Here are all the winners: World Cup Winners Year Winner 1930 Uruguay 1934 Italy 1938 Italy 1950 Uruguay 1954 West Germany 1958 Brazil 1962 Brazil 1966 England 1970 Brazil 1974 West Germany 1978 Argentina 1982 Italy 1986 Argentina 1990 Germany 1994 Brazil 1998 France 2002 Brazil Put them in order from the strongest to the weakest winner of the WC
Brasil'58 Germany'74 Brasil'70 Germany'54 England'66 Germany'72 Euro winners the best side ever. (that won anything, if you don't count the Olympics that the Magic Magyars won)
Brazil 70 Germany 74 Brazil 58 France 98 I thought France 1998 was a very good team. They also maintained their level in Euro 2000. Meanhwile, Brazil 1962 I have problems picking the 5th best. My selection for the 5th probably would be the following: England 1966 Argentina 1986: They were nothing without Maradona, but he was simply too good. Brazil 1962: would have been greatest if Pele was not injuried. Both Garrincha and Pele were in their prime. Brazil 2002
A top 5 is far too easy and will leave a repititive stream of the same teams. At least 10 positions should be filled. It's understandable if those teams probably prior to '58 are unquantifiable but the rest should be put into some kind of order.
Well, 5 is hard enough for me. Okay.... this is from 1958 onward. Brazil 1970 Germany 74 Brazil 58 France 98 Argentina 1986 England 1966 Brazil 1962 Brazil 2002 Germany 1990 three way tied Italy 1982, Argentina 1978, Brazil 1994. I am heavily influenced by the players on the team. My opinion was heavily influenced by the draft of draft thread. I did not see many star of stars players in the last three teams.
See with more than 5 it opens up the field and is certainly more interesting Brazil '58 and '70 will automatically occupy 2 of the top 3 spts on most peoples' list as will Germany '74 I have to ask why would you rate France '98 so highly? Their offense was really,really bad. Brazil '94 and the other 2 you have in the three way tie were extremely competent teams from back to front.
From 1958 onward: 1) Brazil 1970: They displayed the best football ever seen...a collection of brilliant individuals, including the greatest ever. They did not have any difficulty getting past any team, but only Banks. They won every game with consummate ease, except, to some extent, the game vs. England. 2) Brazil 1958: Similar to Brazil 70, but had difficulty in getting past the opposition in two matches. 3) Argentina 1986: A team made up of an eccentric coach, good players and one great player, who was unstoppable. Even the referees failed to stop him! They had some difficulty in the earlier games though. 4) Brazil 2002: This team probably played the most solid, organizational football from the Q/F (after Owen's goal) onwards. Everyone from the goalie to the forwards was impeccable. Based on the last three matches, they could be placed higher than 4th. However, the team took four matches to be transformed into the team that eventually won. This was helped by being in a comparatively easier first round group. With a fitter Ronaldo, the team that played in the S/F and Final would have given Brazil 1970 a run for their money. They won all their matches. 5) France 1998: There were some excellent players in this team. However, it could have been a better team if Zidane was at his mesmerizing best. They had difficulty winning at least three games at home. 6) Brazil 1962: The winning team with Pele in it would easily be one of the best ever. However, Pele was injured and they needed Amarildo, Garrincha and Schroiff’s assistance to win the world cup. 7) Brazil 1994: The team played solidly without any defensive frailties. It was led by a brilliant Romario who put on one of the best individual performances in world cup history. However, failure to beat Italy in full time in the final would not allow them to be regarded any higher than 7th. 8) Germany 1990: A great German team that finally won the cup after disappointments in 1982 and 86. This team coached by Beckenbauer was better than the one he lifted the WC with as a player. They were given a tough time though by two or three of their opponents, including England and Colombia. 9) Germany 1974: Germany 74 was not the best team at the WC. They had difficulty getting past the opposition in many matches. They even lost to E Germany. Moreover, they had home advantage. However, they had some great players in the team. 10) England 1966: Same as Germany 74…they had home advantage and there were better teams in the tournament. Moreover, calls from their captain to keep Pele out of the Brazil team before the WC, and means utilized to do so during the world cup, raise questions about the spirit with which the game was played in that tournament. The team had some excellent players though. 11) Italy 1982: They were obviously not the best team, but they won after 42 years away from home. There were some good players in the team and one opportunistic striker who made the difference. 12) Argentina 1978: Apart from home advantage, they were not the best team and did not have a plethora of excellent players. In addition, everybody knows how Brazil was prevented from reaching the final of that WC.
