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We are less than six months away from the commencement of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Russia. The country will be packed with football fans eager to witness the 32 teams take on each other to decide who gets to keep the coveted trophy for the next four years.
Over the course of 20 editions, the FIFA World Cup has witnessed many thrilling and dramatic encounters where last-minute brilliance has changed the fortunes of a team. Here are 10 thrilling last-minute goals in the FIFA World Cup.
Note: The list has been made considering which round the goal was scored in and what the result would have been had the goal not been scored. Due to such factors, some great goals including that of Karl-Heinz Schnellinger against Italy in the 1970 World Cup semi-final miss out.
#10 Robbie Keane vs Germany, 2002
The Republic of Ireland made it to their third FIFA World Cup in 2002 in spite of being drawn in a tough qualifying group alongside Portugal and Netherlands. The Irish had defeated Iran in a two-legged Intercontinental playoff to make it to the finals in South Korea and Japan. Ireland were drawn in Group E of the tournament alongside Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia and were expected to qualify from their group.
However, just before the start of the tournament, Ireland suffered a big blow when captain and star midfielder Roy Keane left the squad due to problems with the team coach Mick McCarthy. Ireland began their tournament with a 1-1 draw against Cameroon courtesy a right-footed volley by midfielder Matt Holland.
In their next game, Ireland were up against Germany who had thrashed Saudi Arabia 8-0 and it was the Germans who took the lead in the 19th minute through Miroslav Klose’s header. Ireland tried hard but were unable to find a way past the resilient Oliver Kahn.
Then, in the dying stages of injury time, a long ball by right back Steve Finnan found Niall Quinn who headed the ball towards Keane and his shot from close range went past the German keeper to give the Republic of Ireland a point. They then beat Saudi Arabia 3-0 to qualify for the last 16 where they lost to Spain on penalties.
#9 Freddy Rincon vs West Germany, 1990
Colombia’s qualification for the 1990 World Cup marked their comeback to football’s biggest stage after nearly three decades. The side boasted many quality players like Carlos Valderrama, who was the South American Footballer of the Year in 1987, and Rene Higuita.
They were not one considered one of the favorites at Italia ‘90 but did definitely have an outside shot. Colombia were placed in Group D alongside favorites, West Germany, dark horses, Yugoslavia, and debutants, United Arab Emirates. They began their tournament well, beating the United Arab Emirates 2-0 courtesy goals from Bernardo Redin and captain Carlos Valderrama.
However, they lost their next match to Yugoslavia and needed to avoid defeat in their final group game against a West Germany side who had beaten Yugoslavia and United Arab Emirates quite comprehensively.
In the Colombia-West Germany game, both teams had chances to score but neither side was able to break the deadlock. Rudi Voller passed to substitute Pierre Littbarski who shot a powerful left-footed volley past Colombian goalie Rene Higuita and West Germany were 1-0 up.
During the final moments of injury time, Valderrama's pass found striker Freddy Rincon and he shot the ball between West German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner’s legs to equalize for Colombia.
The draw ensured Colombia finished third in their group and subsequently qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in their history. The Colombians would eventually bow out at the last 16 stage after a 2-1 defeat to Cameroon.
#8 Georgios Samaras vs Ivory Coast, 2014
Greece and Ivory Coast were both featuring in their third World Cup, in 2014, and were eager to mark their entry in the knockout stages for the first time. Both sides were placed in the same group alongside dark horses Colombia and Japan.
While Greece began with a 3-0 loss to Colombia, Les Elephants had to come from behind to beat Japan 2-1. In their next game, Ivory Coast were beaten 2-1 by Colombia and Greece were held to a 0-0 draw by Japan.
With the final leg of group games approaching, Colombia had already qualified for the last 16 with two wins out of two. Ivory Coast were in second place with 3 points and a draw against Greece would be enough to send them to the next stage provided Japan didn’t beat Colombia. Japan had to win to progress while Greece needed Colombia to beat Japan while winning their own game.
When Ivory Coast faced Greece, it was the first meeting between the two sides in an international match. Greece drew first blood when substitute Andreas Samaris took advantage of some poor Ivorian defending to put Greece 1-0 up.
However, Wilfried Bony silenced Greek fans by scoring the equalizer in the 73rd minute. With just over a minute of injury time left, Ivorian striker fouled Georgios Samaras in the penalty area in the dying seconds of the match. Samaras converted the penalty and Greece won 2-1, thus qualifying for the last 16 for the first time in their history as Colombia had already beaten Japan 4-1.
