10 Underrated World Cup Goals

Everyone has their list of best goals of the world cup. Those lists have exemplary goals, but a lot of them are copycat lists, so I have decided to list 10 underrated goals in My world cup history, which spans from 1974 – 2002. There’ll be no Maradona runs, but a Maradona goal, no Baggio, and unfortunately, no video highlights. But y’all have seen these goals before. Hopefully these rest somewhere in your memory banks.

Eder, Brazil vs. USSR, Spain 82
With Brazil down 1-0, it took a spectacular goal by Socrates, and an even more spectacular goal by Eder to get the win for Brazil. Socrates actually dummied the pass between his legs, Eder literally scooped up the ball and vollied it past the Soviet keeper, who could just stand and stare.

Dragan Stoikovic, Yugoslavia vs. Spain, Italia 90.
Free kick, curve ball. The TV director gave us the back of the goal angle for the live shot, and Stoikovic, as if on cue, curved the ball around the Spanish wall and past Zubizarreta in the 2nd minute of extra time.

Josimar, Brazil vs. Poland, Mexico 86
Josimar got more notoriety for his long distance stunner that beat Pat Jennings, but his acute angled shot in the round of 16 match vs. the Poles was more impressive. Brazil went on to win 4-0.

Iordan Letchkov, Bulgaria vs. Germany, USA 94
The funny thing about this goal for me was when we were watching the game. A friend asked if the Germans were going to hang on. I jokingly said, no, Bulgaria is going to get two goals in the next 5 minutes to steal the game. And wouldn’t you know it. Letchkov’s flying header for the game winner is burned in my memory as the best header I have ever seen.

Diego Maradona, Argentina vs. Greece, USA 94
Argentina scored early and often against the over-matched Greeks. Batigol got the hat trick, but Maradona’s top corner bullet stole the show. His celebration running to the camera was equally as memorable.

Nelinho, Brazil vs. Italy, Argentina 78
If you haven’t seen this goal, I don’t think I can even describe it. Nelinho takes the ball on the right side of the field, fires with the outside of his foot to catch Zoff flat-footed. I guess he was expecting a center pass. A brilliant piece of skill!!

Igor Belanov, USSR vs. Belgium, Mexico 86
In what turned out to be the best game of this world cup, Igor Belanov scored an unbelievable goal. He made a run on the top of the 18, then shot across his body to the opposite top corner of the net. The shot was so perfect it hit the literal corner in the back of the goal and bounced out. Jean Marie Pfaff was so beaten, he didn’t even move. He did get the last laugh, though: Belgium won 4-3 and advanced to the quarter finals.

Sunday Oliseh, Nigeria vs. Spain, France 98
With Spain up confortably 2-1 over the Nigerians, Zubizarreta made a horrible mistake to let Nigeria level the match. The game winner came 5 minutes later when Oliseh’s half volley thundered past a helpless Zubi. Spain could not recover and were bounced in the first round.

Eugene Ekeke, Cameroon vs. England, Italia 90
I wonder how many elderly Englishmen reached for their nitro patches when Ekeke scored to give Cameroon a 2nd half lead over England in the quarters. Ekeke made a gorgeous run, after he passed off. Roger Milla attracted a lot of attention before he set the table for Ekeke who easily beat Peter Shilton. Even though Cameroon would end up losing the match, they were the only ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreary world cup.

Socrates, Brazil vs. Italy, Spain 82
The Brazilians lost a heart breaker thanks to Paolo Rossi, but the luster isn’t lost on Socrates’ cheeky little goal. He received a great pass from Zico and took the ball to the touch line, and when Zoff was expecting a centering pass, or at the very least a far post attempt, Socrates surprised Zoff by going near post, and into the net.

Even though they didn’t win, that Brazil 82 team is still the best team I have ever seen.