The goal is the essence of soccer, and the best goals in the history of soccer that we bring you below have remained forever in the memory of fans of this sport. There are them of all tastes and colors: Chilean, dribbling, long-distance shells and Vaselines. Join us on this nostalgic journey to the best goals in football history .

  • You can also read: The 15 soccer players who have won the most Ballon d’Ors.

The best goals in the World Cups
The history of the World Cups, that great event that every four years leaves millions of people around the world glued to the screen, is inseparable from some names like Pele or Maradona.

1. Diego Armando Maradona to England
Not only in the World Cups: many agree that it is the best goal in history , not only because of the execution but because of the history behind it. In fact, after his death at the end of 2020, many see this goal as a clear example that Diego Armando Maradona is the best soccer player in history.
It was 1986, the great final of the World Cup held in Mexico. And fate, capricious at times, had wanted the teams of Argentina and England, whose nations had faced each other in the Malvinas war four years before , to face each other .
In the 54th minute of the match, an entire nation holds its breath when Diego Armando Maradona receives the ball in midfield.
With his characteristic style, the ball glued to the boot, Maradona leaves behind three rivals, breaks another path to the goal and on the edge of the area he leaves at the speed of another. Although the penultimate one who had broken manages to reach him, he coldly cuts the goalkeeper and sneaks it inside him, leaving a work of art for history.

2. Beat Sweden

Many say he is the best of all time , and although most of us haven’t seen him play, putting his goals on YouTube brings us a little closer to his excellence. In 1958 he scored one of the best goals in history, but the best part is that he was just a 17-year-old kid representing Brazil against World Cup host Sweden.
So that goal has gone down in history not only because it is precious, but because it gave birth to a star: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele. The next day, the press echoed a new revelation in world football, one of those geniuses who appear only from time to time.
That night in 1958, the black and white camera records a pass inside the area that Pele lowers with his chest, gaining position against the defender, and before the arrival of another defender who is going to stop the ball like a train, the Brazilian makes him a hat with an amazing cold blood and riddles the goalkeeper with the ground.

3. Hagi against Colombia
One of the most remembered goals in the history of football, and of course in the World Cups, was scored by the Romanian Gica Hagi, nicknamed “the Maradona of the Carpathians”. He played for Barcelona , ​​where he didn’t stand out too much, but his best goal was scored with his national team.
In 1994, Romania, a team with a rather discreet role in world football, offered a picturevery competitive that took him to the quarterfinals . In the game against Colombia, Hagi, who was the soul of the team, had assisted in the first goal and had put the rival goalkeeper to the test more than once with his shot.
Suddenly, in a play in the spinal cord that seems to have no more complications, Hagi sees the goalkeeper ahead and surprises with a very fast shot that has the extra difficulty of going, in long Vaseline, from one side to the other .

4. Eder against the USSR
Brazil is once again the reference and, on this occasion, the goal came from Eder’s boots at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In this case, what embellishes the shot is the genius that the footballer performs to accommodate the ball.
Brazil played in this case with the Soviet team, a match of the first round. In a play on the edge of the area, a player from the “canarinha” lets the ball pass under his legs so that it reaches Eder low, who at running speed gently hits it to pick it up and before it falls to the ground he finishes it off like a shell to the net .

5. Maxi Rodriguez to Mexico
The American duel that offered the World Cup in Germany in 2006, between Argentina and Mexico, also left a dream goal for history. Maxi Rodriguez did it and it is a masterful volley in the 97th minute , with the score 1-1.
At one point in the game, Messi opens a ball to the left where Sorin hits a long pass to the other side of the field, towards the right vertex of the large area, where Maxi is. Coming from the opposite side, Maxi hits the ball after a chest-oriented control, without letting it fall to the ground, putting it to the opposite corner.

An authentic wonder to see again and again and not stop delighting.

6. Manuel Negrete against Bulgaria
Although it is more common to see volleys, lobs, long-distance shots or devilish dribbles, a scissors like the one seen in the Bulgaria-Mexico 1986 (What a prolific World Cup!) is not common .
The author of the goal will not go down in history as one of the greats, but in Mexico he is still remembered. Manuel Negrete then represented the host team when he scores a great goal that you better watch directly on Youtube, because he is not wasted. It is an acrobatic action that ends in a wonderful goal .
The most brilliant thing is the leg movement that he makes falling to the ground and with which he manages to give the ball the ideal direction. He was overshadowed by Maradona’s goal against England, but football nostalgics still remember him .

The best goals of the Champions
The most prestigious competition in the world, along with the World Cups, is the Champions League, where the best players and teams with the most history compete.

