The Top Ten Most Famous World Cup Moments
In the latest instalment of our World Cup Blog, we explore the most famous World Cup moments of all time. Join us as we explore football’s often crazy side, the moments when you struggle to believe what has just happened.
Famous World Cup Moments: The new Sheriff in town
Ask an average football fan who has scored the most goals at the World Cup, and the chances are the replies would be Diego Maradona, Pele, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi, but the one who stole the show is the little-known (outside of Germany) and softly-spoken Miroslav Klose.
The German holds the record for the highest number of goals by a single player in the World Cup with sixteen goals. The 2014 edition of the World Cup was the stage where the maestro entered the tournament just two goals behind Brazilian Ronaldo’s record (fourteen) as the record goal scorer in the competition.
Klose broke the Brazilian Ronaldo’s record against Brazil in Brazil in the 7 – 1 triumph that we also feature later in this article. Klose has scored in four different editions of the World Cup and is one of thirteen players to score a hat trick in his debut World Cup. He may not be the most famous, but he beat all the big names to the most prestigious achievement.
Famous World Cup Moments: Ronaldo the Little Winker
Cristiano Ronaldo is a household name and one of the greatest players in modern football.
In 2006, the superstar was just a youngster longing to break through the lines of the greatest after Alex Ferguson signed him at Old Trafford alongside English star Wayne Rooney. It would prove to be a match made in heaven, and to many, it was one of the most outstanding partnerships in English football.
Ronaldo had already spent a year at the Red Devils and had won the FA Cup in his first year before United signed ‘Wazza’ in August 2004 for nearly £30m from Everton.
England faced Portugal in the World Cup 2006, with both stars expected to be integral to their national team after breaking out for the club.
However, an hour into the game, a half-fit Rooney let his frustration get the better of him, and he appeared to stamp on Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho in the most sensitive of areas. We will never know if the referee would have sent Rooney off anyway, but Ronaldo made sure he made his feeling known and was right in Horacio Marcelo Elizondo’s face demanding a red card. Rooney took exception to his club teammate and shoved Ronaldo. Seconds later, the ref produced the red card, and Rooney became only the third Englishman to be sent off for England (Ray Wilkins (1986) and David Beckham (1998)).
Television cameras then focused on Ronaldo, who looked towards the bench and winked as if to say, “I got him sent off”.
The English press vilified both Rooney and Ronaldo and called the Portugal man a “little winker”, a play on words on an English insult which we will not repeat here. England had been the better team, but the sending-off changed the game, and it went to penalties. So who scored the winning goal? That’s right, Ronaldo!
Famous World Cup Moments: Most Goals in a World Cup Game
A total of twelve goals is the record for the highest number scored in a single game and one of the most thrilling games of football ever. The World Cup 1954 quarter-finals were the stage for Switzerland and Austria’s 7 – 5 encounter.
After just nineteen minutes, the Swiss had a three-goal advantage, and if the bookies had a win probability at the time, they would have said it was a 99.9% probability for Switzerland to win. However, Austria came back with a bang scoring five goals in nine minutes and was on course for history to become the first nation to overturn a three-goal deficit. The score at half time was 5 – 4, which is the record for the highest scoreline at half time.
The host nation lost 7 – 5 despite benefiting from the native temperature that saw Austrian keeper Kurt Schmied suffer from hyperthermia, thus the quick-fired goals. We doubt the travelling fans would complain about the cold, having witnessed the highest-scoring contest ever in the World Cup and arguably the best comeback in World Cup football.
Famous World Cup Moments: Packed Like Sardines
Crowds can set records, too, as they did in 1950. In this era, the World Cup had a round-robin stage instead of the modern knockout stage.
The final match set the stage for Brazil versus their fellow South Americans, Uruguay. The distance between the nations and the nature of their rivals meant a high attendance for the host nation Brazil and the neighbours could travel in numbers to offer their team support.
The stage was set at the Maracanã Stadium, which had no seats, just all grandstands. The number of fans who paid was 173,830, but the recorded attendance was 199,854, making it the highest in a football match.
It’s a record that is unlikely ever to be beaten as in the modern game, health and safety is king. Although leagues such as the Premier League are trialling safe standing areas, the days of nearly 200,000 fans in a stadium are well truly over.
Famous World Cup Moments: Brazil Humiliated at Home
The greatest footballing nation, Brazil, had the dream of winning the World Cup in 2014 as the hosts.
Playing at home raised the prospects for the five-time World Cup winners to go all the way and win their first title since their 2002 triumph. Everything was going to plan until their costly 2 – 1 victory against Colombia. Their best player Neymar was injured, and their leader in their defence, Thiago Silva, showed a card with the two destined to miss the all-important semi-finals.
Semi-finals are notoriously tight affairs, and if you were World Cup betting at the time, the odds for both teams would have been likely similar. However, that turned out not to be the case as the Germans ran riot, hammering the home team by an extraordinary margin, winning 7-1.
The result was even more astonishing as it ended Brazil’s proud unbeaten home record, which dated back to 1975 and spanned sixty-two matches. The Brazilian fans in the stadium who witnessed the horror show cried openly as their hopes of another World Cup diminished with every goal the Germans scored.
To make matters worse, the conquerers that day would go on to lift the World Cup in front of thousands of Brazilians who had secured tickets for the final, expecting their team to participate.
Famous World Cup Moments: Holders Crash Out and Suffer North Korea Loss
There is a famous German word, schadenfreude, that describes the joy you feel at another person’s pain, and it accurately describes how Brazilian fans would have felt four years after Germany hammered them 7-1.
