The Greatest: Maradona, Messi and the best all-time World Cup individual performances
There is perhaps no better stage for a sportsman to prove their brilliance than at a World Cup. There have been 22 previous tournaments, and although no nation has won the trophy without several of its key players performing, there are certain individuals whose contribution to a World Cup win has been so momentous that simply mentioning their name and a year is shorthand for an entire tournament.
Here, then, are five of the greatest World Cup-winning individuals.
Romario, Brazil 1994
The Brazil of 1994 were not as exciting as the sides of 1958, 1962 or 1970. They played a fairly rigid 4-4-2, and then basically left Romario and Bebeto up front, and allowed them to do what they wanted. The two weren’t on good terms, but they worked excellently together, and Romario was outstanding. “Romario is short on humility, long on talent,” read a New York Times headline shortly before the tournament in the United States.
Brazil hadn’t had many world-class attackers for a few years, and the nation was also mourning its greatest national hero of the time, Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, who had been killed in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix the previous month. “With Senna’s death, Brazil has been left with a void,” Romario said before the World Cup started. “If I can lead Brazil to a fourth World Cup title, I will definitely be a possible replacement.”
He did. He scored in all three group games, most memorably with a clever toe-poke in the final group game against Sweden. He didn’t slow down in the knockout stage, scoring from Bebeto’s cross in the quarterfinal win over the Netherlands, and then in another meeting against Sweden in the semifinal, scored the only goal with a far-post header.
Romario had electric pace, particularly in terms of his acceleration over a short space. He wasn’t a mesmeric dribbler or a particularly gifted creator – and sometimes there were long spells when you didn’t notice him – but his penalty-box prowess was legendary. This was a tight World Cup, and a cautious Brazil side. But the notable thing about Romario’s tournament is that all five of his goals were openers.
A little like Garrincha in 1962, he wasn’t 100 percent fit for the final and couldn’t provide a decisive moment. In a match that was pitted as a showdown between him and Italy’s Roberto Baggio, the latter settled the final … by blazing over the bar in the penalty shootout.
Lionel Messi, Argentina 2022
In 2022, Messi won the World Cup at the fifth attempt.
His World Cup experience up until that point had, broadly speaking, been positive. He was bright as an 18-year-old impact substitute in 2006, individually sensational – albeit without scoring – in 2010 and won the Golden Ball in 2014. The World Cup in Russia in 2018, though, was a disappointment. And, really, Messi had to win the World Cup at some point.
His Qatar tournament started well, opening the scoring from the penalty spot against Saudi Arabia. But Argentina somehow lost that game 2-1, and went into their second fixture, against Mexico, needing to win. After a nervy first half, Messi’s powerful low shot put them on their way to a 2-0 win. He’d kickstarted their tournament, and although he missed a penalty in a 2-0 win over Poland, Argentina topped their group.
In the knockout stage, Messi played his best football. He dropped deep in the 2-1 win over Australia, controlling the game in midfield, and then pushed forward to open the scoring with a neat shot. In the 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, Messi played a wonderful through ball for Nahuel Molina’s opener, and later scored a penalty. The 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia was similar: a glorious assist – this time for Julian Alvarez after some wonderful trickery to beat Josko Gvardiol out wide – and another goal from the penalty spot.
And then came the final: Argentina versus France, but almost Messi versus Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman scored a hat-trick, while Messi scored two – a first-half penalty, then a rebound in extra time. He ended the tournament with seven goals and three assists in seven appearances. Messi wasn’t as dynamic in 2014, and needed his strike partner Alvarez to do his running.
In a way, he was overshadowed by Mbappe in the final. But Messi lifted the World Cup as captain.
Garrincha, Brazil 1962
The greatest Brazilian in World Cup history — and surely the greatest footballer in World Cup history, regardless of nationality — is clearly Pele. He won the World Cup three times, but didn’t quite have a truly exceptional tournament to put him on this level. In 1958, he only came into the side midway through the tournament, in 1962 he missed the knockout stage through injury, and in 1970 he was excellent, but lacking the dynamism of his peak years. He never had one individual tournament like Garrincha.
