Cinematic England-Mexico Match Earns Place In The Top 9 Greatest Modern World Cup Games Of All-Time

The World Cup is the most iconic tournament in the world and has produced some of the most famous individual moments and overall games in the history of sports on planet earth. And on Sunday night, the 2026 World Cup earned a place on that list of all-time great World Cup matches thanks to the Round of 16 epic between England and Mexico, which ended in a 3-2 victory for the Three Lions.

The inaugural FIFA World Cup was hosted and won by Uruguay in 1930, meaning the competition boasts a nearly 100-year history of matches. Considering how dated some of those games were, we’ve decided to make the cut-off date for this list of “modern” all-time greats at the year 1970, as the 1970 World Cup was the first broadcast in color globally.

From Zidane’s headloss-fueled headbutt on Marco Materazzi to the Game of the Century, these are our rankings of the Top 9 greatest modern World Cup matches ever played.

These are the Top 9 best modern matches in World Cup history, from the year 1970 through the 2026 tournament

9. Italy 1-1 France (AET, ITA win on penalties) — 2006 Final

From a storyline perspective, the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France is one of the most memorable games in modern World Cup history.

With all-time legends on both sides, while the actual play on the pitch didn’t live up to the status of its participants, it was still chock full of remarkable moments, most of them centered on French legend Zinedine Zidane, who was playing in his last-ever match and scored both a Panenka penalty on Gigi Buffon (considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the sport’s history) and committed one of the most infamous fouls in the history of the sport by planting a head butt into the chest of Italian defender Marco Materazzi.

8. England 3-2 Mexico — 2026 Round of 16

The 2026 World Cup Round of 16 matchup between England and Mexico had storylines aplenty before a ball was even kicked. And then the match happened and ended with Mexico suffering only their third-ever competitive defeat at the Azteca.

England took an against-the-run-of-play 2-0 lead over the course of about 90 seconds in the first half. Mexico responded with a goal just before the halftime whistle. England were awarded and scored a penalty early in the second half, only to then lose a player to a red card. Mexico then clawed back another goal after England’s biggest star and captain, Harry Kane, conceded a penalty. From there, the Three Lions had to see out a 3-2 lead for about 30 minutes under the pressure of both the surging Mexican team and the roughly 85,000 Mexican supporters in the crowd. And they pulled it off, with ESPN citing it as the nation’s “best win on foreign soil in their history.”

An all-timer in the FIFA World Cup at Mexico City Stadium 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PB12kJZQ4o

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 6, 2026

7. Germany 7-1 Brazil — 2014 Semi-Final

A rule of thumb for this list going forward: if the match produced a nickname, it will likely be on this list. Thus, at #7 comes “The Mineirazo” — meaning “The Mineirão blow”, evoking the “Maracanazo”, in which Brazil were defeated on home soil by Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup — Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of Brazil in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup.

6. Italy 3-2 Brazil — 1982 Group Stage, Second Round

Brazil’s 1982 side, widely regarded as the greatest team to never win a World Cup, was derailed in its pursuit of glory by Italian striker Paolo Rossi, who scored a hat-trick to eliminate them from the tournament after returning from a match-fixing ban.

5. Argentina 2-1 England — 1986 Quarter-Final

The nickname rule again applies to the infamous 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England, as it produced both the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century, both of which were scored by soccer icon and widely-touted all-time top five player Diego Maradona and remain two of the most iconic moments in the storied history of the sport.

4. West Germany 3-3 France (AET, WG win on penalties) — 1982 Semi-Final

Nickname alert: the 1982 semi-final between West Germany and France is referred to as “The Night of Seville” in the annals of both participating nations’ lore.

The Night of Seville is not only considered one of the best World Cup matches of all time but one of the greatest soccer matches ever played, as it featured four goals in extra time and a dramatic penalty shoot-out that West Germany won by a score of 5-4.

3. Brazil 4-1 Italy — 1970 Final

The 1970 World Cup Final between Italy and Brazil featured one of the most beloved and beautiful teams in soccer history painting their masterpiece, as Pelé, Jairzinho, Gerson, and Carlos Alberto combined to dismantle Italy and lead Brazil to becoming the first nation to win three World Cup titles.

Specifically, the fourth goal — a sweeping team move finished by Carlos Alberto storming in from right back — is widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest team goal ever scored.

2. Italy 4-3 West Germany (AET) — 1970 Semi-Final

When it comes to earning a nickname, there is no higher compliment than being called “The Game of the Century,” which is how the 1970 semi-final between Italy and then-West Germany is referred to — while the score at the end of regulation was 1-1, it finished Italy 4-3 thanks to five goals being scored in extra time.

1. Argentina 3-3 France (AET, ARG win on penalties) — 2022 World Cup Final

Not only did the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, finally reach the pinnacle of the sport — as far as international competition and general historic prestige is concerned — but he did so in perhaps the best World Cup match ever played, a 3-3 thriller that was settled on PKs and came against the defending champions.

Argentina led 2-0 heading into the final stages of the match before Kylian Mbappe scored twice in 97 seconds to level it. Messi put Argentina back in front in extra time, only for Mbappe to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot late in extra time to force penalties, which Argentina ultimately won 4-2 to give Messi the one thing his career was missing.

Based on their form in the 2026 World Cup, Argentina and France look like they could be headed for a rematch, too.