#7 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar vs Mexico, 2014
The Netherlands entered the 2014 World Cup with low expectations in spite of remaining undefeated in the qualifiers. They were drawn in a tough group that had the likes of Spain and Chile as well as Australia.
However, a shocking 5-1 drubbing of Spain followed by wins over Chile and Australia meant the Netherlands won their group.
heir Round of 16 opponent would be a Mexcian team who possessed an excellent goalkeeper in Guillermo Ochoa.
Ochoa made headlines after his performances against hosts and favorites Brazil where he pulled off several brilliant saves.
The venue for the Netherlands-Mexico game was Fortaleza and a crowd of nearly 59000 gathered to watch the Oranje take on El Tri. After a goalless first period, Mexico’s Giovanni dos Santos opened the scoring just 3 minutes into the second half with a beautiful left-footed volley past goalie Jasper Cillessen.
With regulation time gradually coming to an end, Mexico began dreaming of a quarter-final berth. With 2 minutes left on the clock, a volley by Sneijder rescued the Dutch. 6 minutes of injury time were added in which Robben was brought down by Mexico captain Rafael Marquez and the Dutch were awarded a late penalty.
Substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar took the spot kick and converted, sending Ochoa the wrong way. The Netherlands, therefore, reached the last eight where they beat Costa Rica before losing to Argentina in the semis on penalties. They eventually beat Brazil to end third.
#6 Kennet Andersson vs Romania, 1994
The 1994 World Cup saw many unheralded teams exceed expectations. Two of those sides were Sweden and Romania. Sweden had done well in the group stages, defeating Russia and drawing with Cameroon and Brazil.
Their last 16 matchup pitted them against Saudi Arabia, another surprise package whom Sweden comfortably overcame 3-1, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals. Romania, on the other hand, were in the midst of their best ever World Cup.
Led by the talismanic Gheorghe Hagi, the Romanians had beaten the United States and highly favored Colombia to take first place in their group despite losing to Switzerland. In the round of 16, they shocked Argentina 3-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
In the quarterfinals, Romania were up against Sweden at Stanford. The match though only sprung to life in the final 12 minutes. Sweden drew first blood through their star of the tournament Thomas Brolin.
However, a late equalizer from Florin Raducioiu brought the Romanians back on track and the match went into extra time. It was Romania who took the lead thanks to a second goal from Raducioiu, in the 101st minute.
With the game nearing its end, Romania were on the brink of their maiden World Cup semifinal, however, Kennet Andersson outjumped Romanian Florin Prunea to head in the equalizer for Sweden five minute before time, sending the match into penalties.
Sweden won 5-4 thanks to their captain and goalie Thomas Ravelli. They eventually ended the World Cup in 3rd place and Andersson was the joint third highest goalscorer of the competition with 5 goals.
#5 Roberto Baggio vs Nigeria, 1994
Nigeria, in their debut World Cup in 1994, put on an impressive show in the group stages. They began with a 3-0 win over a Bulgarian side which had Hristo Stoichkov, one of the best strikers in the world.
They lost their second match against Argentina in spite of taking an early lead. However, a 2-0 win over underdogs Greece along with a superior goal difference won Nigeria their group. Their opponent in the round of 16 was an Italy side who had started their campaign poorly with a 1-0 loss to the Republic of Ireland.
However, a 1-0 victory against Norway followed by a 1-1 draw against Mexico was enough for Italy to progress as one of the best 3rd-placed teams.
In the round of 16 encounter, Nigeria shocked the crowd by taking the lead in the 25th minute thanks to Emmanuel Amuneke. The Italians then went in pursuit of an equalizer but were unable to get one. To make matters worse, they were reduced to 10 men due after the sending off of Gianfranco Zola.
When it seemed that Nigeria would pull off a big upset, Italy finally found their equaliser. Salvation came in the form of talisman Roberto Baggio who received the ball at the edge of the penalty area from defender Roberto Mussi and hit it past Nigerian goalie Peter Rufai to level the scores in the 88th minute.
Baggio later scored the winning goal for Italy in extra time, a 102nd minute penalty. He scored three further goals in the tournament as Italy finished runners-up with Baggio being awarded the Silver Ball.
#4 Landon Donovan vs Algeria, 2010
In the 2010 World Cup, United States were drawn in Group C alongside England, Algeria and Slovenia. They were expected to comfortably progress into the last 16.
They began their tournament with a 1-1 draw against England thanks to a goalkeeping blunder by England’s Robert Green who allowed Clint Dempsey’s shot to go in. In their next game, against Slovenia, USA again got off to a poor start with goals from Slovenia’s Walter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic giving them a 2-0 lead.
