Your Favourite Player of Each Tournament You Have Seen

[Satchmo Distel]

Zoff messed up against Holland in 1978 but redeemed himself v 1982 Brazil.

[SouthdownRebel]

86 - Lineker*
90 - Baggio
94 - Hagi
98 - Denis Bergkamp! Denis Bergkamp! Denis Bergkamp!
02 - Ahn Jung-hwan / Ronaldo (the hair!)
06 - Pirlo
10 - Asamoah Gyan
14 - James Rodriguez
18 - Hirving Lozano (so far)

* Although, see below. My seven year old self became convinced that two such terrifying human beings would clearly, clearly win the World Cup probably by having the monsters hiding in their beards eating all opponents. That Panini album is the reason why '86 remains my favourite World Cup.

https://twitter.com/gedgie/status/649947759051718656

[Satchmo Distel]

Any mysterious unsolved murders in Mexico that month?

[ursus arctos]

1974 - Johan Cruijff
1978 - Rob Rensenbrink
1982 - Socrates
1986 - Diego Maradona
1990 - Roger Milla
1994 - Roberto Baggio
1998 - Lilian Thuram
2002 - Ronaldinho
2006 - Andrea Pirlo
2010 - Andres Iniesta
2014 - Lionel Messi

[SouthdownRebel]

Any mysterious unsolved murders in Mexico that month?

If there were, I fear the evidence may be lost - aged 15, and therefore senseless to, well, everything, I chucked my unfinished Mexico '86 album away. It's one of my biggest regrets.

[3 Colours Red]

Sallai looks like the bloke Disztl and Roth would have shoved in the boot of the Merc, rolled up in an offcut of carpet.

[scratchmonkey]

1990 - Nestor Sensini, yes, he gave up the PK that Germany won the final on; still, he was the personification of the Latin American defender, rugged, not above a bit of rough play, yet still quite talented technically and a cerebral defender. Not dissimilar to Godin and an example of the kind of player that the current Argentina clearly lacks.

1994 - Klas Ingesson, the Volvo block that drove that fantastic Swedish team (although I maintain they might have had a chance against Brazil in the semifinal if they'd only brought on an electric youngster with dreadlocks for the stuck-in-second-gear Martin Dahlin). Ingesson was a fantastic holding/defensive midfielder as he later proved in Serie A with Bari and Bologna. He was also the spit of Max Von Sydow in the Seventh Seal and when he retired he became a lumberjack. Cancer took him at 46, far too young.

1998 - While That Goal by Dennis Bergkamp definitely features hugely, it's actually Edgar Davids who was my favorite player in France. A combination of sartorial appeal (the glasses, the hair) and the nature of his play, the aggressive, box-to-box driving, the potential for just about anything (a great tackle, a horrendous mistake, a thunderous drive) has made him one of my favorite players over the years and his performance in this Cup was excellent, the apex being the injury-time winner against Yugoslavia.

2002 - Hasan Şaş was deservedly put into the team of the tournament as he was electric pretty much whenever he got the ball, one of those moments where a winger just catches absolute fire that become almost like a force of nature, your hair prickles up a bit whenever they get the ball and you can feel the soul of the fullback curling up like a Shrinky-Dink. Plus he had a good look, the mad bald bastard.

2006 - Antonio Valencia. In high school I spent a month in Ecuador and as such, have always had a bit of fondness for the country. At this time one of my co-workers became good friends and as his father was a International School principal in his youth, he had his favorites from the countries he'd grown up in -- Croatia, the Netherlands, and Ecuador. Valencia is almost certainly the greatest footballer that Ecuador has ever produced, hyped as Villereal's own 'galactico' at the start of his career and then turning into a does-it-all-only-with-just-one-foot right-sided midfielder for Wigan and then Manchester United. This was a pretty forgettable Cup for me (Pekerman torpedoing his own team's chances with craven decisions, Italy winning after a gift penalty against the Aussies and Zidane's Final Moment) and this is about as good as it got for me, I'm afraid.

2010 - Carles Puyol. For that header. And for meeting Spanish royalty after the game in only a towel and being embarrassed about it. I don't think it's a coincidence that Spain have gone off the boil since his retirement. I used to listen to metal before rugby matches to get myself ready to play, learning that Puyol did the same (and with Napalm Death and the Ramones, supposedly) always endeared him to me and seeing him be a huge part of pushing Spain over the edge after so many years felt pretty good.

2014 - Toni Kroos. The right player in the right team at the right time, I think this tournament and especially his part in the Mineirazo, is an example of somebody operating at their peak. He'll always be wearing that Flamengo-esque second jersey in my memories.

2018 - Haven't decided yet.

[Logan Mountstuart]

1970 - Allan Clarke
1974 - Johan Neeskens
1978 - Luque
1982 - Lopez Ufarte!
1986 - Alain Giresse
1990 - Paul Gascoigne
1994 - Trifan Ivanov
1998 - Bixente Lizarazu
2002 - Michael Ballack.
2006 - Philippe Lahm
2010 - Xavi
2014 - Manuel Neuer
2018 - Vincent Kompany (guess).

[Logan Mountstuart]

"2014 Kuyt - played wherever on the field he was required, and played well. Had the Netherlands qualified for the final, we would have played with eleven Dirk Kuyts“.

That's a really good shout. An angel surrounded by cunts?

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

1994 - Klas Ingesson, the Volvo block that drove that fantastic Swedish team (although I maintain they might have had a chance against Brazil in the semifinal if they'd only brought on an electric youngster with dreadlocks for the stuck-in-second-gear Martin Dahlin). Ingesson was a fantastic holding/defensive midfielder as he later proved in Serie A with Bari and Bologna. He was also the spit of Max Von Sydow in the Seventh Seal and when he retired he became a lumberjack. Cancer took him at 46, far too young.

[scratchmonkey]

Cheers for that, PPV.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

He wrote a book right before he died. It's quite gripping and good. Only available in Swedish otherwise I'd send you a copy.