Sir Geoff Hurst, the man who scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, has been named the 10th greatest World Cup legend of all time in a BBC Sport ranking. Hurst was not supposed to play in the showpiece at Wembley, as England's star striker Jimmy Greaves was returning from injury. But manager Sir Alf Ramsey stuck with Hurst, who had only made his international debut a few months earlier. The West Ham forward delivered a fabulous hat-trick, a feat only matched by France's Kylian Mbappe in the 2022 final — and Mbappe was on the losing side. Without Hurst, there would be no "they think it's all over…" and no 60 years of hurt for England fans.
One spot ahead at ninth is Brazil's Cafu, the only man to appear in three successive World Cup finals. The marauding full-back came off the bench as Brazil beat Italy on penalties at the Rose Bowl in 1994. He was a beaten finalist in France four years later, and then lifted the trophy as captain at the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea. Comedian Kevin Bridges helped make the case for Cafu in his documentary 'In Search of the Beautiful Game', where he meets the legend on Copacabana beach. The ranking, compiled by BBC Sport, attempts to whittle down thousands of players from 22 tournaments over almost a century to name the top 10 most synonymous with the World Cup.
“Sir Geoff Hurst and Cafu feature in BBC Sport's top 10 World Cup legends list.”