Qatar 2022 didn't just produce a great final — it made every previous World Cup final look like a dress rehearsal by comparison. But how does it stack up against 90 years of history? Here's where each of the ten best finals actually stands, ordered from least to most dramatic.
The bottom half: classics that still hold up
10. Uruguay 4–2 Argentina (1930) — The first final ever played, and it delivered. Argentina led at half-time before Uruguay overturned it with three second-half goals. For a tournament that had never existed before, it set the template perfectly.
9. Brazil 4–1 Italy (1970) — Not dramatic in the conventional sense, but watching Brazil dismantle Italy at the Azteca remains one of the purest expressions of attacking football the World Cup has ever seen. Pelé's header, Jairzinho's persistence, Carlos Alberto's finish — a team at their absolute ceiling.
8. Spain 1–0 Netherlands (2010, aet) — Fourteen yellow cards. One red. Ninety minutes of suffocation. Then Iniesta, from a Fàbregas pass, in extra time. The scoreline flatters neither team, but Spain's first World Cup title mattered enormously — it completed a trophy treble for a generation of players who genuinely changed how the game was played.
7. Argentina 3–2 West Germany (1986) — The Maradona final. Brown and Valdano put Argentina 2–0 up, Germany clawed back to 2–2, and Burruchaga scored the winner with six minutes left. The greatest individual player in tournament history on the greatest individual tournament run in history — the final was almost secondary.
The finals that genuinely changed football history
6. England 4–2 West Germany (1966, aet) — England's only World Cup title, still debated over fifty years later. Hurst's second goal — did it cross the line? — remains one of football's most contested moments. Three goals from one man in a World Cup final at Wembley. It happened once and it hasn't happened since.
5. Brazil 2–0 Germany (2002) — Ronaldo. Both goals. After collapsing before the 1998 final under circumstances never fully explained, he came back four years later and was the best player in the tournament. The two-goal win was comfortable; the redemption arc was anything but.
4. Germany 1–0 Argentina (2014, aet) — One goal in 120 minutes, but the tension was genuine throughout. Götze's volley in the 113th minute settled it. Messi had chances that would have changed the story entirely. For the neutrals betting on goals, a frustrating night — for the purists, a tactical chess match that went to the wire.
3. Uruguay 2–1 Brazil (1950) — Technically not a final — it was decided by a final group stage round — but it functioned as one. Brazil needed only a draw in front of 200,000 at the Maracanã. They lost. Ghiggia's winner is still the quietest that stadium has ever gone. The Maracanazo shaped Brazilian football's identity for decades.
2. Italy 1–1 France (2006, aet, Italy win 5–3 on pens) — The Zidane final. He opened the scoring with a Panenka penalty, Materazzi equalized with a header, and then — in extra time, in his last professional match — Zidane headbutted Materazzi and walked off. Italy won on penalties. It remains the most talked-about single moment in World Cup final history.
1. Argentina 3–3 France (2022, aet, Argentina win 4–3 on pens) — Argentina led 2–0 with ten minutes left. Mbappé scored twice in 97 seconds to level it. Messi restored the lead in extra time. Mbappé completed his hat-trick from the spot to force penalties. Argentina won 4–3. It had everything — the best player of his generation finally winning the one trophy that had eluded him, against a French side that simply refused to accept it was over. No other final comes close.
- 1. Argentina 3–3 France (2022) — Argentina win on penalties
- 2. Italy 1–1 France (2006) — Italy win on penalties
- 3. Uruguay 2–1 Brazil (1950)
- 4. Germany 1–0 Argentina (2014, aet)
- 5. Brazil 2–0 Germany (2002)
- 6. England 4–2 West Germany (1966, aet)
- 7. Argentina 3–2 West Germany (1986)
- 8. Spain 1–0 Netherlands (2010, aet)
- 9. Brazil 4–1 Italy (1970)
- 10. Uruguay 4–2 Argentina (1930)
Qatar 2022 set a bar that the 2026 final — Argentina vs Spain, if the source is right — will need something genuinely extraordinary to clear. History suggests it won't. But that's what they said before Mbappé scored twice in two minutes.