1 - Brazil 1958 2 - W.Germany 1974 3 - Brazil 1962 4 - Brazil 1970 5 - Uruguay 1950 6 - W.Germany 1954 7 - Argentina 1986 8 - England 1966 9 - Italy 1982 10 - Brazil 1994 11 - France 1998 12 - Argentina 1978 13 - West Germany 1990 14 - Brazil 2002 Of the notable teams that did not win it, Hungary 1954 would be equal with Brazil 1958 and Netherlands 1974 would be just after W.Germany 1974.
This is a very tough endeavor. Obviously all these teams are champions, so they all deserve great credit. Plus, we all have our biases, and no matter who we put on the bottom, it will create controversy. Somebody will surely get upset. I am probably biased in favor of South American teams, as I was more exposed to its players, and grew up hearing about their greatness. But anyway, just for fun, here it goes: 1) Brazil 1970: Pele at his peak and a constellation of stars, including a Jairzinho who was walking on water. Won it all while hardly breaking a sweat in the Mexican heat. 2) Brazil 1958: Probably a more complete team than 1970, with the two Santos, the brilliant Didi, Garrincha and a young Pele leading the charge. I rank them second only because they actually tied a match. 3) Germany 1974: Overshadowed by the revolutionary play of Holland, and plagued by internal dissension, this was nevertheless a solid, star studded team without any noticeable weakness, lead by the great captain Beckembauer, prolific goal scorer Muller, and Overath. 4) Argentina 1978: An underrated team which overcame incredible political and popular pressure at home. Led by the great Passarella on defense, Ardiles in midfield and Kempes in attack, plus solid goalkeeping by Fillol. The team combined toughness and skill in a display of attacking football. 5) Brasil 2002 Perhaps this team lacked the great captain, compared to those I ranked above it, but it made up for it with an excess of talent. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, just to name a few. Plus, a solid defense. 6) Brasil 1962 Even with Pele injured, this team had lots of talent, including Garrincha and surprising sub Amarildo. 7) Argentina 1986: The greatness of Maradona brought brilliance to a tactically sound but unspectacular group of players. 8) Italy 1982 : A solid team filled with historic greats, particularly on goal and defense. Zoff, Scirea, Bergomi, Gentile, Tardelly, Conti... Plus Paolo Rossi at his best. They started slow, but then beat the talented Brazilians and Argentines to prove their worth. 9) Uruguay 1930 : Ok, it is true that few European countries showed up for the first World Cup. But Uruguay was still the dominant team of the era, as they also proved by winning two gold medals. 10) England 1966 Solid and disciplined but unspectacular squad, led by the great captain Bobby Moore and midfielder Bobby Charlton. 11) Brazil 1990 Really I should rank them higher, but I don't want Brazil to hog all the top spots. A great attack led by Romario and Beveto, but perhaps they don't get credit because we expect so much from Brazil. 12) Uruguay 1950 A team of fighters lead by Varela. Tactically a dinosaur even for its era, but with an amazing belief in themselves which enabled them to beat one of the greatest teams of all time in the final. 13) Germany 1954 Maybe it's a reach. This is a team that lost 8-3 to Hungary. But I give them credit for coming back and beating the great Magyar team in the rematch. 14) France 1998 Zidane is a good player, but I wasn't too impressed with this team. I still cannot believe how they managed to beat Brazil so easily in the final. 15) Italy 1938 They featured the legendary Piola, and they beat the Brazil of Leonidas. But with some of the top team of the era not participating (like Argentina, Uruguay and the British sides) I see no reason to rank this team higher. 16) Italy 1934 Led by South American imports like Orsi and Monti, Italy made Mussolini proud. But, as in 38, some of the top teams weren't there or sent B squads. 17) Germany 1990 Obviously all champions have talent, but somebody had to be last. This team was an unspectacular winner of an unspectacular world cup.
Obviously I dissagree with you, as you can tell by seeing my ranking. I'd say we had a plethora of excellent players: Fillol: Perhaps the best South American goalkeeper of all time, an excellent shot blocker, superb at controlling crosses and dominating the penalty area, great on one-on-ones, and intimidating penalty shot stopper. Passarella: One of the best defenders of all time, a great captain and the unquestioned leader of the team. Also was able to score quite a bit, with headers and free kicks. Ardiles: A talented creative midfielder who made everyone around him better. Kempes: An aggressive striker who was at the peak of his game in 1978. Watch the videos, he was unstoppable. That was the foundation of the team, but they also had a dependable central defender in Galvan, two lateral defenders who were dangerous on attack in Olguin and Tarantini, a solid defensive mid in Gallego, a powerful centerforward in Luque, and dangerous wingers in Bertoni and Houseman. Plus a deep bench, with players like 'beto' Alonzo, Larrosa, Ortiz and others. This team was so deep that a young Maradona didn't even make the squad. And I believe that the controversy about Brasil being prevented to reach the final, which you alude to, is unfounded. I have strong reasons to argue this way, based on watching the actual matches in person and many times on tape. But that is something we can perhaps debate at another time in another thread.
