The Most Inspiring World Cup Moments

The World Cup

Every four years, soccer fans across the globe enthusiastically enjoy the fevered pitch of elite international competition via the World Cup, one of the most popular sporting events of all time. FIFA added to the excitement in 1999 when the Women’s World Cup was created and scheduled to alternate with the men’s tournament.

Since 1930, male athletes such as Pele, Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona, along with female counterparts such as Abby Wambach, Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm and Marta have graced the field and given electrifying performances. With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil upon us, here is a look at a few of the most inspiring moments from the past 84 years.

Birth of the World Cup: Uruguay 1930

Long before thousands of fans were piling into NFL stadiums and NASCAR grandstands across the United States, soccer was making a massive global impact. By 1930, FIFA was already 26 years old and had been working towards an international event that could supplant the Olympics as the sport’s premier platform.

Although only 12 teams were able to travel to Uruguay, the inaugural tournament was still a smashing success. The World Cup culminated with a fitting matchup between border archrivals Argentina and the host team. An estimated 93,000 fans poured into Centenario to watch Uruguay take the inaugural World Cup in an exciting 4-2 victory that went down to the wire.

The Miracle of Bern: Switzerland 1954

There wasn’t much for Germans to celebrate in 1954. The divided nation was still reeling from the devastation of World War II and looked to the World Cup for an emotional lift. Somehow, the West German team fought its way to the championship game against top-ranked Hungary.

After predictably falling behind 2-0 in the first eight minutes, the West Germans managed to tie the game before halftime. The score would remain unchanged until, with just six minutes remaining, Helmut Rahn tallied his second goal of the game to give his team the 3-2 victory. In 2003, the events surrounding the game inspired The Miracle of Bern, one of the highest grossing films in German history.

Pele’s Spectacular Debut: Sweden 1958

At the onset of the 158 World Cup in Sweden, the international soccer world had no idea that a legend was about to emerge.

His name was Pele and at the time was an unknown 17-year old from Brazil’s infamous slums. After sitting out the early games due to a knee injury, Pele finally saw action against the Soviet Union. His presence on the field only escalated from there. Pele scored the game winning goal in the quarterfinal contest against Wales and a hat trick in the semi-final against France.

As the youngest player to appear in the World Cup, Pele scored a fifth goal in Brazil’s championship victory against host Sweden and would go on to become the most famous soccer player of all time.

Cameroon’s Continental Surprise: Italy 1990

Before the 1990 World Cup, no African team had ever advanced past the first round. Even more daunting was the fact that Cameroon had never won a World Cup game. Needless to say, not much was expected from the overmatched squad.

That all changed in one historic game. In the opening round, Cameroon’s defense surprisingly held the defending world champions and star player Diego Maradona at bay. Midway through the second half, Cameroon was forced to play one man short after Kana-Biyik was ejected with a red card. Somehow, the underdogs managed to break the scoreless tie with a spectacular Omam Biyik header goal. Cameroon won the game 1-0 and advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.

The victory helped change the perception of African soccer and opened the door for greater opportunity in Europe, South America and the United States.

USA and Iran’s Display of Sportsmanship: France 1998

It had been 19 years since the Tehran hostage crisis wrecked diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran, but that didn’t make the World Cup matchup between the two teams any less intriguing.

The game itself was a roaring success despite attempts from outside terrorist groups to disrupt the match and orders from the Iranian leaders for their players to not walk towards the Americans for a customary pre-game handshake. In fact, what happened on the field was quite remarkable as both teams displayed uncommon sportsmanship and mutual respect.

Although the United States lost 1-0, the outcome on the scoreboard was much less important than the slightly eased political tensions that would soon follow.

Croatia Celebrates Amid Chaos: France 1998

Heading into the 1998 World Cup, the Germans were the reigning European champions and expected to challenge for the title. On the other hand, the Croatians were recovering from an intense war and participating for the first time as an independent nation.

When the two teams met in the quarterfinals, no one expected Croatia to give the Germans much of a fight. Instead, Croatia took a 1-0 lead right before halftime and never looked back. After withstanding a few close calls, Croatia’s defense kept Germany out of the net and secured a shocking 3-0 victory.

Croatia went on to finish third place but more importantly provided its fans with a rare moment of reprieve and a glimpse of hope for the future.

Chastain Celebrates In Style: United States 1999

In just the third installment of the Women’s World Cup, the championship game at the Rose Bowl provided one of soccer’s most iconic moments. The American squad was again favored to take home the title but not without an epic battle against the surprising competition from China.

Over 90,000 fans watched a defensive struggle that led to a 0-0 score after regulation and extra time. But during the penalty shootout, both teams went on a scoring binge that led to a 4-4 count. When China failed to convert on its fifth and final attempt, Brandi Chastain netted the game winning goal and secured Team USA’s second World Cup title.

That’s when Chastain famously mimicked a popular men’s soccer celebration by ripping off her jersey, sliding to her knees and giving the sports an image that would be etched into pop culture history.

Japanese Women Triumph Over Tragedy: Germany 2011

Heading into the 2011 Women’s World Cup, the American team was considered the odds-on favorite while Japan was considered a long shot. In fact, only one other Asian team had reached a World Cup final and no Asian team had ever won the event.

Just four months earlier, the most powerful earthquake in Japanese history triggered a tsunami that devastated the Pacific coastline of the nation’s northern islands. Still playing with heavy hearts, the Japanese women miraculously reached the final against the Americans.

Japan overcame two deficits and forced the game into overtime with the score tied 2-2. Having lost its previous 25 meetings with the Americans, the Japanese completed the improbable upset with a dominant 3-1 shootout performance.