7. Zinedine Zidane to Bayer Leverkusen
There is no doubt that Real Madrid is the most successful team in Europe, and not only because of the titles it has accumulated, but because with great players it has left historic nights to remember .
One of the greatest players who has had the honor of having in his ranks, Zinedine Zidane and who currently trains the white team, managed to garner a broad consensus in considering, beyond the colors, that the goal he scored in the final against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 is the best in the history of the competition.
It is so plastic, so wonderful in terms of aesthetics, that you have to see it with Pavarotti’s voice in the “Nessun Dorma” in the background, and enjoy seeing how the melon that Roberto Carlos sends him falls, and how he sends it to the square with such terrifying simplicity. No, it cannot be described. You have to see it.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus
We had the honor of seeing him recently, this same 2018, and he came from the boots of one of the best, Cristiano Ronaldo. It doesn’t matter that he tried dozens of times, if the result was what we saw in the first leg of the quarter-final against Juventus in Turin.
As well as being an excellent footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best athletes in the world, and he showed it that night whenIt rose 2 meters and 38 centimeters to, suspended in the air, contact the ball to put it in the base of the net.
Buffon compared him to Pele, and it is not for less. The atmosphere of that night wraps the goal in an image to remember, but the best thing is that what the cameras captured 24 hours before: Cristiano scored the same goal in training .

9. Andres Iniesta to Chelsea
The golden age of Guardiola’s Barca has as one of its icons the image of Iniesta’s goal at Stamford Bridge, when in the last minutes of the game and after a bad game in which Barca was out of the competition at the gates of the final, transforms a low pass from the corner into a goal for the entire squad.
Seeing the goal in slow motion scares the ease with which he does it, because he barely moves his body and only throws his leg . The ball rises while the stadium holds its breath and, as it hits the net, euphoria explodes.
That was in 2009, the date on which Barcelona ended up winning the Champions League in a historic year. Just one year later, Iniesta himself scored the goal that gave the first World Cup in its history to the Spanish team. Without a doubt, one of the great footballers in history.

10. They leave Savicevic to Barca
Besides being a beautiful goal, it was made in a final, which always makes it more difficult due to the pressure. In this case it was in the fateful final in Athens for the Barcelona fans, whereCruyff’s Barca, already in decline , lost the final against Milan by 4-0
. When the result was already 2-0 for the Italians, Albertini sends a bad pass to Savicevic who, however, takes advantage of the mistake of the Barca defender Nadal stops, from one end of the field, outside the area, to shoot a Vaseline at Zubizarreta, who is ahead. The touch with the interior is pure art .
By the way, Dejan Savicevic had already won the European Cup on a historic night, in 1991, with the Red Star of Belgrade. Without a doubt, one of the best Yugoslav players of all time .

11. Philippe Mexes to Anderlecht
When it comes to Chileans, it is always good to go back to that night when Philippe Mexes, a Milan player, flew over the skies of the San Siro stadium to score one of the most beautiful goals in the Champions League. It was 2012, and the result ended up being favorable to the Italians by 3 to 1.
Although the match did not have much importance, this time the goal becomes relevant due to the difficulty . The French international is in a corner of the large area when the pass arrives, from a direct free, pumped so that he stops it with his chest and makes the bicycle kick of his life.
The important thing in this goal is to see as a second before the action, Mexes clearly asks the executor of the foul to pass it to him. Quite a premonition.

12. Messi to Real Madrid
In the history of Champions League goals, Lionel Messi could not be missing, and although it is difficult to select one of the many he has scored, the one he signed in 2011 against eternal rival Real Madrid stands out. .
At that time, Barca was a team in a state of grace guided by an enlightened Messi. Throughout the game, the best player in the world was very inspired , directing the team’s play and, every time he touched the ball, the Santiago Bernabeu held its breath. And in the end, the inevitable had to happen.
When the game is about to end and Leo has already scored the only goal of the game, a Busquets pass leaves him three quarters of the field to take the entire defense to the right side of the goal and, once there, his Mercy, cross the ball to the left . A delight for the eyes.

  • More about sport: The 20 most supportive elite athletes in the world.

The best goals in other competitions
In European Championships, in friendly matches or in national leagues, these are the most outstanding works of art that deserve to enter the best.

13. Marco van Basten to the USSR
In 1988 the Soviet logic still ruled in a very forceful way in football, but in front of him he had, that night of June 25 in Munich, one of the brightest generations of footballers who wore the shirt of the Dutch team.

Among them was Marco van Basten , considered by many to be one of the most successful footballers. In that final he signed one of the great games of his career, guiding his team to the title, and putting a finishing touch at the height of the greatest.
With the result 1-0 for the Dutch, Marco van Basten hooks a cross ball with the instep to nail the ball in the other corner of the goal with a volley of great difficulty due to the lack of angle. Many consider it the best goal in the history of football, without a doubt to see repeated more than once.

14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic to England
Probably the most incredible Chilean goal because of the difficulty, because it defies the laws of physics. There is no doubt that, despite his character, Ibrahimovic has been one of the strikers with the greatest natural talent for scoring. And this work of art supports it .
This goal takes place in a friendly match between the Swedish and England teams in 2012. In that match Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed one of his best performances scoring four goals for the Swedish team .
When the English had closed the gap and were one goal away from equalizing (3-2), a rebound from the Swedish defense turns into a melon that the English goalkeeper tries to deflect with his head without success. The ball falls to Ibrahimovic who makes a very fast turn outside the large area, at one end .
The ball, although at a great height, goes with such power that it falls like a shell . A beautiful goal.