Obviously I did not imply that Argentina 1978 did not have any star player. Every World Cup winning team have had star players. Argentina 1978 was no exception. However, compared to some of the other teams such as Brazil 1970, the number of star players in Argentina was limited. But all of them needed to be good to lift the trophy. Maradona was only 17 years old in 1978. If he was about 20, he would have easily got into the team. Menotti's lack of penchant for Maradona did not help either. Even if we discount the charges of bribery, and Peru fielding a reserve side, the controversy about Brasil being prevented to reach the final in WC1978, is not unfounded. Changing the game time such that Argentina get to know the exact score they need to achieve to get through to the final proves it. However, this is not the thread for such a debate.
Same here. Another reason I refrained from ranking them higher is that I did not want Brazil to snap up all the top spots either. Brazil 1994 was very good in every department. However, their inability to beat Italy in regular time in the final makes people rate them lower than they deserve.
You are right about Brazil 70, of course. I also ranked them first. I noted you also have Germany 74 quite low, and I rank them high, and the opposite is true of Germany 90. And most people rank Argentina 86 ahead of their 78 team, while I think that in 86 they relied too much on Maradona, and 78 was a more complete team. But as I said, all these teams are champions, so it is hard to rank them. Well, at least we agree on the top two. And it is true that in 78 Argentina got a bit of an unfair advantage by playing later, because the knowledge forced Menotti to gamble with a risky all-attacking scheme which produced the needed results. But nevertheless both Brazil and Argentina knew that they had to go out and score as many goals as they could in their respective matches. I don't think Brazil played it more cautiously just because they played earlier. It is the flawed system that was at fault. Brazil and Argentina were two worthy teams, and they should have been forced to settle it on the field, or at worst, from the penalty spot. Then nobody would be complaining about it.
Yes. Compared to other top Brazilian teams, they lacked the creative superstar in the middle. The Zizinho, Didi, Pele, Zico, Ronaldinho type player. Rai couldn't do it, and nobody really was able to supplant him. But they were solid defensively, with a strong temperamental captain, talented attacking laterals, and a great forward duo. If it was somebody other than Brazil, people would be talking about how great they were.
Peruvian goalkeeper recognized years later, in an interview, that his team recieved money to let the argentines score as many goals as they needed.
Here's my subjective runner-up ranking, just for fun and controversy: 1) Hungary 54: Perhaps the most talented team ever assembled, with players like Grocsis, Bozsik, Lorant, Budai, Kocsis, Hidegkuti Puskas and Czibor. How did they possibly lose to Germany, after beating them 8-3 in round robin? My theory is that after getting past Brazil and Uruguay (the two 1950 finalists) in consecutive tough physical battles, they were just too beaten up for the final. 2) Brazil 50: A talented and dominant squad led by the creativity of Zizhino and the scoring of Ademir, as well as Jair and Chico. This is a forgotten team, just because they lost one fateful match. 3) Netherlands 74 : They shocked the world with the revolutionary total football and great players at every position. Led by the talented Johan Cryuff and the tough Johan Neeskens. 4) Netherlands 78: Without Cryuff but with the return of Kroll, Neeskens and Resembrink leading the charge, total football was still a force to be reckoned with. 5) Italy 70: Great talent led by Fachetti and Burgnich on defense, Mazzola in the middle and Riva up front. But nobody could keep up with Brazil. 6) Brazil 98: If Ronaldo had been able to put it together, this would have been a great team. 7) Italy 94 : The only runner-up to lose on penalties, they had the talent to win it, with Baressi, Maldini, Donadoni and Roberto Baggio. 8) Germany 66: Tough physical squad, not spectacular but very effective, led by a young Beckembauer and goalscorers Haller and Seller. 9) Sweden 58 Not as well known as other finalists, but they beat some tough teams at home before they ran into Brazil. 10) Germany 86: Led by Matthaus and Rumennige, as many German teams they did not play attractive football, but were quite effective. 11) Argentina 30: Back then, they were the only team which was capable of challenging Uruguay. Some of the starters later won the cup with Italy. 12) Czechoslovakia 62: A tough, disciplined team which in the second match took Pele out of the cup and later eliminated the more skillful Hungarians and Yugos. An apt symbol for a dirty world cup. 13) Hungary 38They say Hungary, led by Sarosi, played attractive football. But, they really didn't put much of a fight in the final. 14) Germany 82They had the usual German fighting spirit, and played their best match against France. But really, France, as well as Brazil or Argentina, would have made better finalists. 15) Germany 02This unremarkable team benefited from a favorable draw, great goalkeeping by Kahn and the fighting spirit of Ballack to reach the final. 16) Argentina 90With Maradona out of shape and hampered by injuries, they relied on inspired goalkeeping by Goycoechea and the erratic brilliance of Cannigia to eliminate the more talented Italian and Brazilian teams. 17) Czechoslovakia 34: I put this team last to keep Argentina out of the bottom. But mostly because there isn't much information available about its players. Although, they did have the tournament leading scorer in Nejedly.
