Greatest goal ever scored in a World Cup final

IMHO, there are 2 contenders, both, perhaps unsurprisingly were by the Brazilians. And both of them have been scored so long ago that football fans old enough to have seen them live might be users of wrinkle creams now.

In the 1970 final, with 5 minutes to go, Carlos Alberto scored Brazil’s fourth and final goal against Italy. Eight Brazilians in all were involved, representing The Beautiful Game at its level best. It started with Tost�o from just outside Brazil’s penalty box, who then ran the entire length of the field into Italy’s penalty box, without ever touching the ball again. Meanwhile, Clodoaldo eluded 4 Italians while still in his own half, passed to Rivelino, who in turn passed to Jairzinho on the left, who then pushed inside and gave the ball to Pel�, who then did what’s been called the chess player’s move, as he waited calmly for the perfect moment before rolling it into the path of Carlos Alberto, who’d onrushed all the way from right back. His thundering shot was simply unstoppable – keeper Enrico Albertosi did not even manage to get a hand to it.

Then, in the 1958 World Cup final, Pele, then only 17 years old, scored two goals, both in the second half. The first is probably the greatest goal ever scored in a final, where he lobbed the ball over Bengt Gustavsson, and followed that up with a pinpoint volley. And more than 50 years later, Pele’s records are still unbroken: the youngest to ever play in a World Cup final, the youngest to ever score in a World Cup final and of course the youngest to ever win a World Cup. Pele himself was quoted to have said that this was the sweetest victory of his glittering career.