USA pulled one back through Landon Donovan in the 48th minute before midfielder Michael Bradley scored in the 82nd minute to level the scores at 2-2.
That meant the United States had to win their final game as even a draw would eliminate them from the competition. They almost got off to the worst possible start, when Algeria's Rafik Djebbour hit the post.
They grew into the game though and had plenty of good chances with striker Jozy Altidore hitting a volley wide of an open net and Clint Dempsey having a goal disallowed. With the final whistle approaching, with England having beaten Slovenia, the United States were staring at elimination
However, in stoppage time, goalkeeper Tim Howard passed the ball to Donovan who passed to Altidore. Altidore crossed to an unmarked Dempsey who took a shot which was blocked by the Algerian goalkeeper. The rebound though was finished by Donovan who gave the United States a 1-0 win, ensuring they topped the group in the process.
#3 Fabio Grosso vs Germany, 2006
Fabio Grosso was a relatively lesser known footballer during his playing days in the early 2000s. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Italy topped their group and followed it up with a 1-0 win against Australia in the round of 16 and a convincing 3-0 victory over surprise quarter-finalists Ukraine.
Italy’s semifinal opponent would be hosts Germany who had had a terrific tournament until then and were heavy favorites coming in to the semifinals.
The match witnessed Italy squander several chances with Gianluca Zambrotta and Alberto Gilardino both hitting the crossbar. The two teams remained inseparable until the 119th minute.
However, an Andrea Pirlo pass found Grosso who shot a beautifully curled ball past German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to give Italy a 1-0 lead. Moments later, Alessandro Del Piero made it 2-0 and Italy were through to the final. In the final, Grosso had another moment of glory as he scored the winning penalty against France in the penalty shootout to give Italy their fourth World Cup win.
#2 Andres Iniesta vs Netherlands, 2010
Spain were always considered one of football’s major underachievers having failed to live up to fans’ expectations. After ending Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup with quarter-final defeats, Spain failed to make it past the group stage in Euro 2004 and lost in the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup despite winning all their group games.
After the 2006 World Cup, a new look Spanish side won UEFA Euro 2008 and were considered heavy favorites to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This side consisted of skipper Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Fernando Torres, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Gerard Pique, and many other young players who would go on to become superstars.
Spain began their tournament in a horrible manner with a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland. This was followed by a 2-0 win over underdogs Honduras. Spain then confirmed their last 16 berth with a 2-1 win over Chile. In the last 16, Spain beat neighbors Portugal 1-0.
This was followed by 1-0 wins over Paraguay and Germany in the quarterfinals and the semifinals respectively meaning Spain were through to their maiden World Cup final
In the final, Spain were up against a resilient Dutch side who had upset Brazil in the quarterfinals and were yet to lose a game in the tournament. The final was an aggressive one with tackles flying in all over the pitch and 14 yellow cards being shown in total.
The Dutch had most of the chances but Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas kept his side in the hunt. In the 116th minute, midfielder Iniesta gave Spain their greatest moment in World Cup history by scoring the winner. This goal gave Spain their first ever World Cup victory.
#1 Dennis Bergkamp vs Argentina, 1998
The Dutch side of the 1990s boasted many quality players. One of them was Dennis Bergkamp. During his prime, he was considered the best Dutch player and one of the best of his generation.
After impressive showings in Euro 1992, World Cup 1994 and Euro 96, the 1998 FIFA World Cup was up next. The Dutch team had a great side with stars like Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Bergkamp in their ranks.
They were considered one of the favourites but did not have a great start as they were held by neighbors Belgium to a 0-0 draw. This was followed by a 5-0 drubbing of South Korea where Bergkamp scored the side’s third goal. A 2-2 draw against Mexico was enough to win the group but their form was far from convincing.
They faced Yugoslavia in the last 16 where Bergkamp scored the opener in a 2-1 win. Their next match was against Argentina and they were eager to avenge their defeat in the 1978 final.
The Dutch began well with Kluivert giving them the lead before Argentina’s Claudio Lopez scored the equalizer. Then, in the 90th minute of the match, Bergkamp scored one of the most memorable goals in World Cup history.
He controlled a 60-yard long pass from Frank de Boer with his right foot, brought the ball down through defender Roberto Ayala’s legs and then struck a perfect volley past Argentine goalie Carlos Roa. The Dutch progressed to the semi-finals where they were beaten by eventual runners-up Brazil.
Bergkamp was included in the Team of the Tournament for his efforts. His spectacular goal against Argentina remains one of the best World Cup goals ever and perhaps the best goal of France ‘98.
