1938
Sweden 2-4 Brazil
Leonidas, who was inexplicably left out of the semifinal loss to Italy as Brazil 'wanted to keep him fresh for the final' returned to the line-up against Sweden for their third-place match in the second World Cup.
The Black Diamond struck twice to give Brazil the win and claim the Golden Boot in the process. It was not quite the perfect curtain-call, but it was a rousing performance from arguably the Selecao's first in a long line of World Cup stars.
1958
France 6-3 Germany
Still arguably the best third-place game in the World Cup's history, and inspired by its finest individual performer, this nine-goal thriller featured nearly everything, barring the greatest prize in the footballing world.
After scoring twice in their semifinal loss to Brazil, Frenchman Just Fontaine ran riot, scoring four times against the defending champions to underline his credentials and take his tally for the tournament to a frankly ridiculous 13, a record to this day.
1986
Belgium 2-4 France
Having lost to Poland in the same game four years earlier, France responded with a thrilling victory in Puebla.
France's Jean-Marc Ferreri cancelled out Jan Ceulemans strike before Jean-Pierre Papin gave them the lead. However Belgium found another equaliser and the match rolled into extra time; still the only third-place game to have run that long.
In the last 30 minutes, strikes from Bernard Genghini and Manuel Amoros sealed the win.
2002
S Korea 2-3 Turkey
The two surprise packages of 16 years ago served up a treat in Daegu in the South Korea and Japan World third place match.
Although many still question the plethora of favourable calls that went the South Koreans' way to get them to the stage, those questions were temporarily cast aside when Hakan Sukur scored the fastest World Cup goal in history, after 10.8 seconds.
And a further two goals in the first 13 minutes only added to the drama.
2014
Brazil 0-3 Netherlands
A spectacle, if not a contest.
Brazil seemed to be in national mourning after their 7-1 destruction by Germany in the semifinals.
Meanwhile Louis van Gaal's Netherlands had come off a streaky loss to Argentina after some dominant performances.
In the game, the Dutch showed no mercy.
Robin van Persie scored from the spot three minutes into the game but it was Arjen Robben who ran the show, as it did for the majority of the World Cup.
Leave your comments