I will give my best 8(no order): germany 74' brazil 70' brazil 58'/62' brazil 2002' italy 82' argentina 86'(the reason is not maradona.their perfect record is the reason) brazil 94' france 98'
it was a decision of the refeere and the linesman so it wasnt to change..we knows today it was no goal.....in interview from 1997 the russian linesman has confirmed that he knew not ball was behind the line or not...the reason for him to say it was a goal: the celebreting of hurst and the sad face of the german goalkeeper ...kurious but true... pitt...
1. He wasn't Russian he was from Azerbaijan. 2. He died in 1996, so him giving an interview in 1997 would be a bit difficult. 3. It was a goal, I have seen numerous similar goals where the ball hits the bar, goes over the line and then bounces out. 4. The score was 4-2 and not 3-2. If you want to talk about dodgy World Cup wins, lets talk about Germany in 1954 who pumped themselves up with steriods in order to beat a vastly superior Hungarian team. Funnily enough Germans are very quiet about this, as they also are about their diving in 1990.
here here.. well said that man.I guess the teams have been rated on the tournament as a whole and not on one ref decision .Who was that ex German player who said that the german teams of the past always used drugs during the games?? I think it was rummenige who admitted they needed drugs to help them last the 90 minutes in mexico 86. As for the topic . I believe that the current teams would kill the teams of the past .Maybe they aint necassarily more "skillful" but they have got more strength ,power and fitness .I watch footage of old tournaments and some of these teams of the past would get blown away by todays teams (if you could somehow bring the teams together in a time machine) .I watched footage of euro 88 recently and the much vaunted dutch and german teams look pretty weak by todays standards (sounds crazy but thats my opinion).
Top five winners: 1986 Argentina 1970 Brazil 1978 Argentina 1994 Brazil 1998 France Top five teams: 1986 Argentina 1978 Holland 1954 Hungary 1970 Brazil 1978 Argentina
you are right the year 1997 was a mistake from me and it wrote it out of my memories..i have read few minutes ago a book ,history of worldcup and there is mentioned bachramow did this interview years later (no specific year is mentioned)... linesman bachramow where spoke russian and turkish has confirmed that he didnt seen the ball was in or out , but he has seen hursts celebrating and tillkowskis sad face and that was his reason to make his decision...i never said that england did not deserve the final fin against germany,they scored a 4 goal too.. but the third goal wasnt a goal..i have seen similar situations where the ball was out never went in or was only on the line..and there was a study where confirm that it was no goal...but its history now.so relax... your other comments confirm only that you are maybe a german hater ...maybe you need some specific answers...and teams of germany got not allways gifts in worldcup history or other games..... what is your reason to bash team germany of 1990?? the diving of völler in a game where fouling argentina wanted to play antifootball??? there was a another foul in the penalty zone where team germany got no call in this game...how many shots had argenita against germany?? ONLY 1....germany had 25 shots....ok what did team germany worst in this worldcup 1990??they had the most shots 155,most goals 15 in this tournament..was the referee pro german in the game against holland?? red card against völler for nothing..or the questionable penality van basten got..the england and holland games was 2 of the best games in this tournament..germany was the best team wc 1990 but the 1990 worldcup was one of the worst worldcups ever.. are you still pissed that germany beat england on penality shoutout?? please post me the proovs team germany 1954 was peepped up with steroids in a game where many hungariyan players was proffesionals .... pitt