The players who compete in the World Cup are of the highest caliber, and the presence of exceptional players brings the possibility of extraordinary goals. I selected the goals for this list on two criteria: 1) the quality of the goal and 2) the context in which it was scored. If you notice a lack of goals from the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, that is in part because it’s more difficult for World Cup moments to resonate when one is 3 and 7 years old. As for the list, are the 10 goals worthy of their spot?
#10 – Siphiwe Tshabalala, South Africa vs. Mexico, 2010 Group Stage
The World Cup is special for all participating nations, but it’s always a little extra special for the host. June 11, 2010 was a historic night for South Africa as they raised the curtain on the 2010 World Cup facing Mexico. With South Africa the first ever African country to host the tournament, pride was at stake not only for the country’s beloved “Bafana Bafana” but also for the continent as a whole, and Siphiwe Tshabalala got their tournament off to a dream start.
#9 Dario Rodriguez, Uruguay vs. Denmark, 2002 Group Stage
Dario Rodriguez’ goal is not the most important on this list – it was Uruguay’s lone goal in a 2-1 group stage loss to Denmark – but it leaves your jaw closer to the floor than it was several seconds prior. It was of the “Surely he’s not about to try this” variety with the end product a contender for goal of Korea-Japan 2002.
#8 – Sunday Oliseh, Nigeria vs. Spain, 1998 Group Stage
In recent World Cups, the performance of Nigeria has failed to live up to the promise. Part of that, however, comes from elevated expectations generated by the “Super Eagles” performances in the World Cups of 1994 and 1998. One of the outstanding memories comes from June 13, 1998. Drawn with group favorites Spain for their first game, Nigeria had a daunting opening to their tournament, and they found themselves down 2-1 with 20 minutes to go. They drew level in the 72nd minute, and five minutes later Sunday Oliseh struck a match-winner worthy of victory any day of the week.
#7 – Salif Diao, Senegal vs. Denmark, 2002 Group Stage
Many of the goals on this list are moments of individual brilliance, but this effort by Senegal’s Salif Diao was a tidy finish to a brilliant team-effort. Complete outsiders before the tournament, first-time participants Senegal played some captivating football in their surprise run to the quarter-finals of 2002 Korea-Japan. The Senegalese started by capturing the world’s attention with a shock 1-0 victory over defending world-champions France in the tournament’s opening game. That good work was at risk of being undone when Senegal found themselves down a goal against co-group leaders Denmark in their second match, but the Africans ensured themselves of a point when Diao leveled the match by capping off a quite breathtaking counterattack.
#6 – Brian McBride, USA vs. Portugal, 2002 Group Stage
USA might be a team with aspirations, even expectations, heading into Brazil 2014, but they were little more than an afterthought going into Korea-Japan 2002. The US had finished dead-last record-wise amongst the 32 teams in France 1998, and they drew one of the 2002 tournament’s tougher groups with host nation South Korea, Poland and one of the pre-tournament favorites in Portugal. The Portuguese were expected to make light work of the Americans in the two teams’ first game; frankly a tie seemed excessively hopeful for USA fans. For those who dragged themselves out of bed for the 4:55am (EST) kickoff, they were giddy when the Americans snatched a corner-kick goal in the 4th minute. They were shocked when a fortunate deflection gave USA a 2-0 lead on 29 minutes. And they must have thought they were still dreaming when Brian McBride had the US running riot over Portugal.
(McBride’s goal proved the game-winner as the Americans held on for a shock 3-2 victory that started their run to the tournament’s quarter-finals.)
#5 – Zinedine Zidane, France vs. Italy, 2006 Final
Since it happened in the same game as this, this goal is oft forgotten. It shouldn’t be. With the score between France and Italy still tied at 0-0 seven minutes into the game, the French were awarded a penalty kick. Taking a penalty is a pressure-filled moment under most circumstances; doing so in a World Cup final is of an entirely different degree of magnitude. In this particular case, you have 69,000 fans around you, roughly 1.3 billion eye balls worldwide upon you, and a World Cup title underlying it all. Amidst all that, Zidane had the impudence to do this.
#4 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Netherlands vs. Uruguay, 2010 Semi-Final
The physics of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s 2010 goal vs. Uruguay do
not seem possible. I still can’t comprehend how the elements of space,
time, and a skillful man guarding an area that is only 8 yards wide by 8
feet tall were all overwhelmed by power in this brief moment. Combine
that with the fact that this goal set Holland on their way to a
semi-final victory in South Africa 2010, and you have an effort that screams to be on this list.
#3 – Dennis Bergkamp, Netherlands vs. Argentina, 1998 Quarter-finals
The Netherlands has a well-earned reputation for being a team of master technicians. This isn’t so much the flair of the Brazilians or the intricate passing of the Spaniards as it is the ability to control. If a Dutch player wants to cushion a pass several feet to his left, that’s usually where the ball ends up. If a Dutch player wants to hit a 40 yard diagonal pass, the ball tends to travel somewhere between 39 and 41 yards. And if a Dutch player wants to make the announcer go temporarily insane, he scores a 90th minute game-winning goal of technical perfection.
#2 – Maxi Rodriguez, Argentina vs. Mexico, 2006 Round of 16
June 24, 2006 saw a Round of 16 clash between two Latin American giants as Mexico and Argentina faced off in Leipzig. Each side drew blood in the first 10 minutes with Rafa Marquez putting the Mexicans in front on 6 minutes and Hernan Crespo leveling things in the 10th minute. Both teams failed to hit the back of the net in the remaining 80 minutes. That sent the game into extra time and set the stage for Argentine winger Maxi Rodriguez to help Mexicans everywhere have a visceral understanding of the sucker punch.
#1 – Landon Donovan, USA vs. Algeria, 2010 Group Stage
It had to be this goal. Landon Donovan’s stoppage-time game-winner may not be the prettiest goal on this list, but it’s the most beautiful goal many USA fans have ever laid eyes on, including yours truly. After drawing with both England and Slovenia, the US needed only to beat group minnows Algeria to advance to the knockout stages of South Africa 2010; with the game tied 0-0 in second-half stoppage time though, US supporters could feel the impending despair that only coming up short in a quadrennial event can bring. Then in slightly longer than the blink of an eye, several US players combined to produce a goal that was simply meant to be called by Andres Cantor.