The 2014 World Cup began in Brazil with 32 nations all sharing the dream of lifting the greatest trophy on the planet. Now, one month since hosts Brazil opened the tournament on June 12 with a 3-1 victory over Croatia in Sao Paulo, Germany are world champions. They wrote a storied script to find themselves at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, and now the Europeans have their fourth World Cup trophy to date, and are the first European team to win the title on South American soil. Mario Goetze's 113th minute winner in extra time will forever keep him in the company of German soccer royalty.Â
All World Cups are special and unique in their own way, but the 2014 tournament really has been everything and more. There have been 64Â matches played, 171Â goals scored, and more drama than we ever could've imagined. The defending champions were knocked out in the Group Stage, Costa Rica were a penalty shootout away from the semis, and Luis Suarez bit someone on the field for a third time. This tournament really has had it all. And while we can't believe the curtain has finally come down on the 2014 World Cup, we've been left with enough memories to hopefully fill the void for another four years. From Gervinho carving up the Colombian defense to Tim Cahill's audacious volley against the Netherlands, take a look back at The Best Golazos and Skill Moves of the 2014 World Cup.
Written by Adam Silvers (@silversurfer103)