Mexico 86: Adidas Copa Mundial.
At Mexico 1986, a lot attention was given to Maradona and his hand of God. In the same tournament Gary Lineker's left foot won him the golden boot. He notched six goals in the tournament - including a hat-trick against Poland - doing all of this wearing a pair of Copas. Adidas' timeless classics have since been adopted by no-nonsense hard-men and the GAA alike.
Italia 90: Puma King.
Lotthar Matthaus and his Puma Kings captained a West Germany side to World Cup triumph in 1990; dumping England out of the semis, before trudging past Argentina in a tedious final. The Puma King boot - worn by many of the victorious West Germany side - is a triumph of German engineering; considered by many to be the perfect football boot. Similarly to The Adidas Copas, Kings are still knocking about with very little variation to the original formula.
USA 94: The Adidas Predator
1994 saw the birth of one of the most popular and iconic brands in football. The Adidas Predator has come in many shapes and varieties. Championed by Becks and Zidane, the Predator is probably the most popular boot ever to have been manufactured. Ex-Liverpool midfielder Craig Johnson designed the boot that was worn by most of the players at the 94 World Cup Finals. Johnson turned down the opportunity to play international football for Australia because,"playing football for Australia is like surfing for England". Here's his creation...
France 98: Nike Vapour
Nike launched the first vapour boot in 1998; a boot that was inspired by and designed for the Brasilian Ronaldo. A man who lit up the World Cup in France. Nike chose the right player and the right platform on which to launch their design; Ronaldo made all the headlines propelling his vapours into the limelight.
Korea/Japan 2002: Diadora
Roy Keane's Diadoras win despite never touching grass in the 2002 World Cup finals. Upon reaching Saipan Roy Keane and his boots were less than satisfied. Perhaps Keane was worried that the cement-like pitch might have ruined them?
Germany 2006: Adidas Predator
Zidane provided most of the headlines in 2006 when his French side crashed out against Italy in the final: His golden boots were magnificent, glinting gleefully as he strutted his stuff. Also glinting was Zidane's bald head; which he used to batter Marco Materazzi to earn himself a straight red card. This is the second time that Predators have made it into the list – Craig Johnson must be a very wealthy man.
South Africa 2010: Adidas Adipure
Nigel De Jong's black Adipures make it onto the list mostly because of their design, although the inclusion might have something to do with the connection they made with Xabi Alonso's chest in the final against Spanish. Interestingly Xabi Alonso was also wearing Adipures. De Jong and co. employed controversial tactics in their defeat which in summation included kick lumps out of the technically superior Spanish.
