2014 FIFA World Cup: 10 of the best goals scored

With more than 170 goals scored already over the period of these four weeks of scintillating football that oversaw the elimination of defending champions Spain, England, and Portugal among other big names, the 2014 FIFA World Cup has produced some goals that will be remembered for days to come. Each of the 32 nations who took part in the tournament, creating a global showdown with strikes of different varieties.In this slideshow, we take a look at 10 of the best goals in the tournament:NOTE: The list has been updated, and you can read it here: http://s-k.cm/WC14_Top10Goals

#9 Gervinho - Ivory Coast vs Colombia

Gervinho’s move to Roma has worked wonders from him to that extent where his goal now finds himself in the list of the best goals scored in the game’s grandest stage.

He scored from a solo-effort in the second half against Colombia with a brilliant cutback and well placed shot gave Ivory Coast a fighting chance after being 2-0 down.

#8 James Rodriguez - Colombia vs Japan

Monaco’s young starlet James Rodriguez’s goal against Japan is as cheeky as a goal can get, as he released a well-composed goal, avoiding both defender Maya Yoshida and goalkeeper Kawashima who were advancing towards him with a few step-over dummies.

With three goals in three matches, Rodriguez remains to be one of the players to watch out for in the tournament that continues to be as exciting as it gets.

#7 Lionel Messi - Argentina vs Iran

Lionel Messi will never disappoint you when he is with the ball, and he surely did live up to his reputation in this edition of the World Cup with his goal that came against Iran during the dying moments of the match, and was eventually the winner for Argentina.

His shot from an incredible curling effort had managed to move past Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi, breaking all the hopes Iran head-coach Carlos Quieroz and his men had.

#7 David Luiz - Brazil vs Colombia

The latest entry into the list, Brazillian defender David Luiz finds himself on the seventh spot with his free-kick winner against Colombia as he led Brazil to a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinal encounter on Saturday.

#5 Xherdan Shaqiri - Switzerland vs Honduras

After losing out 5-2 to France, Switzerland had to impose their prowess over Honduras so as to confirm their place in the next stage of the tournament. Dribbling just outside the 18-yard box, Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri launched a venomous shot just six minutes into the match.

He then went on to score the first hat-trick of the tournament leading Switzerland into the Round of 16.

#4 Arjen Robben - Netherlands vs Spain

Arjen Robben’s wonderous goal against Spain resembled the sight of watching a wild coyote unleased from his leash, sprinting really fast with the ball, racing halfway down the line, and finally fooling the trio of Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique with his brilliance.

The same match, saw him score yet another breathtaking goal with a first-touch that will leave you in awe.

#3 Mario Gotze - Germany vs Argentina

This goal may not have been as stunning as the rest of the goals in this list, however, given how important and crucial this goal was, is a reason enough for it to find itself as the third best goal in the tournament.

Mario Gotze’s World Cup winning goal came in the second half of the extra time after a brilliant pass through two defenders from Andre Schürrle, finding Gotze right in front of the goal with the Bayern Munich playmaker making no mistake to make the shot count as he successfully beat Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero with a left-footed shot.

#3 Tim Cahill - Australia vs Netherlands

After being down by a goalaftera solo effort from the man-in-form Arjen Robben, Australia bounced backed soon through a lethal volley from Tim Cahill, who was left un-marked inside the penaltybox.

The Australian launched a deadly volley with his weaker foot, just a minute after Robben's goal. The goal will surely go down as a career highlight for Cahill, and certainly one of the tournament's best.

#2 Robin Van Persie - Netherlands vs Spain

A unique and one of its kind, Dutch striker Robin van Persie bested Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a goal from a stunning diving header right before the half time. The goal had several traits that made it unique.

Firstly, the great assist from Danny Blind, followed by great positioning by van Persie himself, and then him chipping in the goal from a diving header almost 15 yards out, leaving one of the biggest goalkeepers of our generation clueless. All of these adding up to a goal which is perhaps one of the best goals to have been scored in this tournament.

#2

A unique and one of its kind, Dutch striker Robin van Persie bested Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a goal from a stunning diving header right before the half time. The goal had several traits that made it unique.

Firstly, the great assist from Danny Blind, followed by great positioning by van Persie himself, and then him chipping in the goal from a diving header almost 15 yards out, leaving one of the biggest goalkeepers of our generation clueless. All of these adding up to a goal which is perhaps the best goal to have been scored in this tournament as of yet.

#1 James Rodriguez - Colombia vs Uruguay

James Rodriguez finds himself in the list yet again with his brilliant goal against Uruguay. You would wonder choosing the best goal out of almost 170 goals would be tough ask, but no it wasn’t.

This chest-turn volley from James’ Rodriguez stunned everyone as it was shot from 20 yards out after the Colombian had pulled off a picture-perfect chest, turn and volley with so much ease.

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Edited by Staff Editor