

i think 1994 because if it wasn't for that year and the great turnout it had the organization wouldn't create the MLS.
I appreciate the sentiment and all that, but don't you perhaps concede that as a reason for it being the best world cup ever, it's a little weak? But, hey, at least you gave a reason, unlike the 135 or so others who voted 1994 too. If you were to list what you thought was the most enjoyable, dramatic, atmospheric world cup, in other words, the best world cup, which one would you choose?

[grandinquisitor28]

Definitely. The MLS was a nice by product of '94, but I didn't think it was a classic. Not bad, just not a classic. I'm not averse to giving '70 and '74 consideration, the problem is I haven't seen virtually any of it. I imagine I'll just need to buy the special DVD's FIFA put out some time in the future. Anyway, I think it's probably fair that general consensus of people who've seen most of them, is that '70, '74, and '82 are classics, and '86 is also considered by some to be a classic. Darn, wish I could have seen them.

[Excape Goat]

1986

Why???

1) The Star: Never before had one player had such influence in a victory. He scored stunning goals after goals.... hate him or like him, he was amazing in 1986. No player ever equals his performance in 1986.

2) The Goals: You got Maradona's solo run against England.... and then his other solo run against Belgium. My personal favorite was Josimar's goal against Pat Jennings. Let's talk about Hands of God later.

3) The dazzling teams:

Heavyweights: France, Brazil and West Germany(at least after Voller equalized in the Final)looked to be the champion materials at one point. Even Spain looked good after it beat Denmark 5-0. Italy was the lone traditional power that did not look liked a winner at any given point.

Besides the tradional powers, Denmark, the Soviet Union and Belgium all looked liked potential WC finalists. Who can forget Denmark's 5-1 victory over Uruguay or the Soviet Union's 6-0 over Hungary?

The underdogs: People said Cameroon in 1990, but Morocco finished 1st in their group ahead of England, Portugal and Poland. They only lost to West Germany bgy a single goal on the 87th minute. This was the first African run.

4) THe Matches: The Final was the most exciting Final since 1966. So far, no other Final has matched this one. And of course, People generally cared more for the England-Argentina match. Almost 20 years later, people still talked about the match. No other match in WC histpory aroused so much passion. The best match was not even this one. brazil vs France was perhaps the best match in recent history if not the best ever. Belgium vs the Soviet Union, Denmark vs Uruguay and Spain vs Denmark were all high quality matches and fans still remembered them well.

5) Controversy: Hands of God. Period. No other controversy in the history of WC equals this one. The linesman at the 1966 Final, the Peruvan keeper in 1978, Schumacher's punch in 1982 or Beckham's red card in 1998 looked liked nothing in comparsion.

6) the atmosphere: Have you ever heard of Mexican Wave?

[soccercrazy78]

1986 for several reasons, first of course , Maradona's awesome football, his amazing solo goals against England and Belgium, the intriguing Brazil-France quarterfinal showcasing some of the best team play of that era, individual performances from soccer greats like Platini, Tigana, Careca, Laudrup, Linekar and Voeller and to top it off a never ever repeated 'intriguing' final that saw 5 goals, the deciding one coming in the dying minutes....

[n00bie deluxe]

Of the ones that I've seen, 1986.

[Invincible Gooners]

Its funny that as i write this that the 1994 world Cup is leading the way in the voting.

I wonder why?

Might have something to do with the plethera of Septics voting.
No coincedence that 1994 was run by the USA aye.... :rolleyes:

You have got to be joking, it was instantly forgettable..in fat 1994 was best summed up for me when Diana Ross missed a sitter...that was my highlight.

Some of the football was the worst i have ever seen and the over zealous tv coverage was awful.....

sorry guys but its best you dont vote for your country ever bloody time....
after all you won World War 2 single handedly so just try not to steal the one game your country will never understand..... :rolleyes:

[www.stgeorgeforum.tk]

Simply 1966 as england one the world cup, the best ever england playing the best football on the planet at some stage!

[Val1]

Boy, there are some short memories here...

Easily the best, 1974. My memories of the games are fading a bit, but when else have we had the two best players of their generation matchup in a final? And not only did we get both Beckenbauer and Cruyff, but they were also emblematic of the changes in soccer going on in the 70s and in their respective teams. Has any team been as closely identified with it's stars as Germany's sweeper system and Holland's Clockwork Orange? This was the WC for the ages.

