2010 was the first World Cup I remember really getting into, and I randomly decided to root for Uruguay throughout the tournament. It was fab to see them make the semis, and although their loss against the Netherlands was expected it still made me sad!

 

18th- Spain 0-2 Chile (Brazil 2014) Group Stage:

 

 

 

 

 

Spain:

 

Casillas

Azpilcueta

Martinez

Ramos

Alba

Alonso (Koke 45')

Busquets

Pedro

Inieta

Silva

Diego Costa (Torres 64')

 

 

Chile:

 

Bravo

Medel

Silva

Jara

Isla

Diaz

Aranguiz (Gutierrez 64')

Mena

Vidal (Carmona 88')

Sanchez

Vargas (Valdivia 85')

 

 

Goals:

 

Vargas (19') 0-1

Aranguiz (43') 0-2

 

 

At #18, it is Chile's shock win which knocked out the reigning champions Spain after two games at Brazil 2014. It was Chile's first competitive victory over Spain in 11 matches, Chile would reach the last 16 and lose to Brazil on penalties.

Champions curse struck again in 2014 - that was a farcical title defence from The Red Fury!

 

That was one of Zidane's best ever performances. Remember all the pundits and viewers were backing Spain to finally break their tag of perennial underachievers this tournament against a very unfancied French team. Pat Nevin was the only pundit before the tournament to predict France to do anything.

 

Also felt I needed to correct this comment. It was Martin O'Neill that predicted France to do well, not Pat Nevin. Sorry Martin!

Edited November 2, 20222 yr by Dobbo.

17th- Brazil 3-2 Denmark (France 1998 Quarter-Final:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil:

 

Taffarel

Cafu

Aldair

Junior Baiano

Roberto Carlos

Cesar Sampario

Dunga

Rivaldo (Ze Roberto 87')

Leonardo (Emerson 72')

Ronaldo

Bebeto (Denilson 64')

 

 

Denmark:

 

Schmeichel

Rieper

Hogh

Heintze

Helveg (Schjonberg 86')

Colding

Nielsen (Tofting 46')

Michael Laudrup

Jorgensen

Brian Laudrup

Moller (Sand 67')

 

Goals:

 

Jorgensen (2') 0-1

Bebeto (11') 1-1

Rivaldo (27') 2-1

Brian Laudrup (50') 2-2

Rivaldo (60') 3-2

 

What a brilliant game that was just was gutted Denmark didn’t win as I love the underdog albeit they were European champs in 1992!

16th- South Korea 2-1 Italy (Japan & South Korea 2002) Last 16:

 

 

 

 

South Korea:

 

Lee Woon-jae;

Choi Jin-Cheul

Kim Tae-Young (Hwang Sun-Hong 62')

Hong Myung-bo (Cha Doo-Ri 83')

Kim Nam-il (Lee Chun-Soo 68')

Yoo Sang-chul

Lee Young-pyo

Park Ji-sung

Song Chong-gug

Ahn Jung-hwan

Seol Ki-hyeon

 

 

Italy:

 

Buffon

Panucci

Iuliano

Coco

Maldini

Zanetti

Zambrotta (Di Livio 72')

Tommasi

Totti

Del Piero (Gattuso 61')

Vieri

 

 

Goals:

 

Vieri 0-1 (18')

Seol Hi-Hyeon 1-1 (88')

Ahu Hung-Hwan 2-1 (116')

 

At #16, a possible controversial choice it is South Korea's famous win over Italy in the last 16 where they shocked the world and beat Italy in extra time although some contestous refereeing did play a part in that game. I remember watching highlights of this after school but they missed the crucial moment as I had a power cut. South Korea would go on to reach the semi-finals after beating Spain on penalties in controversial fashion with Spain being denied by two disallowed goals and a corner that wasn't taken in the last minute of extra time. They would then lose to Germany 1-0 in the semi-finals and finish fourth in the World Cup after losing to Turkey 3-2 with the fastest ever goal in World Cup history from Hakan Sukur after 10 seconds. The goalscorer Ahn Jung-hwan after the match had his loan spell at Perugia terminated .

