| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? 08:48 - Dec 19 with 2201 views | WeWereZombies |
For a start a win on a penalty shoot out is never as convincing as a win in open play.
1966 had the taut drama of Wolfgang Weber's equaliser in the last minute of normal time and then the first ever hat trick (thank you Swiss and Russian officials) in a final.
1958 and 1962 had that wonderful Brazil team that included Garrincha, Gilmar, Nilton Santos and most of the squad for both games but Brazil went through most games of the second tournament without an injured Pelé, an achievement in itself.
Any other contenders ? |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 08:56 - Dec 19 with 2169 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
The game was dead for the first 80 mins... Argentina dominated.
From 80 minutes onwards it was pure carnage. So on balance not the best ever, but the best ending ever i think. Even that last minute save from Martinez, just pure drama. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 09:05 - Dec 19 with 2151 views | brazil1982 |
Well, the media like to portray this don't they. I did enjoy both teams having a go in extra time, obviously not wanting penalties. |  | | |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 09:10 - Dec 19 with 2137 views | WeWereZombies |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 09:05 - Dec 19 by brazil1982 |
Well, the media like to portray this don't they. I did enjoy both teams having a go in extra time, obviously not wanting penalties. |
I made a comment on another thread about there being no obvious tiring (apart from Varane collapsing) or signs of cramp in extra time. It is as if they were expecting one hundred and twenty minutes (one hundred and thirty nine and a half with added time) rather than ninety so game management came into play. That certainly looks to have been the plan for France and understandably so given these rumours of a bug hitting their squad.
Another factor to throw into my argument that there have been better finals in the past is the use of substitutes, France especially seemed to turn over half their team in a pre-planned effort to gain momentum in the closing stages of the match. | |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:00 - Dec 19 with 1979 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
It was pretty dull for c.80 mins.
Commentators even questioning whether the French were still suffering illness as they were so poor.
The last 40 mins was great though. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:01 - Dec 19 with 1974 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 08:56 - Dec 19 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
The game was dead for the first 80 mins... Argentina dominated.
From 80 minutes onwards it was pure carnage. So on balance not the best ever, but the best ending ever i think. Even that last minute save from Martinez, just pure drama. |
Agreed.
Hadn't seen this when I posted. | |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:03 - Dec 19 with 1964 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 09:10 - Dec 19 by WeWereZombies |
I made a comment on another thread about there being no obvious tiring (apart from Varane collapsing) or signs of cramp in extra time. It is as if they were expecting one hundred and twenty minutes (one hundred and thirty nine and a half with added time) rather than ninety so game management came into play. That certainly looks to have been the plan for France and understandably so given these rumours of a bug hitting their squad.
Another factor to throw into my argument that there have been better finals in the past is the use of substitutes, France especially seemed to turn over half their team in a pre-planned effort to gain momentum in the closing stages of the match. |
I don't think France planned to be 2-0 down.
They were reactive not planned. | |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:04 - Dec 19 with 1963 views | Pendejo |
From highlights only... Mexico 1970
Wish I'd seen the match rather than be travelling to, at and from Gatwick to meet my sister-in-law.
I looked at BBC on about 72 minutes and saw it was 2-0. Didn't think about it again until I overheard someone say it was 2-2.
Was watching when Argues scored 3rd goal, the s-i-l arrived, took her to the car and as I'd blue tooth tethered her phone turned radio on as penalties being taken.turned
Wonder what I will be doing in 2026 to make it a hat trick of missed finals. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:10 - Dec 19 with 1959 views | clive_baker |
Most people either weren't born or won't remember any of those, and almost certainly anyone working in the media wont. The only one of those I've ever watched in full is 1966 and that's only because it was England. It's inevitable yesterdays game is going to be talked about in such a way and it's certainly the best of the 8 I've seen live.
First half Argentina were incredible, completely blew France away from the off. Di Maria's goal was an exceptional team goal, the ball out of the back, flick around the corner from Messi, first time ball forward and square ball from Mac Allister and first time finish from Di Maria. I can't recall a World Cup final goal that beats that.
2nd half saw a bit of a lull while France huffed and puffed but the penalty changed the game. Then Mbappe's 2nd was delicious. 2 goals in 2 minutes, everyone loves a comeback. Then extra time, another goal for Argentina and yet another comeback. End to end, big chances for both to win it. Then the drama of a shootout.
As I say I can't recall any better. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:29 - Dec 19 with 1921 views | LankHenners |
I think there's an element of splitting hairs between 'greatest' and 'most dramatic', yesterday's certainly fit the bill for the latter and absolutely a contender for the former but I guess that's where a bit of personal preference comes in.
In the same vein as not wanting to laud TV shows or films too quickly for fear of succumbing to recency bias, I don't want to definitively call this year's final as the best ever quite yet although the excitement of it from 80 mins onwards was really something. I'm probably in a minority but I enjoyed the tenseness of finals like 2006, 2010, 2014 even though they get labelled as 'boring' because of the low amount of goals. Contrast to 2018 which personally I didn't like as much because it was too one-sided. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 16:13 - Dec 19 with 1790 views | norfsufblue |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:10 - Dec 19 by clive_baker |
Most people either weren't born or won't remember any of those, and almost certainly anyone working in the media wont. The only one of those I've ever watched in full is 1966 and that's only because it was England. It's inevitable yesterdays game is going to be talked about in such a way and it's certainly the best of the 8 I've seen live.
First half Argentina were incredible, completely blew France away from the off. Di Maria's goal was an exceptional team goal, the ball out of the back, flick around the corner from Messi, first time ball forward and square ball from Mac Allister and first time finish from Di Maria. I can't recall a World Cup final goal that beats that.
