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CASTROL INDEX FIFA WORLD CUP™ LEGENDS
The FIFA World Cup™ brings together the greatest players on the planet to perform on the world's biggest stage. Here you can find out which player produced the most outstanding performance in each tournament between 1966-2010 to go down in history as a true World Cup legend.
CASTROL INDEX TOURNAMENT LEGENDS
Gianluigi Buffon 2006
9.61
In the 2006 World Cup Finals™, hosts Germany eschewed their trademark dour efficiency for a free-flowing style of play. However, ultimately it would be the teamwork and defensive parsimony of Italy that would win out, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon shining between the posts. The experienced net-minder shipped just two goals, an own-goal and a penalty, while overall he saved a superb 93% of the shots on his goal, well above the 83% average for FIFA World Cup™ winning goalkeepers.
Losing-finalists France take four of the top five places, with the defensively-minded Lilian Thuram, William Gallas and Patrick Vieira joined by striker Thierry Henry. Along with Henry, Golden-Shoe winner Miroslav Klose of Germany is the only other striker in the Castrol Index Top 10, and the only other forward in the top 26 for that matter, courtesy of his five-goal haul.
Defenders totally dominate the rankings, taking 14 of the Top 25 positions, with defensive stalwarts such as the Italian central defensive duo of Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi and the entire German and French back fours all featuring high up in the rankings. French superstar Zinedine Zidane, whose tournament was overshadowed by an infamous moment of madness in the final, comes in in 24th place. Despite winning the Golden Ball, mainly for his performances in the knockout stages, he was
2006 FIFA World Cup™ | Germany
Top 10 players of 2006
| Name | Team |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gianluigi Buffon |
ITA
 |
9.61 |
| 2 | Lilian Thuram |
FRA
 |
9.58 |
| 3 | William Gallas |
FRA
|
9.56 |
| 4 | Patrick Vieira |
FRA
|
9.54 |
| 5 | Thierry Henry |
FRA
|
9.51 |
| 6 | Miroslav Klose |
DEU
 |
9.48 |
| 7 | Michael Ballack |
DEU
|
9.47 |
| 8 | Fabio Cannavaro |
ITA
|
9.43 |
| 9 | Ricardo |
PRT
 |
9.42 |
| 10 | Roberto Ayala |
ARG
 |
9.37 |
Paolo Rossi was the most clinical finisher in 1982, converting 46% of his shots and 6 of his 7 shots on target found the back of the net.
Ronaldo was the most prolific marksman at the 2002 World Cup firing more than 50% more shots on target than any other player.
Franz Beckenbauer was deadly inside the penalty area during the 1966 FIFA World Cup™, scoring three goals from nine shots, all of which were on target.
