Best Games of the World Cup

Well, kids, it's over.  After five weeks and 104 games, the World Cup is history.  Congratulations to Spain on winning the title and making me prophetic.  (This was the last sentence of my World Cup preview on June 11: And, in the end, I've got Spain hoisting the trophy after defeating Messi & Co. in the final.)  It's actually the second time I've correctly picked Spain to win.  This blog got its name, in part, because of the 2010 World Cup.  Spain also becomes the first nation ever to hold the Men's & Women's World Cups simultaneously and will be the first-ever defending champion to host the World Cup in 2030 (which was guaranteed no matter who won since Argentina will also be hosting a game at the next World Cup).

The final was by no means a classic.  Certainly not compared to that epic we saw between Argentina and France four years ago.  In fact, I wouldn't even say it was one of the better games in the World Cup.  There are plenty of memorable contests over the past five weeks.  Here are 10 of my favorites.

Honorable mentions go to outstanding, dominant efforts by two of the hosts.  The United States set the tone for its World Cup with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay in its opener.  Without that performance in the first game, I'm not sure the country gets behind this team the way it did.  Canada, meanwhile, had six losses and a draw in their first seven all-time World Cup games.  Their eighth was against Qatar in Vancouver.  And it was a 6-0 demolition.  Granted, Qatar wasn't very good.  But it was still an outstanding effort by the Canadians.

10. Argentina vs. Cape Verde (Round of 32): Everyone thought Argentina had such an easy draw in the Round of 32.  That's what they thought, too.  Problem is nobody told Cape Verde.  Twice Argentina took the lead.  Twice Cape Verde tied it.  Unfortunately, a Cape Verde own goal in the 111th minute proved to be the difference, as Argentina earned a 3-2 victory.  Cape Verde, meanwhile, earned the hearts and respect of the world for their memorable World Cup run.

9. Paraguay vs. Germany (Round of 32): Thanks to the addition of the Round of 32, none of the favorites were eliminated in group play.  That immediately changed in the Round of 32.  Paraguay, the same team that got blown out by the U.S. and tied Australia, only got into the knockout round as one of the best third-place teams.  Yet they had the lead at halftime against heavily-favored Germany, and it was 1-1 after extra time.  Paraguay made its first three attempts in the shootout, but missed its next two, sending it to sudden death.  After the Germans missed, Paraguay converted.  It was Germany's first-ever loss in a penalty kick shootout at the World Cup (and first loss in one period since Euro 1976...as West Germany!).

8. Norway vs. Brazil (Round of 16): Norway Viking Rowed its way into the Round of 16, where Erling Haaland once again displayed his brilliance against Brazil.  He scored in the 79th minute to give Norway the lead, then added another in the 90th minute.  Neymar scored on a penalty kick in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late.  The Round of 16 loss was Brazil's earliest World Cup exit since 1990.  The win guaranteed Norway its best-ever World Cup result.
 
7. Argentina vs. Egypt (Round of 16): Late Argentina comebacks were a theme throughout the World Cup.  In the Round of 16, Egypt scored early, then had a second called back on a controversial VAR decision before adding a second that did count a few minutes later.  Cristian Romero cut the deficit in half with a 79th-minute rocket, then Messi tied it in the 83rd minute.  Enzo Fernandez capped the comeback with a beautiful header in stoppage time, moving Argentina into the quarterfinals.

6. Belgium vs. Senegal (Round of 32): Senegal had a 2-0 lead and was completely dominating the game.  Then Belgium decided to start playing.  Romelu Lukaku entered as a sub and scored minutes later.  In the 89th minute, Youri Tielemans headed one in to force extra time.  Just when it looked like the game was headed to PKs, Belgium was awarded a late penalty that Tielemans put home to give the Red Devils a 3-2 win and set up a Round of 16 matchup with the U.S.

5. Spain vs. Cape Verde (Group H): Spain opened the World Cup with a 0-0 draw against debutant Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation ever to qualify.  A little more than a month later, they were the champions.  Who would've seen that coming after that opening game?!  Of course, little did we all know that this was just the beginning for Cape Verde, which would become the tournament darlings.  It was also the start of the Legend of Vozinha, who stood on his head and made seven saves while posting a clean sheet against the eventual champions.

4. Argentina vs. England (Semifinals): These two have a well-documented history of not liking each other.  This World Cup semifinal did nothing to dispel that animosity.  It was 0-0 at halftime, then Anthony Gordon scored in the 55th minute.  England held that lead until the 85th minute, when Argentina went on one of its trademark late comebacks, scoring two late goals to steal a 2-1 victory.

3. England vs. France (3rd Place): After losing in the semifinals, England Manager Thomas Teuchel questioned the value of having a third-place game.  Those questions are valid.  But you can't argue that the third-place game wasn't entertaining!  In the first half, it looked like France didn't want to be there and England went up 4-0.  Then Didier Deschamps put his starters in at the start of the second half and France cut it to 4-3 in the blink of an eye.  Then Bukayo Saka converted a PK to complete a hat trick.  Then Dembele scored to make it 5-4.  Then Jude Bellingham responded seconds later to finish off the highest-scoring World Cup game since 1982.

2. Algeria vs. Austria (Group J): This was the final game of the entire group stage.  They both knew that they only needed a draw to advance (and if somebody won, it would eliminate the other).  So, who would've blamed either for kicking the ball around for 90 minutes and finishing 0-0?  That's not what we got at all.  It was frenetic!  It was crazy!  It was great!  Both teams had the lead at one point.  Just when you thought they remembered the script and Algeria spent 10 minutes passing it back and forth, they suddenly went down and scored in the 93rd minute.  Austria was out for a grand total of three minutes.  They scored in the 96th minute to tie it at 3-3, give both teams the draw they needed to advance, and eliminate Iran, who could only sit there and watch.

1. England vs. Mexico (Round of 16): Mexico had never lost a World Cup game at Azteca and had only lost there twice before period.  Throw in the altitude and the fact that England had played in Atlanta four days earlier and, yeah, the Three Lions had their work cut out for them.  Jude Bellingham didn't care.  He scored twice in about 20 seconds of actual game time to give England a 2-0 lead.  Mexico cut it to 2-1 at halftime, both teams converted a penalty kick in the second half after a Jarell Quansah red card.  Mexico's furious late rally fell short, though, and El Tri were eliminated tres a dos.

Are some of these games interchangeable?  Of course!  Are there others that could be on this list?  Absolutely!  But I don't think there would be much argument about my selection for No. 1.  It wasn't just the best game of this World Cup.  It was one of the most entertaining World Cup games I've ever seen!  Period.