The World Cup is the biggest stage in world football, and as such, it can often be make or break for footballing legacies over a single month once every four years.
Every World Cup there are outstanding individual performances. Take just the last three and we could name the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Diego Forlan and Andres Iniesta in 2010, and Fabio Cannavaro, Zinedine Zidane and Andrea Pirlo in 2006. Now remember that there have been 20 World Cups, and the size of our task becomes clear, so don’t be surprised if you disagree with us!
Here are our 7 best individual performances at a World Cup
7. Just Fontaine – Sweden 1958
It’s a great shame that the 1958 World Cup preceded the tournament being widely broadcast across the globe, as it was a World Cup which had it all. Brazil were the outstanding side and deserved champions for the first time, but the French lit up the finals just as much. They scored a remarkable 23 goals in 6 games, with 13 of those goals being scored by one man – Just Fontaine. When you consider that Miroslav Klose is the tournaments all time top scorer with 16 goals from 24 games, the magnitude of Fontaine’s tally of 13 from 6 is drummed home, and the story is made all the more remarkable because he only played due to an injury to France’s first choice centre-forward. All in all, we couldn’t leave Fontaine in ‘58 out of this seven.
6. Johan Cruyff – West Germany 1974
Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff (1947 – 2016) of Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam, in Wembley Stadium, London, UK, 1st June 1971.
It’s remarkable and unfortunate that a player as gifted and decorated as Johan Cruyff only ever featured in one World Cup, but much like Fontaine, he lit up the solitary tournament that he played in. The Netherlands played beautiful football in 1974, and their brilliance was epitomised by the technique, intelligence and freedom of Cruyff. The Netherlands cruised to the final, beating Uruguay 2-0, Argentina 4-0 and Brazil 2-0 on the way. In the final, Cruyff was awarded a penalty before the West Germans had even touched the ball, but the Dutch went on to lose the game 2-1. Franz Beckenbauer was also exceptional in ‘74, but it was Cruyff who was rightly awarded the Golden Ball.
5. Pele – Sweden 1958
If we were talking about the most impressive performances at a World Cup, then the levels achieved by a 17-year-old Pele in Sweden in 1958 would have to come first, but since the criteria is simply the best, he has to settle for fifth. That may well have been different had he started the tournament for Brazil, but he more than made up for his late arrival. The youngest player in World Cup history at the time, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 Quarter-Final win over Wales, bagged a hat-trick in a 5-2 semi-final win over France and a brace in another 5-2 win over Sweden in the final. His semi-final display against France is one of the finest individual displays by a footballer you are ever likely to see, the fact it was by a 17-year-old is all the more astonishing.
4. Oliver Kahn – South Korea & Japan 2002
Ex-Bayern Muenchen goalkeeper Oliver Kahn looks on during a FC Bayern Muenchen training session ahead of the UEFA Champions League final match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium…
Germany went into the 2002 World Cup with arguably their weakest squad in half a century. Michael Ballack was the team’s driving force in midfield, and they had required a play-off to qualify for the finals having lost 5-1 to England in qualifying. They went on to reach the final in Asia, but that wasn’t because they suddenly transformed into a brilliant team, it was largely down to the masterful goalkeeping displays of Oliver Kahn. In Germany’s six games en-route to the final, Kahn conceded just a single goal, an achievement which saw him become the only goalkeeper in history to win the Golden Ball at a World Cup finals.
3. Garrincha – Chile 1962
Brazil were dealt a hammer-blow at the 1962 World Cup when their star man Pele was injured in only the nation’s second game. The defending world champions needed a new talisman, and boy did Garrincha step into that role. Arguably the greatest right winger in the history of the game, Garrincha was virtually unstoppable at his best. He reached those heights in ‘62, scoring a brace in the quarter and semifinals, before Brazil beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.
2. Ronaldo – South Korea & Japan 2002
TOPSHOT – Portugal’s forward Cristiano Ronaldo gestures after opening the scoring for Portugal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Portugal and Morocco at the…
The second player from the 2002 World Cup finals to feature in this seven, Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima was truly outstanding in South Korea & Japan. Ronaldo had been the Golden Ball winner four years earlier in France, but had suffered a convulsive fit hours before the final and Brazil lost 3-0 to the hosts. Four years later, it was redemption for one of the most ridiculously talented forwards in the history of the game. Ronaldo scored eight goals in seven games in 2002, with England the only team who managed to keep him out. The final saw the two best players of the tournament face off – Ronaldo and Oliver Kahn – and it was Ronaldo who came out on top. He scored a brace as Brazil won 2-0.
1. Diego Maradona – Mexico 1986
When talking about individual performances at a single World Cup, there is one man who stands out, and that is Diego Armando Maradona at the 1986 tournament in Mexico. Starring for Napoli at the time, Maradona made Mexico ‘86 his own, with his explosive technique and vision proving impossible to neutralise. Playing as a withdrawn forward, Maradona assisted all three of Argentina’s goals in their first group game, and ended the tournament with five goals and five assists. His individual brilliance was best exemplified against England, with an extraordinary solo run and finish, and he was inevitably awarded the Golden Ball after Argentina won the final 3-2 against West Germany.
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