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World Cup: Watch and vote for the best tournament this century

Last updated on .From the section World Cupcomments1039

A controversial 2022 World Cup came to an end with Argentina's thrilling final win over France.

After football took centre stage, there were some magnificent storylines in Qatar - but just how good was it?

BBC Sport has taken a look at every World Cup this century and we want you to pick the best one below.

2002 (Japan/South Korea)

Ronaldo inspired Brazil to their fifth World Cup triumph with both their goals in a 2-0 win over Germany.

It was a tournament of shocks with Senegal stunning France before Turkey and co-hosts South Korea reached the semi-finals.

Elsewhere, Ronaldinho's free-kick helped knock out England and the Republic of Ireland went out to Spain on penalties.

2006 (Germany)

Italy beat France on penalties in the World Cup final in a game that will always be remembered for Zinedine Zidane's red card for headbutting Marco Materazzi in his final game before retiring.

Earlier in the tournament Wayne Rooney had been sent off for England against Portugal as they went on to lose on spot-kicks.

Lionel Messi made his World Cup debut - and scored his first goal in the tournament.

2010 (South Africa)

Spain won their first ever World Cup with Andres Iniesta's extra-time goal downing the Netherlands. They won each knockout game 1-0.

Previous finalists France and Italy both went out in the group stages. Luis Suarez's handball to deny Ghana a place in the semis made him the scourge of Africa.

England were well beaten by Germany but the last-16 tie was also remembered for a Frank Lampard goal which was not given.

2014 (Brazil)

Mario Gotze scored the extra-time winner as Germany beat Messi's Argentina 1-0 in the final. But the most historic bit of their World Cup was the 7-1 win over hosts Brazil in the semis.

James Rodriguez was the breakout star of the tournament with six goals for Colombia.

Group D made plenty of headlines with England and Italy going out and Uruguay's Suarez biting Giorgio Chiellini.

2018 (Russia)

France beat surprise finalists Croatia 4-2 with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, two of their stars, on the scoresheet.

It was a tournament that provided some classic games, including Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick in Spain 3-3 Portugal and France edging Argentina 4-3 in the last 16.

England beat Colombia for their first ever World Cup penalty shootout win and eventually lost to Croatia in the semis. Harry Kane won the Golden Boot.

2022 (Qatar)

The tournament started with controversies about migrant workers deaths, gay rights and a winter World Cup - and ended with maybe the greatest final ever.

Messi's Argentina beat France on penalties after a 3-3 thriller in which Mbappe became the second player after Sir Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in the final.

It was a World Cup of shocks too with Morocco reaching the semi-finals, Japan beating Spain and Germany - and Saudi Arabia beating eventual champions Argentina.

England lost to France in the quarter-finals.

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1039 comments

  • Comment posted by Rob89, at 21:53 24 Dec 2022

    I don't understand why this years World Cup has been so highly praised, regardless of everything that happened in terms of the off-field negatively. There was some good games and some upsets, but the atmosphere of the stadiums seemed extremely flat and strangely quiet for a World Cup. The thousands of empty seats, lack of genuine fans that were priced out of tickets due to the location etc.

    • Reply posted by p4w4vBarca, at 22:10 24 Dec 2022

      p4w4vBarca replied:
      So true...the atmosphere was lacking at many games and the commentators were making out that there were more shocks at this world cup whereas a quick glance at the summary of other world cups 2 big names went out at the group stages in every world cup played! Plus there were many 0-0 draws, the last16 was predictable and the only true exciting day before the final was the sat qfs

  • Comment posted by You, at 22:38 24 Dec 2022

    Absolutely farcical 'poll' 🙄.

    Anyone with an IQ above 85 will know that the most recent World Cup will win a poll like this if it was half decent rather than vote for a World Cup they can barely remember.

    • Reply posted by JamesSteel, at 23:33 24 Dec 2022

      JamesSteel replied:
      BBC well and truly sports washed.

  • Comment posted by Y0U, at 22:21 24 Dec 2022

    Why limit it to this century? Same as when you limit records to the premiership era. Pathetic.

    • Reply posted by SouthAfricaRWCChamps, at 22:44 24 Dec 2022

      SouthAfricaRWCChamps replied:
      No other final got close to this century, ok, maybe 1970 at a push

  • Comment posted by Boycie55, at 22:06 24 Dec 2022

    South Africa definitely the worst. Ruined by the horns, low scoring games throughout the tournament, Suarez, and thuggery in the final.

    • Reply posted by mangosman, at 00:35 25 Dec 2022

      mangosman replied:
      Don't forget the infamous ball! Every set piece went into orbit.

  • Comment posted by Indefatigable Spirit, at 22:11 24 Dec 2022

    2022 was the best final. Although this article concentrates on the tournaments of this century, 1982 was the best World Cup, so many teams full of quality players at the peak of their powers, made for some epic matches!

    • Reply posted by goonerjake, at 22:15 24 Dec 2022

      goonerjake replied:
      Just before my time. My first wc was Mexico 86. I was nine years old and remember the Argentina game in details of pain.
      Strange that I rooted for Argentina this year. I guess all it took was 36 years to let it go.

  • Comment posted by Alex, at 22:22 24 Dec 2022

    Anyone that votes for 2010 needs their head examining.

    • Reply posted by Moji, at 22:32 24 Dec 2022

      Moji replied:
      The noise of the vuvuzelas argh

  • Comment posted by Andrew, at 22:24 24 Dec 2022

    Shame it's not 'of all time', then I'd vote.
    1970 Brazil.

