Every four years the World Cup hands us a few images that outlive the tournament itself. They get replayed, argued over, and passed down to the next generation of fans. Some are moments of pure brilliance, others pure drama, and a few are simply impossible to explain.
Diego Maradona produced both inside five minutes against England in 1986: the controversial "Hand of God", then a slaloming solo run often called the goal of the century. Pelé's Brazil in 1970 is still the benchmark for joyful, total attacking football. Zinedine Zidane's 2006 final ended with a red card no one saw coming. And in 2022, Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the only trophy missing from his collection.
What ties them together is not the result but the feeling — the sense that, for a moment, the whole world was watching the same thing at the same time. That is the World Cup's real magic.