15. Messi to Getafe
There are goals that defy the laws of physics, like Ibrahimovic’s, and others that defy history. And Messi dared to do it in a Barcelona-Getafe of the Copa del Rey .
It was 2007, the first leg of the semifinals, and Messi’s name had been sounding like heir to Maradona’s throne for some time. Comparisons were inevitable. We will never know what went through Leo’s mind when he received the ball in the same area that Maradona did in that Argentina-England match in 1986.
What we do know is that Lionel Messi perfectly traces the layout of the play and cuts the goalkeeper with the same coldness. Messi dared that night to challenge history , to reproduce the greatest goal of one of the greatest.

16. Ronaldo al Compostela
Players of all kinds have been seen on the soccer fields, and the eternal debate about who is the best player of all time will always be open. What is certain is that Ronaldo Nazario has been the player with the most explosive power combined with quality .
Although his time at Barcelona was fleeting, that year his figure was consolidated in the eyes of the world and, in addition, he scored one of the best goals in history. It was against Compostela, in a league game in 1996.
At one point, two players from the rival team accidentally lost the ball and Ronaldo smelled the blood. He grabs the ball and starts a race against time and against opponentsThey grab him and try to knock him down without success. Ten seconds that end in the rival area, where he still cuts two more opponents and puts it falling to the ground.

17. Eric Cantona v Sunderland
It’s hard to hold back a goal from such an overwhelming and talented player. Controversial on and off the field, Eric Cantona became a legend of French football, although his best goals were made with the Manchester United shirt .
He had a very powerful shot that he used to score some aesthetically beautiful goals, but his most complete goal was scored in a match against English side Sunderland in 1996. He initiates play in midfield., he turns leaving behind some rivals with several dribbles, and encouraged by the shouts of the public he faces the goal.
The resolution of the goal is fast and a delight, within the reach of only one of the greatest. He makes a wall with a teammate and before the goalkeeper comes out he decides to stop time: he gently pokes the ball so that it slips across the corner of the opposite post.

The celebration is not wasted . In his usual style, he challenges everyone by looking at the stands as if to say: “Yes, I am the best”.

18. Nayim to Arsenal
There was a time when Zaragoza rubbed shoulders with the greats of Europe, and although now the team is far from its best version, all Zaragoza fans remember with a smileEndearing that final of the 1995 European Cup Winners’ Cup in which Ceuti Nayim signed one of the great goals in history and gave victory to his team.
The goal has many interesting ingredients. It is a modest team, Zaragoza, fighting for a European title against a historic team, Arsenal. The match goes 1-1 and there is less than a minute left to run out of time. Zaragoza goes to a distressing extra time, but the fans wave their flags and sing with enthusiasm .
The goalkeeper of the Spanish team serves long and a bad header from an opponent leaves the ball bouncing Nayim at the height of the midfield, on the right side. Seeing the English goalkeeper advanced, he tries a distant and very high shot that goes down with devilish speedsneaking into the goal and unleashing the euphoria in the stadium.

19. Clarence Seedorf to Atletico
Without a doubt, this is among one of the best goals and it was scored by Clarence Seedorf with the Real Madrid shirt. The Dutch player gave madridismo great afternoons of glory, but few joys like that night, in 1997, in the Madrid derby held at the Santiago Bernabeu.
As often happens in these cases, Seedorf receives the ball in apparent stillness. Silence envelops the stadium. But when he arms his leg in the midfield, many meters from the goal, the noise of the public accelerates until it reaches ecstasy at the same time that the ball penetrates with brutal force into the mesh of the rival goal.
Many goals have been seen from long distance, but none with such brutal sustained speed from so many meters behind. A challenge to physics, and a gift to soccer .

20. Roberto Carlos to Tenerife
It will be remembered forever as the impossible goal. In a match of the Cope del Rey in 1998, Real Madrid’s Brazilian winger Roberto Carlos receives a deep pass from his wing and when it seems that he is going to cross, a few centimeters from the baseline, he takes a hat out of his hat. shot in a parabola with the outside of his left foot that ends up inside the goal.
Many are surprised by what has just happened, and although the goal is truly one of the most wonderfully strange in the history of football, the truth is that it is not so strange, because Roberto Carlos had perfected a very powerful shot with a very powerful parabola. particular. He had a real talent for it.

Do not forget to put the goal on again and again , to continue surprising you.
It will be difficult to repeat goals of this caliber. However, and despite the pandemic times that have been an important parenthesis in soccer competitions worldwide, there are still great active players who can go down in history thanks to their great goals .
To watch live and online the best international matches, we have discovered a compilation of platforms to watch football online that the companions of Espana Diario have updated with up to 30 web pages from where you can access the first or second division matches, both from Spain as well as from Latin America or from other international leagues . Here we leave you the link to provide you with all the information and access. Enjoy the best goals in the world !