 

15th- Uruguay 2-3 Germany (South Africa 2010) Third-place play off:

 

 

Uruguay:

 

Muslera

Lugano

Godin

Fucile

Pereira

Caceres

Perez (Gargano 77')

Areval Rios

Cavani (Abreu 89')

Suarez

Forlan

 

 

Germany:

 

Butt

Jansen (Kroos 81')

Friedrich

Mertesacker

Boateng

Aogo

Khedira

Schweinstieger

Ozil (Tasci (90+1')

Muller

Cacau (Kiessling (73')

 

 

Goals:

 

Muller (18') 0-1

Cavani (28') 1-1

Forlan (51') 1-2

Jansen (56') 2-2

Khedira (82') 2-3

 

 

At #15, it is this third-place play-off match after South Africa 2010 between Uruguay and Germany, Earlier in the countdown we saw Uruguay lose out in a thrilling semi-final between Netherlands, it wasn't to be for them again as Germany came back from behind to finish 3rd place at the 2010 World Cup. For Uruguay it was a return for Suarez following that handball against Ghana, that Ghana match wouldn't be in this countdown as I was angered in the circumstances about how Uruguay went through. Although Uruguay were certainly entertaining in the last two matches they played at that year's World Cup.

14th- Argentina 2-2 England (Argentina win 4-3 on penalties) (France 1998) Last 16:

 

 

 

Argentina:

 

Roa

Vivas

Ayala

Chamot

Zanetti

Almeyda

Simeone (Berti 92')

Veron

Ortega

Batistuta

Lopez

 

England:

 

Seaman

Neville

Le Saux (Southgate 71')

Ince

Adams

Campbell

Beckham

Anderton (Batty 98')

Shearer

Owen

Scholes (Merson 79')

 

 

Goals:

 

Batistuta (6' pen) 1-0

Shearer (10' pen) 1-1

Owen (16') 1-2

Zanetti (45+1) 2-2

 

At #14, although may be lower in the countdown that people would expect it is this last 16 match between Argentina and England in a game which pretty much had everything, a wonder goal from Michael Owen, Beckham's red card against Simeone, disallowed goal from Sol Campbell which would have taken England through in normal time but not meant to be and England losing on penalties again after their exits from major tournaments in a penalty shoot-out in Italy 1990 and Euro 1996. It would fall to David Batty who missed the crucial penalty. Argentina would go on and reach the quarter-finals which may see later in this countdown. For David Beckham he got attacked by the press this before social media with headlines such as "10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy" and I think effigy's were burned of him. Four years later it would revenge for Beckham where they met in the group stages by scoring the winning goal from a penalty. One paper even created a dartboard with a picture of David Beckham centred on the bullseye.

For Michael Owen, it was the goal that introduced the world to him.

13th- Brazil 3-2 Netherlands (USA 1994) Quarter-Final

 

 

 

 

Brazil:

 

Taffarel

Branco (Cafu 90')

Aldair

Santos

Jorginho

Silva

Dunga

Zinhho

Mazinho (Rai 81')

Romario

Bebeto

 

 

Netherlands:

 

De Giey

Witschge

Koeman

Valckx

Winter

Jonk

Wouters

Rijkaard (de Boer (65')

van Vossen (Roy 54')

Bergkamp

Overmars

 

 

Goals:

 

Romario (52') 1-0

Bebeto (62') 2-0

Bergkamp (64') 2-1

Winter (76') 2-2

Branco (81') 3-2

 

 

At #13, it is this 1994 World Cup quarter-final match between Brazil and Netherlands where there was 5 goals in 19 minutes. It would be Brazil who would go on to win the World Cup on penalties.

12th- Bulgaria 2-1 Germany (USA 1994)- Quarter-Final:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bulgaria:

 

Mihaylov

Tsvetanov

Yankov

Ivanov

Hubchev

Kiryakov

Lechkov

Sirakov

Balakov

Kostadinov (Genchev 89')

Stoichkov (Yordanov 76')

 

Germany:

 

Ilgner

Helmer

Matthau

Kohler

Wagner (Strunz 59')

Moller

Buchwald

Habler (Brehme 83')

Berthold

Voller

Klinsmann

 

 

Goals:

 

Matthaus (49' pen) 0-1

Stoichkov (76') 1-1

Lechkov (79') 2-1

 

 

At #12, it is another match from the 1994 World Cup and it is what was one of the biggest shocks of the World Cup with Bulgaria beating the reigning world champions Germany in the quarter-finals and reach the semi-finals for the first and only time in their history. Bulgaria would narrowly lose 2-1 to Italy in the semi-finals and finish fourth after losing to Sweden in the third-place play-off.

