Discover the 10 best football tournaments of all time, showcasing unforgettable matches, legendary players, and historic moments in soccer. With the European Championship and Copa America starting in just over two months, Miguel Delaney looks back at the 10 best international football tournaments in history.
10. 1958 World Cup -Winners: Brazil – Runners-up: Sweden
The 1958 World Cup marked the start of Brazil’s football greatness, led by a 17-year-old Pele. This tournament is seen as the beginning of the modern World Cup. It introduced a new structure with 16 teams divided into four groups of four, playing a round-robin format. However, it also showcased the exciting, high-scoring style of football from an earlier era.
This was the last World Cup before defensive tactics like Catenaccio became popular, so there were plenty of goals. French striker Just Fontaine scored a record 13 goals, while Sweden had a strong attack. Brazil’s young stars, Pele, Vava, and Garrincha, dazzled the world. Eight years after their heartbreak at the Maracanazo, when Uruguay beat Brazil in their own stadium, Pele’s team brought joy to their nation.
9. Euro 1992 – Winners: Denmark – Runners-up: Germany
This was one of the best underdog stories in modern football. Denmark won the tournament after joining late because Yugoslavia had to drop out due to the Balkan war. Unlike Greece’s defensive win in 2004, this tournament was exciting and full of great teams. Denmark faced tough opponents, including a strong Sweden led by Tomas Brolin, a talented French team with Eric Cantona, and England under Graham Taylor. They beat the Netherlands in the semifinals, where Marco van Basten missed a penalty, and then defeated world champion Germany in the final.
8. 1987 Copa America – Winners: Uruguay – Runners-up: Chile
The tournament ended with a heated and intense final, where Uruguay defeated Chile 1-0. This showed how emotional the competition was. In Argentina, the host nation, there was sadness on the semifinal day as Uruguay defeated Diego Maradona’s world champions at the Monumental Stadium. This happened on Argentina’s national day, with River Plate’s Antonio Alzamendi scoring the winning goal.
Chile had an incredible run, reaching the semifinals after crushing Brazil 4-0 in the group stage. This was what made the tournament special. Unlike some tournaments where early surprises leave weaker teams in the later stages, this one kept its excitement and high-quality matches throughout.
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7. 1954 World Cup – Winners: West Germany – Runners-up: Hungary
With an average of 5.38 goals per game, this World Cup had the most goals ever, but it wasn’t just about high scores. The final was full of amazing stories.
In the “Miracle of Bern,” West Germany won the tournament only nine years after World War II, defeating Hungary, the same team that had crushed them 8-3 in the group stage. On the other side, Hungary became known as one of the best teams to never win a World Cup.
The tournament had many exciting moments. Hungary defeated Brazil in the intense “Battle of Bern” quarterfinal, and Austria beat Switzerland 7-5 before losing 6-1 to West Germany. The action in this tournament never slowed down!
6. Euro 1984 – Winners: France – Runners-up: Spain
It’s hard to believe now, but the European Championships once had only eight teams. This made the competition full of top-quality matches. In a way, it was like a preview of Euro 2000, with an attacking French team winning the trophy. This tournament stands out above many others. It was filled with exciting, high-scoring games, including two 3-2 wins by the French hosts, one of them being an incredible semifinal against Portugal.
5. 1986 World Cup – Winners: Argentina – Runners-up: West Germany
The 1986 World Cup is remembered for being completely dominated by Maradona. His incredible performance set the standard for players compared to him since then. What made it even more amazing was how exciting and full of stories the tournament was. One moment stands out: the famous four minutes when Maradona scored two very different but equally brilliant goals against England in the quarterfinals.
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That Argentine victory had many other highlights. Belgium made an impressive run to the semifinals to face Argentina. Gary Lineker won the golden boot and saved England earlier in the tournament. Uruguay, known for their rough play, was eliminated in the second round. The 1-1 quarterfinal between Brazil and France was a beautiful game, even though stars like Michel Platini and Socrates missed in the penalty shootout. Denmark had a great start, beating Uruguay 6-1 in the group stage, but then fell apart in a 5-1 loss to Spain in the last 16. It was a World Cup filled with unforgettable moments.
4. 2014 World Cup – Winners: Germany – Runners-up: Argentina
If it seems like Brazil 2014 is mentioned just because it’s the most recent, think about the unforgettable moments that will stay in football history. It’s hard to choose the most historic story from 2014. Was it Spain’s huge fall from being the best team ever in their awful tournament, or Brazil’s heartbreaking 7-1 loss to Germany, known as the Mineirazo? There was also Luis Suarez biting Giorgio Chiellini, Leo Messi missing a chance to be like Maradona, and the drama around Neymar.
All of this happened during a World Cup with more exciting and open football, after years of more cautious tournaments. It was a time of thrilling and free-flowing play.
3. 1982 World Cup – Winners: Italy – Runners-up: West Germany
When people talk about the 1982 World Cup in Spain, they often remember Marco Tardelli’s famous scream after scoring the winning goal for Italy against West Germany. But this tournament had many exciting moments. There was Maradona’s first World Cup, the surprising loss of the host team to Northern Ireland, amazing goals by Brazil, their unexpected defeat by Italy, Toni Schumacher’s foul on Patrick Battiston in a thrilling 3-3 semifinal between France and West Germany, which led to the first-ever penalty shootout, and finally, Tardelli’s dramatic goal. His expression perfectly captured what this tournament was all about: dramatic and unforgettable moments.
2. 1970 World Cup – Winners: Brazil – Runners-up: Italy
This tournament is a historic milestone that all modern tournaments are compared to, not just because of the amazing play of Pele’s Brazil. Mexico 1970 marked a turning point in football history, shown in part by it being the first tournament recorded in color. This was important because it allowed us to see Brazil’s great moments — like Pele’s step-over and header that forced Gordon Banks’ save, and Carlos Alberto’s famous goal — in the way they should be.
But the real point is that it wasn’t just about Brazil’s brilliance. There were also some incredible challenges leading to a final where one of the best defenses ever made Brazil produce one of the best attacking performances ever.
Italy reached the final after an unforgettable 4-3 semifinal win against West Germany, who had made it there by coming back from 2-0 down to beat defending champions England 3-2. England had also played one of the greatest World Cup games in a 1-0 loss to Brazil in the first round. This tournament had amazing champions, strong challengers, thrilling games, and unforgettable moments. It was a complete tournament.
1. Euro 2000 – Winners: France – Runners-up: Italy
Current France manager Didier Deschamps remembers thinking, “It can’t get any better than this,” when David Trezeguet scored the winning goal against Italy in the Euro 2000 final. Deschamps, the French captain at the time, was reflecting on how France had just won both the World Cup and the European Championship, a rare achievement. But he might have been talking about Euro 2000 as a whole.
Euro 2000 was a special tournament, and possibly the last of its kind, where many of the best teams played at a high level and top players like Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Rui Costa, and Dennis Bergkamp showed their skill. Zidane was the star of the tournament, but many others helped create exciting, high-scoring matches.
Some of the best games were England 2-3 Portugal, Yugoslavia 3-3 Slovenia, Yugoslavia 3-4 Spain, and Spain 1-2 France. Even one of the few 0-0 games, where Italy beat the Netherlands on penalties, was dramatic. The tournament had many interesting stories, like Germany’s early failure, which sparked their football revolution, and Slovenia surprising everyone. The tournament ended perfectly with a last-minute goal by Sylvain Wiltord, followed by Trezeguet’s golden goal.
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