Best World Cup Finals Ever: Ranking All 22 Championship Matches
Not all World Cup finals are created equal. Some are legendary. Others are forgettable. A few are genuinely terrible. Here's every single World Cup final ranked — from the ones you'd skip to the ones you'd watch on repeat.
Tier 1: The All-Time Classics
1. Argentina 3-3 France (2022) — Argentina won on penalties
Is this the greatest football match ever played? It might be. Messi scored twice, including a major extra-time goal. Mbappe scored a hat-trick — two goals in 97 seconds to equalize from 2-0 down in the 80th minute. The drama was unbearable. Martinez's save in the shootout. Messi finally lifting the trophy. This final had everything.
2. Italy 3-1 West Germany (1970)
The final of the "Beautiful Game" World Cup. Brazil's 1970 team is often called the greatest ever, and they proved it with a dominant performance. Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostão, and Carlos Alberto produced football that looked like art. Carlos Alberto's goal to make it 4-1 is arguably the greatest team goal in history.
3. West Germany 3-2 Hungary (1954) — The Miracle of Bern
Hungary were 2-0 up in 8 minutes. They hadn't lost in four years. West Germany came back to win 3-2. The game essentially rebuilt German national identity after the war. Fritz Walter and his team became symbols of a nation's recovery.
Tier 2: Great Finals
4. Argentina 3-2 West Germany (1986): Maradona's tournament, capped with a win in the final. Germany fought back from 2-0 down before Burruchaga scored the winner. 5. England 4-2 West Germany (1966): Geoff Hurst's hat-trick, the controversial third goal, "They think it's all over..." 6. France 3-0 Brazil (1998): Zidane's two headers. The mystery of what happened to Ronaldo before the match.
7. Argentina 3-2 France (1978): A fiery final in Buenos Aires. 8. Brazil 2-0 Germany (2002): Ronaldo's redemption, scoring both goals. 9. Italy 3-1 West Germany (1982): Paolo Rossi and Marco Tardelli's famous screaming celebration.
Tier 3: Decent But Not Spectacular
10. Spain 1-0 Netherlands (2010): Iniesta's extra-time winner was beautiful, but the match itself was brutally physical. De Jong's karate kick on Alonso set the tone. 11. France 4-2 Croatia (2018): Scoreline looks exciting, but several goals were deflections, an own goal, and a VAR penalty.
12. Germany 1-0 Argentina (2014): Götze's extra-time winner was stunning. The match was tense and tactical, but lacked the fireworks of a true classic.
Tier 4: The Forgettable Ones
13-18. Several finals were decided by single goals with limited action: Uruguay 2-1 Brazil (1950), Brazil 1-0 Italy (1994 — decided on penalties after a 0-0 draw), Italy 1-1 France (2006 — Zidane's headbutt was more memorable than any of the football).
What Makes a Great World Cup Final?
Goals help. But the greatest finals have narrative tension — comebacks, redemption arcs, generational clashes. The 2022 final had all of these. Can the 2026 final top it? With MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as the stage and the biggest World Cup in history building toward it, the stage is certainly set.