11th- Netherlands 2-1 Argentina (France 1998) Quarter-Finals:

 

 

Netherlands:

 

Van der Sar

Numan

de Boer

Stam

Reiziger

Coco

Jonk

Davids

de Boer (Overmars 64')

Kluivert

Bergkamp

 

Argentina:

 

Roa

Ayala

Chamot (Balbo 89')

Sansini

Almeyda (Pineda 67')

Simeone

Ortega

Veron

Zanetti

Batisuta

Lopez

 

 

Goals:

 

Kluivert (12') 1-0

Lopez (17') 1-1

Bergkamp (89') 2-1

South Korea vs Italy 2002 FIX FIX FIX!!

 

Also loved that Holland Argentina game from 1998 and THAT Bergkamp touch, one of my fav commentaries of all time from Barry Davis!

10th- Germany 4-2 Costa Rica (Germany 2006) Group Stage:

 

 

 

Germany:

 

Lehmann

Fredrich

Mertesacker

Metzelder

Lahm

Schweinsteiger

Frings

Borowski (Kehl 72')

Schneider (Odonkor 90')

Podolski

Klose (Neuville 79')

 

Costa Rica:

 

Porras

Marin

Umana

Gonzalez

Martinez (Drummond 67')

Fonseca

Solis (Bolanos 78')

Centano

Sequeira

Gomez (Azofeifa 90')

Wanchope

 

Goals:

 

Lahm (6') 1-0

Wanchope (12') 1-1

Klose (17') 2-1

Klose (61') 3-1

Wanchope (73') 3-2

Frings (87') 4-2

 

 

Into the Top 10, and we have the opening game from the 2006 World Cup between host nation Germany and Costa Rica. It was the highest-scoring opening match in World Cup history. This with terrific goals from Philipp Lahm and Torsten Frings and a double from Premier League cult hero in Paolo Wanchope. Germany would go on and reach the semi-finals where they would lose to Germany in the latest ever goal scored in a World Cup in added time in the second half of extra time to the Italy who would win the World Cup. Germany would finish 3rd in the World Cup by beating Portugal 3-1 in the third-place play-off. It would be as good as it got for Costa Rica as they lost 3-0 to Ecuador and 2-1 to Poland.

9th- Australia 2-3 Netherlands (Brazil 2014) Group Stage:

 

 

 

 

Australia:

 

Ryan

McGowan

Davidson

McKay

Wilkinson

Spiranovic

Leckie

Jedinak

Cahill (Halloran 68')

Bresciano (Bozanic 51')

Oar (Taggart 77')

 

 

Netherlands:

 

Cillessen

Janmaat

Blind

Martins Indi (Depay 45+3')

Vlaar

de Vrij

de Guzman (Wijnaldum 78')

de Jong

Sneijder

van Persie (Lens 87')

Robben

 

 

 

Goals:

 

Robben (20') 0-1

Cahill (21') 1-1

Jedinak (54' pen) 2-1

van Persie (58') 2-2

Depay (68') 2-3

 

At 9. it is a group stage match between Australia and the Netherlands. This which had an incredible goal by Tim Cahill to equalise 60 seconds after Robben opened the scoring and a fantastic winner from Memphis Depay. For Australia they would be out after which you saw earlier in the countdown Chile beat Spain. Australia certainly give a Netherlands a scare in this game.

8th- Slovakia 3-2 Italy (South Africa 2010) Group Stage:

 

 

 

Slovakia:

 

Mucha

Pekarik

Skrtel

Zabavnik

Strba (Kopunek 86')

Stoch

Durica

Hamsik

Kucka

Vittek

Jendrisek (Petras 90+4')

 

Italy:

 

Marchetti

Criscito (Maggio 46')

Chiellini

Cannavaro

Zambrotta

De Rossi

Pepe

Gattuso (Quagliarella 46')

Montolivo (Pirlo 56')

Iaquinta

Di Natale

 

Vittek (23') 1-0

Vittek (72') 2-0

Di Natale (81') 2-1

Kopunek (89') 3-1

Quagliarella (90+2') 3-2

 

 

At #8, it is this group stage match between Slovakia and Italy from South Africa 2010. The final group stage match which was a thriller in the last 17 minutes. This certainly didn't disappoint with drama with 4 goals in the last 20 minutes. It would be a famous win for Slovakia as they knocked out the world champions Italy. Slovakia would lose in the last 16 to Netherlands 2-1. For Italy they have still not got past the group stages since they won it in 2006, where they exited in 2014 at the same stage and didn't qualify for 2018 and 2022.

