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The Athletic FC Podcast

The 10 greatest World Cup moments

The Athletic FC Podcast

The Athletic

Premier League, Sports, Champions League, World Cup, Soccer,

4.01.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 83 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As excitement builds for the 23rd edition of the World Cup, it’s time to look back on the defining moments in the competition's recent history.


From ghost goals, to headbutts and… the Hand of God - we’ll attempt to rank the top 10 iconic performances and incidents from the last 10 tournaments.


Host: Duncan Alexander

Guests: Jack Lang, Oli Kay, Will Jeanes, Felipe Cardenas

Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead

Producer: Mike Stavrou


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Athletic FC.

0:06.6

Hi there and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal.

0:10.5

So our World Cup coverage is well underway now, getting you set up for the showpiece in the US, Canada and Mexico.

0:18.8

Now, yesterday we debated our Worldcut draft, which is the ultimate

0:23.2

11 from all 32 editions of the competition. If you've not listened already, you can go back

0:29.4

and check that one out. Today, we're bringing you some more nostalgia and we're going to be

0:36.4

looking back on the defining moments in the competition's

0:40.3

recent history from ghost goals to headbutts. The Hand of God is in there as well. Our team of

0:49.1

writers discussed 10 iconic performances and incidents from the last 10 tournaments.

0:55.4

And back in the hot seat to host for you is Duncan Alexander over to you.

1:01.6

So at this tournament, obviously being held this summer in the USA, Mexico and Canada,

1:06.4

the total number of World Cup games all time will tick over 1,000 matches.

1:11.8

So what better time to rewind the clock and pick out some of our highlights.

1:16.0

We haven't gone all the way back to 1930 for this one.

1:19.3

We're going to keep it relatively modern, with the emphasis on relatively.

1:22.9

We're going to go from 1986 through to 2022.

1:27.1

So 10 moments from the last 10 editions, one per tournament.

1:30.5

It's by no means definitive,

1:31.8

and I'm sure you might have some contrary opinions,

1:35.3

but it's just a little bit of fun.

1:37.1

Here with me to adjudicate Olly Kay,

1:40.1

Will Jeans,

...

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