    • Reply posted by SouthAfricaRWCChamps, at 22:28 24 Dec 2022

      SouthAfricaRWCChamps replied:
      I’d go 1970/2022, no other final gets anywhere near. All others are also ran

  • Comment posted by bill the bobber, at 00:15 25 Dec 2022

    Has Infantino asked the BBC to run this? Why restrict it to this century, 1982 has been the best by far. Great teams, great individuals and the Brazil (when they were likeable) v Italy game. Pointless poll. BBC pushing an agenda yet again?

    • Reply posted by Magic Man Malignaggi, at 00:16 25 Dec 2022

      Magic Man Malignaggi replied:
      Lighten up, dude..

  • Comment posted by Davie, at 21:42 24 Dec 2022

    Short memories. Lots of dull games at Qatar world cup. Final only got interesting in the latter part of the game. French players hit with virus so mostly didnt show up. Commentators only bouyant because their beloved Messi played. Even when he was dispossed they thought that it was the best a player had ever been seen losing possession.

    • Reply posted by Ashley Choudry, at 21:56 24 Dec 2022

      Ashley Choudry replied:
      Well said, how many 0-0 draws were their in the group stages?

  • Comment posted by Nafs Asp, at 21:59 24 Dec 2022

    I'd vote for 2014, simply because of that astonishing semi-final. It's the only time I've ever been lost for words. One of those moments in sport you never forget.

    • Reply posted by Hjs140, at 21:34 25 Dec 2022

      Hjs140 replied:
      What game was that?

  • Comment posted by viewfromtheblues, at 22:36 24 Dec 2022

    NONE Of THE ABOVE

    • Reply posted by know your rights, at 10:35 25 Dec 2022

      know your rights replied:
      Agree
      It hasn't happened yet

  • Comment posted by confuse-us, at 22:36 24 Dec 2022

    The most important ingredients of any World Cup are making big promises about wearing armbands then chickening out after some bald man says he will get cross. Man with big ears from potato crisp town makes profound noises at the start then gets all laddish and says it’s great fun. On these criteria it’s pretty obvious which is the best World Cup in the last hundred days

    • Reply posted by TheDarkKnight, at 12:06 25 Dec 2022

      TheDarkKnight replied:
      Crisp Seller took ÂŁ2 million home from Qatar. As did highly critical Gary Neville. David Beckham is taking 10 MILLION! Hypocrites.

  • Comment posted by Hawth, at 21:56 24 Dec 2022

    So skewed to run a poll like this 5 minutes after an over hyped World Cup finishes. The BIG teams were all quite poor. You cannot compare to the quality of 2006.

    • Reply posted by Milo, at 22:02 24 Dec 2022

      Milo replied:
      so "smaller teams" are not allowed to perform better than the big teams?

  • Comment posted by Michaeel, at 22:16 24 Dec 2022

    Watched 5 games live in Qatar, amazing atmosphere in and around stadiums, so many people saying it seemed flat (maybe because the commentators on itv and bbc were busy being so negative). Great World Cup for me and certainly right up there. Loved 2002 also and 1986 was a classic but it’s all subjective so no right or wrong answer.

    • Reply posted by p4w4vBarca, at 22:24 24 Dec 2022

      p4w4vBarca replied:
      I'm surprised 2002 is considered highly. I'm a big Ronaldo fan so I was pleased Brazil won and that they put England out ( I'm scottish) but Germany got to the final beating very poor teams like pataguay and USA!

  • Comment posted by sportsfan40s, at 21:51 24 Dec 2022

    Way too many dull matches and two boring, negative teams reached the semis. An average World Cup

    • Reply posted by FlyMoon, at 22:11 24 Dec 2022

      FlyMoon replied:
      Let me guess. You're English and you only watched English games.

  • Comment posted by Mark, at 23:18 24 Dec 2022

    The 2022 World Cup will be remebered for players being touched, screaming out loud and falling to the floor in the fetal position holding both ankles regardless of which part of you body was affected!

    • Reply posted by JamesSteel, at 23:51 24 Dec 2022

      JamesSteel replied:
      Russia 2018 wasn’t much better. I seem to recall the Neymar roll which almost went the length of the pitch.

  • Comment posted by brandon, at 22:11 24 Dec 2022

    Recency bias in full effect here 2022 winning by the margin is a laugh especially when you consider the amount of 0-0 draws and the awful starts. Then you take it over account all the god awful first half’s we had even in some of the decent games laughable. And the atmosphere in some of the games were just shocking. I voted 2014

    • Reply posted by p4w4vBarca, at 22:16 24 Dec 2022

      p4w4vBarca replied:
      2018 had the most dramatic endings. Every game had a twist! France were perhaps a bit too dominant though and seemed to have their name on the trophy from the start. But great atmosphere there with the south Americans travelling in huge numbers...not just Argentina.

  • Comment posted by JohnD, at 00:28 25 Dec 2022

    Taking into consideration all the differences between the early World Cups with the Maradona's and Pele's, you cannot compare the players of today to the old masters, they played with inferer balls, todays balls you can put them anywhere you want, get them to travel much faster with a kick, the "perfect" pitch conditions now, with no mud, so passing now is much easier, old masters were the best.

    • Reply posted by Jimothy Taverns, at 00:32 25 Dec 2022

      Jimothy Taverns replied:
      And they smoked fags

  • Comment posted by Dave Watson, at 23:26 24 Dec 2022

    2022 will be the best world Cup ever, until the next one. The next world Cup will be presented by the worst pundits ever, until the next one.

    • Reply posted by know your rights, at 11:42 25 Dec 2022

      know your rights replied:
      Hahaha!

      Your humour is refreshing and for that reason quite out of place here

  • Comment posted by Mark-306, at 21:36 24 Dec 2022

    Not Qatar's

    • Reply posted by Sam, at 21:43 24 Dec 2022

      Sam replied:
      Why ? Because an armband ???

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