I didn't really get fully into football until Euro 96 when I was 10 so 1998 was my first world cup. Not too many great memories from that one. Owen's goal against Argentina, Bergkamp's goal and then Vieira and Petit combining to finish off the final I guess. My best WC memory is probably England beating Argentina in 2002. Only time in my lifetime I can recall England beating one of the major sides in a tournament. I remember the last few minutes being an absolute nightmare and it looked certain they would equalise.
Given that my Dad (Spurs), brother (United) and I all support different clubs who hate each other, the final whistle of this game was one of only two times I can recall us all jumping around the room hugging and celebrating and going mental in unison. My Dad was so happy he even rang his parents in the UK at the end which was about 1am here and they couldn't believe we were calling at that time.
Another memory that sticks out was being in Paris and watching France win their semi final in 2006, then not being able to sleep that night due to all the car horns and celebrations in the streets outside.
Alfonso wrote:
I think partly the reason why 2002 was a flop was the time difference. Watching a big game at 10AM whilst eating your breakfast does not really have the same kind of appeal.
For you maybe but for those of us on this side of the world, watching big games with breakfast or in the middle of the night instead of sleeping is the reality 95% of the time. 2002 was great in terms of time difference over here. We had games 6.30pm, 9pm and 11pm from memory. Only full World Cup I've experienced (I was in the UK from the quarter finals on in 2006) where it was possible to watch all the day's games before bed (or record the 11pm one and watch it in the morning before work/school) without having to miss out on sleep or take days off, or have to avoid talking to anyone during the day who might mention the result of the morning game you've recorded to watch when you get home because you had to leave at half time etc.