News

Sporting Memories World Cup XI announced

We had 60 players nominated, and two whole national sides featured in the entries sent by Sporting Memories Club members, staff and Patrons, as well as submissions from the general public.

Ahead of the 2026 final, we can reveal the completed XI of Sporting Memories team of World Cup memories.

Formation

Due to the votes cast, we have gone for an attacking 3-4-3 formation to display the popular voting of many players who did the talking in the opposition’s net, rather than their own!

The Team

And below is our team!

Image shows the following players in formation: Gordon Banks, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, David Narey, Johan Cruyff, Billy Bremner, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Baggio, Diego Maradona, Pele and Eusebio.

Goalkeeper - Gordon Banks

World Cup winner Gordon Banks is the goalkeeper who received the highest amount of nominations for our team. Being part of the 1966 team and also renowned for his wonderful display against Brazil four years later, Banks is an English legend. Other goalkeepers nominated include Gianluigi Buffon, Dino Zoff and Lev Yashin.

Defender - Franz Beckenbauer

One of the greats of German football, everyone puts Beckenbauer as the ultimate defender who can play football.

Jim Thomson from Clyde Foundation explained why he chose Beckenbauer: “playing and scoring v Switzerland in 1966, by his part in beating England in the 1970 quarter final and playing with his arm in a sling in the 1970 semi final v Italy and captaining the 1974 winning side v Holland.”

Defender - Bobby Moore

The second and final Englishman in our XI, the World Cup winning captain from 1966 was and still is recognised as one of the greatest players to have ever played for his country.

Defender - David Narey

A popular vote amongst our Scottish Clubs and members, former Scotland and Dundee United defender makes our line-up for his historical impact on the 1982 World Cup, where he scored the Tartan’s Army goal against Brazil to give them a shock lead. David also played for Scotland in the 1986 for his nation too.

Midfielder - Roberto Baggio

Into the midfielders and it is 1994 World Cup star Roberto Baggio who makes it into our team. Baggio has an incredible tournament alongside his Italian team, but will always be remembered for his impact on the shoot-out in the final.

Our Patron, Paul Hawksbee, shared his memory of Baggio with us: “I was at that Final in the blistering heat of Pasadena. As he walked from the centre circle to take his penalty I would’ve put my house on him missing. His body language was awful. He looked like a condemned man!”

Midfielder - Billy Bremner

Another Scottish player has made our XI – Bremner is considered one of Scotland’s finest midfield players known for his hard-work, tackling and passing skills. Bremner captained Scotland’s World Cup campaign in 1974 despite nearly being omitted from the squad after a late-night incident where he was left stranded in a rowing boat. Our own Jim Purvis provides more details of that incident and World Cup campaign here.

Midfielder - Johan Cruyff

The creator of ‘Total Football’ and of course the ‘Cruyff turn’, Johan is considered one of the true masters of football, known for elegance and technical qualities.

Cruyff was part of the 1974 Netherlands team which made it all the way to the World Cup final where they were eventually defeated by West Germany.

Midfielder - Zinedine Zidane

Zidane was one of the finest players of the early 2000s era across the world, and had some glorious and inglorious history connected to the World Cup.

Zinedine helped France secure the first of their world titles at home in 1998 at the Stade de France as he scored in the final to help Les Bleus succeed. Eight years later ‘Zizou’ was infamously sent-off in the final against Italy, after headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi.

Rob Baker, our Project Coordinator in Wales reflected on why he nominated Zidane: “silky movements, passing, dribbling, scorer of great goals including two in the 1998 final v Brazil.”

Forward - Diego Maradona

From the ‘Hand of God’ to guiding Argentina to World Cup success in 1986, Maradona is one of the most iconic footballers in the history of the game.

Gerald McGeahcey from our Giffnock Club commented that he chose Maradona for his goals against England and Belgium during the tournament in which he helped Argentina secured their second crown.

Forward - Eusebio

Eusebio may no longer be Portugal’s top-ever scorer, but he is unquestionably one of their greatest ever forwards, who made his impact on the international stage at the 1966 World Cup in England.

Helping Portugal secure their best-ever finish of third at the World Cup, Eusebio scored a remarkable nine goals, finishing with the golden boot for the tournament.

Forward - Pele

And finally, it had to be Pele. The man who scored 1000 goals – according to the man himself – was part of the legendary Brazil team which won the 1970 World Cup, which made him the first and still only player to win three world cups – following his titles from 1958 and 1962.

Pele is still considered one of the greatest players to have ever played the game and was the player nominated the most during our call for memorable players. Ian MacGregor from our Stenhousemuir Club, simply commented: “My first recollection of watching World Cup on tv was watching the Brazil team were brilliant - with the standout player being Pele.”

Thank you to everyone who nominated their players for our World Cup XI!