Val

[bigtw64]

Of course '90 and '94 have special meaning to Americans, but IMO '82 was
the best tournament. 2 of the all time great matches in Ita-Bra and Fra-WGer
plus N.Ire shocking the hosts, as well as the emergence of Cameroon. as far as best best championship game however my top 3 would be '58, '66 & '70.

[garaceg]

The best ever was 1970. Brazil had a fantastic team.

Sometimes the recent cups are not the best, is good to know a little bit of history.

[Crowdie]

1982 is my favourite with 2002 coming in second. In 1982:

1) New Zealand qualified. Watching all the qualification games either live at Mt Smart Stadium or on the television was fantastic. In 1981 we packed over 30,000 people into Mt Smart Stadium to watch the All Whites play Kuwait - for a rugby mad country of only 3.5 million people that is not bad going :D

2) Northern Ireland had a great run with Armstrong and Jennings in good form.

3) Kuwait showed what bad sports they were in the game against France. There had been trouble in both the All White's qualification games against Kuwait and then to stop a World Cup game and have a Kuwaiti national come out of the crowd and debate the referee's decision with him was poor form.

Crowdie

[LEPE]

Its funny that as i write this that the 1994 world Cup is leading the way in the voting.

I wonder why?

Might have something to do with the plethera of Septics voting.
No coincedence that 1994 was run by the USA aye.... :rolleyes:

You have got to be joking, it was instantly forgettable..in fat 1994 was best summed up for me when Diana Ross missed a sitter...that was my highlight.

Some of the football was the worst i have ever seen and the over zealous tv coverage was awful.....

sorry guys but its best you dont vote for your country ever bloody time....
after all you won World War 2 single handedly so just try not to steal the one game your country will never understand..... :rolleyes:

...........................................................................

Who are you addressing to,you illiterate nincampoop??

We are over 2o million Europeans living in US enjoying
a lot of good soccer here, US team is NO. 8 in the world ,you moron, pretty much making fan of Mexico lately ,and other teams, some of the best goalies in premier league are americans, few field players too,
MLS is improving considerably, the '94 world cup, while
not the best ever, was one one the best and the MOST WATCHED EVER, on stadiums and TV!!
Some of the most memorable games ever in WC history
were in '94!! Read other boards here idiot from people
who actually know soccer and are not biast like you!!
Did you watch Romania -Argentina, Romania -Colombia,
US_Colombia, Brazil -US, Argentina -Bulgaria, Argentina-Nigeria, Nigeria -Bulgaria, Sweden_Romania and so on??

There were some great games you door- knob!!
leave your personal and political views out of soccer boards!!
You should concentrate more in learning...english,because
for a guy who posts from England, your english sucks!!
Stop watching soccer and go to a ..library!!!
You;re lucky they don;t ask you to pass an IQ test to post here!! can you spell 'IQ"?? hahaha

ps.......This board is all over the world, stupid, a lot of people votes for the 94' ,not just americans!! But it wasn't '94,
The 1970 was the best,followed by '86, but thas my opinion,, i wish you chose one too ,but you went into the wrong dirrection, so ,you deserved what i wrote to you!!
It must feel awfull that they took your passport away and didn;t let you go to Portugal, because of the the obvious reasons!!!

''plethera of Septics '' hahahahaha.....

[Kaushik]

Shame about what happened on the field though. I'd say it was the second worst World Cup I've seen, after 1990 (which was by far the worst, imo). Ironically, my choice for the two best were the two held in Mexico:- 1970 followed by 1986.

I entirely agree with 1990 being the worst world cup. The worst kind of football was played in 1990. Horrible, ultra-defensive football! From minute 70 onwards players would keep back passing the ball to the goalie who would pick it up and throw it back to the defender to repeat the backpass again (and again and again, to the jeers from the crowd). It was so bad that, after the tournament, FIFA had to change the rules such that picking up the ball by the goalie from a backpass became prohibited.

Even though 1994 WC final had no goals, there was skillful football on show. Especially from Jorginho and Cafu on the right flank. The 1990 final was the worst ever. Argentina played the worst kind of defensive football, that too against Germany, and lost by the dint of a dubious penalty. There were so many red and yellow cards in the final. It was really ugly. The 1990 tournament started off with two red cards in the opening match as well! Moreover, that tournament has the lowest goal average per match.

The tournament was played in Italy and Italy was less defensive than Argentina. Even Maradona had to stand on the goal line and stop balls from going in using his hand. They could not do with 10 defenders. They needed more than one goalkeeper as well.