What was your favorite World cup?

[Austrian Gull]

Got to be Spain 82 for me - see my avatar!

- some fantastic matches (Italy v Brazil, France v West Germany)
- African teams matching European & South American countries for the first time
- controversy aplenty (Schumacher's assault, Anschluss match, Kuwaiti Sheikh stopping a game)
- NZ getting routed three times but never getting a single yellow card
- three British teams creating some magical moments (Bryan Robson's fastest goal, David Narey's toepoke & Northern ireland beating the hosts & the hosts' referee).

I cannot for the life of me understand anyone choosing 1990 - diving, cheating, brutal fouls and low scoring matches are what I remember. Take out England's excellent couple of games and it was an awful tournament.

 

[Brovion]

I can never make up my mind between 1966 and 1970. 1966 for obvious reasons but 1970 was just breathtaking. Brazil were just .... well, breathtaking. It's often stated that the 1970 England side was better than the 1966 team, and certainly THE best England game I have ever seen was the 1-0 defeat against Brazil. Two moments from that game (the tackle by Moore on Pele and the save by Gordon Banks) are still shown and talked about today.

And we might have won it if a load of cheating foreigners hadn't given Gordon Banks food poisoning the night before the West Germany game.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

2006 because I was there. Had a fabulous time thanks to the German hospitality. From afar it has to be 1990 because England surprised everyone & really could have won it with a bit of luck. We haven't been close to being that good ever since - with the exception of maybe Euro 96.

 

[User removed 4]

Italia 90 easily, as an aside , do any of the older NSCers remember scotland playing Zaire in the '74 world cup, scotland had a free kick, the ref blew the whistle and one of the zaire wall came running out and hoofed the ball away , he genuinely thought it was within the rules

 

[Gwylan]

I cannot for the life of me understand anyone choosing 1990 - diving, cheating, brutal fouls and low scoring matches are what I remember. Take out England's excellent couple of games and it was an awful tournament.

I agree. I really don't understand this support for 1990, the second worst WC I've seen (1994 was even worse).

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Italia 90 easily, as an aside , do any of the older NSCers remember scotland playing Zaire in the '74 world cup, scotland had a free kick, the ref blew the whistle and one of the zaire wall came running out and hoofed the ball away , he genuinely thought it was within the rules

Brazil, not Scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDXkVGpMpc

 

[User removed 4]

Brazil, not Scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDXkVGpMpc

Ah, must've had scotland on the brain, i actually supported scotland at that world cup.

 

[Kumquat]

1994 was my favourite, followed by 1990.

I'm with that. I seriously think that both the best world cup and euros (the last one) have been the ones without England. Not for that reason necessarily. But the romanians in 1994 and the turkish team two years ago were hugely entertaining. The 1994 world cup is the only one where the final was the only goal-less game. Some fantastic games. In 1990 the emergence of the African nations was a highlight too.

 

[Bald Gull]

1990 for me (in terms of international tournaments - Euro '96 would be a close second.)

 

[Mendoza]

ITALIA 90, and I spent the weekend watching 6 hours of match footage from all the games, just to relive the good times.

 

[Trigger]

1990, followed by 1986 and in third place 2002.

 

[withdeanwombat]

1958.

 

[Brovion]

Anybody remember 1962? I was five at the time, I knew it was on as I remember my Dad and Grandad discussing it a few times but it wasn't an event like a World Cup now. I didn't even find out who won it until about Christmas when I asked my Dad. I remember being surprised at the answer, I knew the likes of the French and the Germans played football, but not really weird foreign places like Brazil. Or at least I didn't think they could be any good at it.

 

[Gwylan]

Anybody remember 1962? I was five at the time, I knew it was on as I remember my Dad and Grandad discussing it a few times but it wasn't an event like a World Cup now. I didn't even find out who won it until about Christmas when I asked my Dad. I remember being surprised at the answer, I knew the likes of the French and the Germans played football, but not really weird foreign places like Brazil. Or at least I didn't think they could be any good at it.

I was five too but didn't know such a sport as football existed then. The only sports I knew were cricket and rugby. I didn't discover the sport until I was 9 and moved schools to Bevendean and had to play it in games.

It sounds impossible to imagine now but you have to remember that the only regular live football on TV then was the FA Cup final and some home internationals. I discovered football in January 1966 and by the time of the WC, I was hooked.

 

[Wilko]

Italia 90 without a DOUBT.

 

[maffew]

nothings come close to italia 90 for me

 

[Simster]

They're all f***ing EXCELLENT. No favourites for me really, although 90 was great because we did quite well.

My favourite will be the one we actually WIN.

 

[les dynam]

italia '90.

it was the cross-over point between how football used to be - romantic and visceral - and the modern-day game - glossy commercial and accessible. it was right at the top of the tipping point of football's transformation in my opinion. football was never the same after italia '90 in both good and bad ways

 

[Bob!]

1970, The Brazil team of that year have to have been the best footballing side ever.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Spain 82 as it was the first time I went to watch the games live.