2nd half saw a bit of a lull while France huffed and puffed but the penalty changed the game. Then Mbappe's 2nd was delicious. 2 goals in 2 minutes, everyone loves a comeback. Then extra time, another goal for Argentina and yet another comeback. End to end, big chances for both to win it. Then the drama of a shootout.
As I say I can't recall any better. |
As someone who did watch 1970, Carlos Albertos goal in that Brazil win was probably the best team goal scored in a WCF, it finished with a similar but even better finish than Di Maria's |  | | |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 18:04 - Dec 19 with 1719 views | Ely_Blue |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 09:05 - Dec 19 by brazil1982 |
Well, the media like to portray this don't they. I did enjoy both teams having a go in extra time, obviously not wanting penalties. |
I was thinking at the end they should have just done the old school “next goal wins” that we all remember from our childhood |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 18:07 - Dec 19 with 1718 views | mylittletown |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 16:13 - Dec 19 by norfsufblue |
As someone who did watch 1970, Carlos Albertos goal in that Brazil win was probably the best team goal scored in a WCF, it finished with a similar but even better finish than Di Maria's |
Agree, that is comfortably the best WC Final goal.
I'd say that 1966 and 1974 were obviously better finals interesting and tense all the way through. |  | | |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 18:17 - Dec 19 with 1703 views | Mullet |
Given I've just recovered from a stomach bug that included wholly unpredictable squits, it was about as nerve-racking and dangerous as I've ever known. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 18:19 - Dec 19 with 1698 views | Chrisd |
None of us will be able to compare each and every World Cup Final since 1930, but for pure drama and theatre the 2022 final was the best from the ones I have watched since Mexico 1986. Let’s be fair, there has been some real stinkers! [Post edited 19 Dec 2022 18:47]
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 20:12 - Dec 19 with 1563 views | WeWereZombies |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:10 - Dec 19 by clive_baker |
Most people either weren't born or won't remember any of those, and almost certainly anyone working in the media wont. The only one of those I've ever watched in full is 1966 and that's only because it was England. It's inevitable yesterdays game is going to be talked about in such a way and it's certainly the best of the 8 I've seen live.
First half Argentina were incredible, completely blew France away from the off. Di Maria's goal was an exceptional team goal, the ball out of the back, flick around the corner from Messi, first time ball forward and square ball from Mac Allister and first time finish from Di Maria. I can't recall a World Cup final goal that beats that.
2nd half saw a bit of a lull while France huffed and puffed but the penalty changed the game. Then Mbappe's 2nd was delicious. 2 goals in 2 minutes, everyone loves a comeback. Then extra time, another goal for Argentina and yet another comeback. End to end, big chances for both to win it. Then the drama of a shootout.
As I say I can't recall any better. |
Although it is possible to watch footage of previous finals (don't know if there was any of that in the build up to the terrestrial TV stations showing the match as I tend to avoid pundit quagmire these days) so I am not saying yesterday's game was unworthy of consideration as the best ever. Just that after due consideration, and taking into account the strange pacing that France brought to the match and as I said in my previous post the ability of teams to get fresh legs on when in the past a single substitute allowed made that a move that was rarely tactical, Brazil and England and West Germany probably have all eclipsed Argentina's efforts in the past. [Post edited 19 Dec 2022 20:15]
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 20:20 - Dec 19 with 1554 views | Swansea_Blue |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 13:10 - Dec 19 by clive_baker |
Most people either weren't born or won't remember any of those, and almost certainly anyone working in the media wont. The only one of those I've ever watched in full is 1966 and that's only because it was England. It's inevitable yesterdays game is going to be talked about in such a way and it's certainly the best of the 8 I've seen live.
First half Argentina were incredible, completely blew France away from the off. Di Maria's goal was an exceptional team goal, the ball out of the back, flick around the corner from Messi, first time ball forward and square ball from Mac Allister and first time finish from Di Maria. I can't recall a World Cup final goal that beats that.
2nd half saw a bit of a lull while France huffed and puffed but the penalty changed the game. Then Mbappe's 2nd was delicious. 2 goals in 2 minutes, everyone loves a comeback. Then extra time, another goal for Argentina and yet another comeback. End to end, big chances for both to win it. Then the drama of a shootout.
As I say I can't recall any better. |
Indeed. And in fairness to the ITV lot, they were saying it’s probably the best in living memory not the best ever. It’s hard to argue against that for the majority of fans.
It was rather good. I can’t believe people saying the bulk of it was boring. Some of the Argentinian play was sublime. Maybe one for the purists as it wasn’t end to end until the last 15 mins, but the quality at time was excellent. The Argies’ second goal was worth tuning in for alone. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 23:24 - Dec 19 with 1422 views | Oldsmoker |
| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 16:13 - Dec 19 by norfsufblue |
As someone who did watch 1970, Carlos Albertos goal in that Brazil win was probably the best team goal scored in a WCF, it finished with a similar but even better finish than Di Maria's |
The 1970 final was a celebration of Brazilian football with no boring bits.
It was obvious who would win so you just admired the way Brazil passed the ball around.
I supported Brazil as the Italians in those days had a reputation for fouling, arguing with the ref etc. |  |
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| It was exciting but it wasn't the greatest World Cup final of all time, was it ? on 07:23 - Dec 20 with 1259 views | BlueNomad |
1970 - which saw the greatest team the world has ever seen lift the trophy.
On Sunday I watched the first half and got bored. Argentina were 2-0 up and France just weren't at it so I told my wife she could turn the tv over if she wanted - which she did.
At 85 minutes I looked at my phone just to see if it was the same score, or more to Argentina. At that point I shouted "turn it back over", which she kindly did. From thereon in it was just fantastic entertainment.
Pleased for Messi but not for Argentina. |  | | |
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