It is a competition watched around globe, the FIFA World Cup takes place every four years and has fans waiting for historic moments to be made. You can’t blame soccer fans for being beyond excited for the cup since they wait years for it to happen. And with all of that excitement building, you better believe they are expecting a great show.
And the FIFA World Cup does deliver on history-making moments, with some years being more intense than others. Whether you’re watching in the stands or on your television, witnessing historic FIFA moments has almost become a rite of passage if you’re a true soccer fan. Each competition year, folks spend hours upon hours, watching the games, talking about the games, and waiting for the games to start. You can just imagine how much better it all is when they see something they’ve never seen before.
Soccer relies heavily on luck, but if you combine luck with excellent skills, then history shall be made on the soccer field. It’s going to be fun going back in history to look at some of the most interesting moments that have defined the game to date. From Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 FIFA World Cup to the controversial goal made by England in 1966, historic moments are many in FIFA and we’ve compiled the best of them.
1986 – England V Argentina
There isn’t a single soccer fan who doesn’t remember or know about this historic moment in soccer when Diego Maradona scored his first goal with what is now known as “The Hand of God.” If you were lucky enough to have watched the moment as it happened, then chances are that you will never ever forget it.
Six minutes had passed into the second half, and the game was tied 0-0. Diego Maradona, was the diminutive superstar who had been going head-to-head with the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Of Couse, Peter was much taller, and what Diego did was so wrong that it should have earned him a red card.
Maradona punched the ball over Shilton’s head, and into the net. This was not noted by the officials and you won’t believe this, Argentina was immediately put in the lead. A few minutes after this, the same legend – Maradona produced yet another historic moment, when he received the ball during the second half, and proceeded to score a goal at a distance of 60 yards from the net. Unbelievable!!!
It was the goal of the century, and this had all of the non-English supporters dancing with glee. Everyone on the field that day witnessed one of the most incredible and unbelievable feat in history. Clearly, this wins the number one spot on our list of 5 historic FIFA moments and goes to show why Diego Maradona is considered one of the best football players of all time.
1994 – Brazil vs. Italy
In 1994, believe it or not, the World Cup was held in the US, and during the final game between Brazil and Italy, history was made, when Roberto Baggio missed the penalty that ultimately cost Italy the win. This much-anticipated game between the old foes was not only interesting to watch, but also did not disappoint. What most people probably remember is how he leaned over in total despair as the Brazilian team and their fans celebrated their win amidst his misery.
For Baggio, it seemed like the whole planet had paused and everyone was watching the nail-biting tension and he was the unfortunate victim. To make matters worse, he had been a big and rising star during the entire tournament and ended the day by helping to crown Brazil the winners of the cup. This moment is forever etched in history as a crushing personal defeat for Baggio.
1998 – Argentina v The Netherlands
During this game, Argentina was favored to win, but Dennis Bergkamp from the Netherlands kicked the ball way past the Argentinian goalkeeper Carlos Roa and went on to score the victory goal for the quarter-final qualifying match.
What makes this historic and interesting is having to witness a last-minute win in a crucial game. Not only did the Dutch team achieve glory, but they also picked the final moments of the game to score one of the most beautiful goals on record.
1966 West Germany v England
This game witnessed one of the most controversial goals in the history of the FIFA competition. Geoff Hurst scored the third goal for England against their rivals West Germany in the World Cup final. Nowadays, football matches are usually closely monitored with replay abilities on every angle to determine how a goal was scored, but in 1966 it was up to the officials to determine the validity of the goal.
The “guardians” were playing on their home ground and had advanced to the finals. They went into extra time after they had both scored 2-2, and therefore, each team was desperately looking for a “Hail Mary.” So, Hurst shot a goal towards the goal that thudded on the crossbar and then bounced down into the goal line.
The fans who were watching gasped in anticipation as they watched the outcome of the conversation between the two referees. Those referees ultimately decided that the ball had crossed the line, much to the joy of the home crowd. England did win the world cup after Hurst scored again, but that disqualified goal will forever be etched in the hearts of the fans who watched with bated breaths.
5 Historic FIFA Moments Conclusion
If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch the above moments, just search for them on YouTube to get in on the action. There are many more historic moments that we haven’t included as the FIFA World Cup is always full of action. One of those moments is when Zinedine Zidane head-butted his French opponent during the high heated World Cup Final of 2006, one of the historic violent moments in a usually beautifully-played sport.
