The players who scored iconic winning goals in a World Cup final

Scoring in a World Cup final is something any player dreams of, but scoring the goal that wins it is something else entirely. A handful of players have managed it across the tournament's history, and with the next edition already generating serious interest, the debate over who belongs on this list feels more relevant than ever.

Here are the most iconic World Cup final-winning goal scorers and where their careers took them after.

 

Geoff Hurst, 1966

England 4-2 West Germany was the first World Cup final to produce a hat-trick, and this was not met until Kylian Mbappe achieved the feat in the 2022 final defeat to Argentina. In the 1966 final, Sir Geoff Hurst was not even supposed to be in the starting lineup. Jimmy Greaves was the first choice, but injury let Hurst in, and he never gave the shirt back. His third goal, stabbed into an empty net in the 120th minute with West Germany desperate for an equaliser, settled it.

He spent another six years at West Ham before moves to Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, but no league title ever came. He retired in 1976, having scored 24 goals in 49 England appearances. A career in insurance followed, then after-dinner speaking, and eventually a knighthood in 1998. He remains the last living member of the 1966 final squad.

 

Carlos Alberto, 1970

Brazil's fourth goal against Italy at the Azteca sealed a 4-1 win and gave the world one of the most replicated pieces of football footage in existence. Carlos Alberto Torres collected Pele's sideways pass and hammered it into the bottom corner with the conviction of someone who had seen the space opening up from 30 yards back. As a right-back, the audacity of the run alone made it extraordinary.

A knee injury kept him out of the 1974 World Cup, and he never played at that level again. He moved to New York Cosmos in 1977, won three North American Soccer League titles alongside Pele, and later worked as a football pundit in Brazil. He died in Rio de Janeiro in October 2016.

 

Ronaldo, 2002

Four years earlier in Paris, Ronaldo had been listed in the starting lineup against France, withdrawn before kick-off following what was later reported as a convulsive episode, then reinstated. He played, Brazil lost 3-0, and a parliamentary commission was set up to investigate. By 2002, he had also spent the best part of three years recovering from two separate knee injuries serious enough to threaten his career entirely.

What followed in Yokohama was the complete opposite. Both goals in a 2-0 win over Germany, eight goals across the tournament, and the Golden Boot. He joined Real Madrid that summer, won La Liga in his first season, and scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford that drew a standing ovation from Manchester United supporters. Injuries and weight problems resurfaced in his later years, and he retired at 34 in 2011.

 

Andres Iniesta, 2010

Spain and the Netherlands were level at 0-0 deep into extra time in Johannesburg, heading towards penalties. In the 116th minute, Andres Iniesta met a pass from Cesc Fabregas and rolled it past the goalkeeper. He pulled his shirt off to reveal a tribute to his friend Dani Jarque, an Espanyol captain who had died of a heart attack the previous year, and earned a yellow card for it.

He had already won two Champions Leagues with Barcelona. Three more followed, along with nine La Liga titles and the 2012 European Championship, where he was named player of the tournament. He left Barcelona in 2018 for Vissel Kobe in Japan, played a final season in the UAE, and retired in October 2024 at 40. He remains the only player in history to win man of the match in a World Cup final, a European Championship final, and a Champions League final.

 

Mario Gotze, 2014

Joachim Low sent Mario Gotze on as a substitute with Germany and Argentina still goalless in extra time at the Maracana. Seven minutes later, Gotze controlled Andre Schurrle's cross on his chest and volleyed home left-footed from close range. Germany were world champions for the fourth time.

Gotze was 22 years old. The weight of that moment followed him through stalled seasons at Bayern Munich and a difficult return to Borussia Dortmund, compounded by a metabolic disorder that cost him significant time. He left Germany for PSV Eindhoven in 2017, rebuilt his career quietly in the Netherlands, and returned to the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022. He was recalled to the Germany squad for that year's World Cup in Qatar, eight years after his finest moment.