In the next tournament after that monumental win, it was the German’s turn to be on the wrong side of history, earning the biggest upset of a top-ranked team in World Cup history. The defending Champions stepped into Russia in high spirits as the world’s number 1 team and as the defending Champions of the tournament.
Joachim Low was in charge of a team in transition with Germany’s generational stars, such as World Cup record goalscorer Miroslav Klose (Sixteen goals) and the most decorated captain Philipp Lahm retiring.
They suffered a 1 – 0 defeat in the opening match against Mexico but managed a scrappy 2 – 1 win against Sweden, but the worst was yet to come. They needed a result in the third game, but as this was against South Korea, which was ranked 56th, it seemed a formality.
Germany had the better of the early chances, but was wasteful. Leon Goretzka went close with a header, but Hyun-Woo Jo in the South Korean goal had a fine game and was equal to it, making a diving save. Timo Werner hit a volley wide, and a Mario Gomez effort found the keeper. Matt Hummels almost scored in the 87th minute, but he mistimed his header and was dealt with efficiently by Jo.
With six minutes of extra time indicated, it was the South Koreans who took the lead thanks to a Young-Gwon Kim goal. The close-range effort was initially ruled out, but a review by VAR deemed Toni Kroos’s foot meant he was on side. Any doubt was removed minutes later when Se-Jong Ju rounded the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer high up the pitch, and his pass to Heung-Min Son enabled the Tottenham man to score.
It was the first time that Germany had failed to qualify from the Group stages and one of the most surprising World Cup moments ever.
Famous World Cup Moments: The Little Kid From Brazil
Have you ever witnessed a nineteen-year-old so good with the ball that the opponents felt like applauding when he scored? Pele was always going to be on our list as the youngest goalscorer in World Cup history and the youngest scorer in the finals.
He was only 17 years 249 days when he reached the milestone of scoring in the final, and the only other teenager ever to score in the finals was Kylian Mbappe, aged 19 years 207 days. The young Brazilian scored a hat trick in the semi-finals against France to book his side a place in the final against Sweden. The maestro was again on the scoresheet scoring two goals to see his side triumph 5 – 2 to clinch the 1958 edition of the World Cup.
Many youngsters have featured in the World Cup, but few have had the impact that Pele did. Forget Ronaldo and Messi. Pele was the original greatest of all time, and many still think he still is.
Famous World Cup Moments: You Keep My Sister’s Name Out of Your Mouth
The most recent and famous memory is the ‘assault’ by footballing legend Zinedine Zidane on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.
France had been one of the best teams and favourites, having knocked out Brazil, Spain, and Portugal en route to the finals.
Their captain Zidane was running the show with intensive skill and zealous finishing. The bald maestro inspired his team to score first from the penalty spot in the World Cup climax game. Materazzi, the villain (victim of the assault) or the hero of the story (Italy eventually won the World Cup), depending on how you assess the situation, had scored the equalising goal in the game for a 1 – 1 scoreline.
The confrontation between Zidane and Materazzi started from the opening whistle, with the Italian being all handy and touchy, tugging the Frenchman’s shirt after being tasked with man-marking duty. Rightfully so, as Zidane was at the peak of his powers, despite his advancing age and could have taken advantage of any space he got. In frustration, Zidane told the defender he could have his shirt after the match and received a provoking response in which Materazzi said he would prefer ‘the whore that is your sister’ instead.
A headbutt straight to the chest was Zidane’s response, for which he received his marching orders. This meant France were forced to play with one man less. Not just one man, their best penalty taker and most inspiring figure in the dressing room.
Materazzi had the last laugh as Italy won the penalty shootout.
Famous World Cup Moments: It Was the Hand of God Ref!
Diego Maradona is one of the iconic football names with well-documented achievements. However, you ask any Englishman and even today, and after his passing, he is still regarded as a cheat who robbed England in the 1986 World Cup.
The stage was set in the quarter-finals between Argentina and England; the South Americans were level with England 0-0 when the 5-feet, 5-inches Maradonna contested a cross with 6-foot, 1-inch-tall goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
It was not a fair fight and Shilton should and would have claimed the ball had Maradonna not lept into the air and fisted the ball into the net.
This was well before the days of VAR and despite Shilton disputing the decision by indicating to the ref that a hand had been used, the goal stood.
To make matters worse for the England supporters, Maradonna would then go on to score which is regarded as the goal of the century by many.
England did get a goal back in the game but lost 2-1.
Famous World Cup Moments: Andres Escobar Murdered After Own-goal
Football is a sport, but to some, it is a career, way of life, passion, and source of income through the bookies. In Colombia, football is taken way too seriously, and a victim was Andres Escobar who paid with his life after scoring an own goal.
The 1994 Colombia national team had big aspirations after finishing top of their qualifying group with a confidence-boasting 5 – 0 win against Argentina.
They were so good that Brazilian legend Pele rooted for them as favourites to win the cup, and they were in great form, only suffering one defeat in the previous 26 matches.
However, they lost the first match 3 – 1 to Romania, meaning the next game against the hosts USA was a must-win affair. In the 34th minute, US midfielder John Harkes’ attempted cross hit Escobar and found his own net. The US went on to win the match 2-1.
It is rumoured that the defender’s actions caught the attention of a Colombian drug cartel said to have invested heavily on his side and had lost money with the defeat. Escobar ignored warnings to stay low and was shot six times (the number of times the commentator said goal after the ball went in the net) five days after the early exit while sitting outside a nightclub in Medellin.
Will The Women’s Football World Cup Produce Any Historic Moments?
The Women’s Euro 2022 tournament was settled in dramatic fashion as England scored an extra time winner over Germany, and with the Women’s World Cup due to kick off in July 2023, we’ll undoubtedly have some upsets and historic moments that will be remembered for years to come.