7th- Spain 2-3 Nigeria (France 1998) Group Stage:

 

 

 

Spain:

 

Zubizarreta

Barjuan

Alkorta

Campo

Ferrer (Amor 46')

Nadal (Celades 77')

Hierro

Raul

Narvaez

Luis Enrique

Alfonso (Etxberria 58')

 

Nigeria:

 

Rufai

Babayro

West

Okechunkwu

Mobi Oparku (Yekini 70')

Lawal (Okpara 90+3')

Oliseh

George

Adepoiu

Ikpeba (Babangida (83')

Okocha

 

Goals

 

Hierro (21') 1-0

Adepoju (25') 1-1

Raul (47') 2-1

Zubizaretta og (73') 2-2

Oliseh (78') 2-3

 

 

At #7, it is this group stage match between Spain and Nigeria. It would be a victory for Nigeria who would go on to top the group but lose in the second round to Denmark. For Spain they would go out in the group stage despite a 6-1 win over Bulgaria in the final group stage game.

How good was the 2014 World Cup? Possibly the greatest in my lifetime and I’m nearly 40! They should just have the World Cup in Brazil every 4 years!

6th- Belgium 3-2 Japan (Russia 2018) Last 16:

 

 

 

 

Belgium:

 

Courtiois

Alderweireld

Kompany

Vertonghen

Meunier

De Bruyne

Witsel

Carrasco (Chadli 65')

Mertens (Fellaini 65')

E Hazard

Lukaku

 

 

Japan:

 

Kawashima

Sakai

Yoshida

Shoji

Nagatomo

Hasebe

Shibasaki (Yamaguchi 81')

Haraguchi (Honda 81')

Kagawa

Inui

Osako

 

Goals:

 

Haraguchi (48') 0-1

Inui (52') 0-2

Vertonghen (69') 1-2

Fellaini (74') 2-2

Chadli (90+4') 3-2

 

 

At #6, it is this classic second round match between Belgium and Japan. Belgium completed a remarkable revival as they came back from 2-0 down to beat Japan. For Belgium they would be knocked out in the semi-final to France and finish 3rd in the World Cup after beating England.

5th- USA 3-2 Portugal (Japan & South Korea 2002) Group Stage:

 

 

 

USA:

 

Friedel

Mastroeni

Sanneh

Pope (Llamosa 80')

Agoos

O'Brien

Hejduk

Beasley

McBride

Donovan (Moore 75')

Stewart (Jones 45')

 

Portugal:

 

Baia

Costa (Andrade 73')

Couto

Beto

Jorge (Bento 69')

Rui Costa (Nuno Gomes 79')

Petit

Sergio Conceicao

Figo

Pauleta

Pinto

 

Goals:

 

O'Brien (4') 1-0

Costa og (29') 2-0

McBride (36') 3-0

Beto (40') 3-1

Agoos og (71') 3-2

 

Into the Top 5, and first it is this group stage match between USA and Portugal where USA caused an upset and beat the Group D favourites. For USA they would reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup before losing to the eventual runners-up Germany by a Ballack goal, as for Portugal they would go out in the group stages.

4th- Portugal 3-3 Spain (Russia 2018) Group Stage:

 

 

 

 

Portugal:

 

Patricio

Soares

Pepe

Fonte

Guerreiro

Bernardo Silva (Quaresma 69')

Moutinho

Carvalho

Fernandes (Mario 68')

Guedes (Andre Silva 80')

Ronaldo

 

 

Spain:

 

de Gea

Nacho

Pique

Ramos

Alba

Koke

Busquets

Iniesta (Thiago Alcantara 70')

Silva (Vazquez 86')

Diego Costa (Iago 77')

Isco

 

Ronaldo (4' pen) 1-0

Diego Costa (24') 1-1

Ronaldo (44') 2-1

Diego Costa (55') 2-2

Nacho (58') 2-3

Ronaldo (88') 3-3

 

At #4, it is this classic group stage match between Portugal and Spain. It would be where Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for Portugal and Diego Costa scoring twice. This was a fantastic game to watch. For both Portugal and Spain they would both be knocked out in the second round with Portugal losing to Uruguay and Russia causing a shock by beating Spain on penalties.