A curious footballer, born with one leg six centimetres shorter than the other, and always appearing to run in a slightly off-centre manner, Garrincha looked both awkward and graceful when running with the ball. At World Cup 1958, he was a classic winger, always beating the opposition full-back down the outside with a turn of speed, before crossing the ball.
But by 1962, he was an all-rounder. He’d developed his left foot, allowing him to cut inside and shoot, and he was also very dangerous in the air — somewhat unusual for a winger at this point. He scored two excellent near-post headers, both from Mario Zagallo corners, in the quarter-final and semi-final wins over England and Chile respectively. But more memorably, the England game featured a beautiful right-footed curler from outside the box, and the Chile game featured a long-range drive with his left foot.
Garrincha should have been banned for the final, after kicking out at a Chilean defender towards the end of that semi-final. He barely made contact, but was shown a red card. But then — after a somewhat murky tale which involved the linesman who had seen the incident leaving host nation Chile before he could appear at a disciplinary meeting, and supposed lobbying from the Brazilian federation — Garrincha was cleared to start the final.
After all that, he was ill and didn’t have much impact on the final itself, a 3-1 win over Czechoslovakia. But this remains a legendary individual tournament from the best winger in World Cup history.
Mario Kempes, Argentina 1978
Kempes had a strange relationship with the World Cup. He was quiet and goalless at World Cup 1974, and started this tournament slowly too.
Kempes played a curious role, as a midfielder more than a forward, but focusing almost entirely on scoring goals himself. At the business end of the tournament, he exploded and scored three braces. Against Poland, he made a well-timed run into the box to nod home, and then scored a well-taken second after quick feet. However, it should be noted that, between his two goals, he also handled a goalbound shot off the line, a punishment which would result in a red card in today’s game.
In a 6-0 thrashing of Peru, he scored an extraordinary opener when playing a one-two, flicking the ball past a defender and running through to finish. He added a second when bringing down a high ball, playing another one-two and again finishing calmly.
And then came the final against the Netherlands, when he opened the scoring by receiving the ball on the run and sliding in to poke the ball home. In extra time, he scored the crucial goal to put his side 2-1 ahead by nipping away from two defenders, powering past the goalkeeper and then bundling the ball over the line. He could have had a hat-trick — his dribble from midfield got the ball into a goalscoring position for Argentina’s third, but the ball fell to teammate Daniel Bertoni to convert.
Four years later, in Spain, where he spent the majority of his playing career, he endured his second goalless World Cup. As an all-round footballer, Kempes was not at the level of the others on this list; he was a world-class footballer rather than one of the greatest the game has seen. But he completely dominated a World Cup on home soil.
Diego Maradona, Argentina 1986
Simply the greatest World Cup by any individual ever. Argentina were based entirely around Maradona, and he responded with a level of consistency that probably isn’t possible in the modern game.
From the opening game, a 3-1 win over South Korea, it was clear the opposition were attempting to stop Maradona however they could. Argentina’s first two goals of the World Cup both came from set pieces after Maradona was fouled. Some opponents tried a man-marking strategy, some went zonal. Neither approach worked.
The debate, really, is about which match was Maradona’s best of the tournament. The man himself, somewhat controversially, named the 1-0 second-round win over Uruguay as his best. “It was by far my best performance of the World Cup… because I didn’t lose a single one-versus-one,” he later said. “I got past every Uruguayan player I came up against. I was always in the right place.”
The more famous display, of course, came against England in the quarter-final, when Maradona was constantly battered by England defenders but came up with both goals in a 2-1 win. The first was the most controversial in World Cup history, scored with his hand. The second was probably the greatest in World Cup history, a dribble from his own half, past several defenders and goalkeeper Peter Shilton, before putting the ball into an empty net.
But maybe his best display was in the semi-final win over Belgium, when he absolutely ran the show, scoring a clever stabbed finish and then a powerful effort after a mazy dribble. Dribbling was Maradona’s main strength: he beat 53 players at this tournament, 37 more than anyone else at the World Cup. He also both scored and assisted five times, the only time this has been achieved.
Like most on this list, Maradona was relatively quiet in the final, marked well by Lothar Matthaus. But his half-volley in behind assisted the winner for the speedy Jorge Burruchaga to finish. Maradona used his hands again after the final, lifting the World Cup as captain.