While World Cups come around only every four years, history's judgement can rest heavily on a player's performance at the global finals.

However many Champions Leagues, Ballons D'Or or domestic titles the greats accrue, replicating such success while wearing the colours of their country does not always come so easily.

Sometimes, though, a man takes not only his national team but also the entire finals by the scruff of the neck, imposing his will on opponents by sheer force of character or exceptional skill. Sometimes both.

On several occasions, one individual has shone brightest on the World Cup stage, and though their brilliance has not always led to lifting the beautiful game's grandest prize, fans worldwide are left with indelible memories of their mastery.

Before the die is cast as to whether Qatar 2022 may be remembered as either the Messi or Mbappe finals, Sports Mole looks back at some of those who made such an impact on previous World Cups.

Diego Maradona (1986)

At the peak of his apparently limitless powers, Diego Armando Maradona dominated at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, recording both five goals and five assists to drive Argentina to the title for a second time.

Combining controversy and charisma in equal measure, the brilliant playmaker displayed the full range of his skill and vision during an unforgettable summer for Albiceleste supporters.

Having set up all three goals in his nation's first group game, Maradona's masterpiece perhaps reached its thrilling crescendo against England in the quarter-finals.

A game in which his incredible solo run and finish followed the infamous 'Hand of God' took Argentina one step closer to glory, and the Napoli star was awarded the Golden Ball after a 3-2 defeat of West Germany in the final.

Garrincha (1962)

A player beset by tragedy as much as triumph, Brazilian great Garrincha achieved global acclaim in 1962, when he became the first player to win the Golden Ball, Golden Boot and World Cup trophy at the same finals.

After an injury to talismanic teammate Pele in the Selecao's second game of a tournament hosted in Chile, the diminutive winger turned in a series of scintillating displays to help his nation win the second of back-to-back World Cups.

Nicknamed 'Little Bird', Garrincha's inimitable dribbling style turned bemused defenders inside out, and his four goals included two in the semi-final, before Brazil beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 to lift the Jules Rimet trophy once again.

Befitting a career tainted by controversy and ill-discipline, he missed out on the final after being sent off in the semis, but it was his rare ability that had carried his country that far.

Zinedine Zidane (1998)

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. A phrase often repeated, but never more valid than in the final World Cup of the 20th century, which was hosted in Zidane's home nation, France.

At the hub of a multicultural squad which changed the face of French football, the Marseille-born midfielder with Algerian heritage set up two goals in the group stage but missed the first knockout round after being sent off for an unedifying stamping offence.

Having recovered from such shame - which foreshadowed events in the 2006 final - 'Zizou' returned to help Les Bleus reach the final. There, he handled the ultimate pressure of producing on home soil; outshining Golden Ball winner Ronaldo, who was a pale shadow of his former self due to illness.

Zidane's two headed goals against Brazil ultimately earned France global glory for the very first time - and set the sublimely gifted playmaker down the path to becoming one of the World Cup's greats.

Gerd Muller (1970)

Nicknamed 'Der Bomber' for good reason, Muller blasted his way to being Mexico 70's top scorer with a supreme tally of 10 goals in just five matches, having notched hat-tricks in two successive games on West Germany's path to the semi-finals.

The Bayern Munich legend remains the last player to hit double figures at a single World Cup, and he ultimately concluded a sparkling international career with 68 goals from 62 appearances.

Though the Germans went on to be crowned European and then World champions in 1972 and 1974 respectively, Muller - who passed away last year - actually remembered 1970 as a far better experience, in which he played a pivotal part in some classic contests.

Eusebio (1966)

Winning the Golden Boot was perhaps a minor consolation for one of football's greatest forwards in 1966, as Eusebio's dreams of winning the World Cup ended in tears following Portugal's loss to England in the semi-finals.

Arriving on English soil in the summer of '66, he had already topped the scoring charts in European qualifying, and the Benfica star found the net four times in a dramatic comeback win over North Korea.

Eusebio showed off both a fearsome ability to accelerate - which could carry him 100 metres in less than 11 seconds - and a predatory instinct in the opposition area, as he blazed a trail for under-represented black players at a time when no African nations took part in the global finals.

A total of nine goals - some three clear of his closest challenger - took the Selecao as far as the semis, but the Mozambique-born maestro was never to play in another World Cup.

Just Fontaine and Pele (1958)

Only selected to start due to an injury sidelining France's first-choice striker, Fontaine rattled in 13 goals during six games at Sweden's 1958 hosting of the World Cup - a high watermark that will most likely never be broken.

Indeed, four of those strikes came against defending champions West Germany, but a Pele-inspired Brazil subsequently swept Les Bleus aside in the semis.

The 17-year-old forward's hat-trick against the French first highlighted his prodigious talent on the global stage, and such displays not only enraptured the Swedish fans but also viewers of the first widely televised finals.

After scoring the only goal in a quarter-final win over Wales, his three goals against Fontaine's France were followed by a brace in Brazil's 5-2 win against the hosts in the final. A star was born.

Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer (1974)

A true clash of purists versus pragmatists has echoed down the ages, after one of the architects of 'Total Football' succumbed to the mastery of a defender ranking among the greatest of all time.

Dutch great Cruyff may have featured in just a single World Cup for various reasons, but as with fellow one-timers Fontaine and Eusebio, the stylish star of probably the Netherlands' best-ever team made quite an impact in the summer of 1974.

While his peerless exhibition of technique and sky-high football intelligence led a brilliant Oranje squad all the way to the final, West Germany were ultimately crowned winners thanks largely to another imperious display from captain Beckenbauer, who enjoyed making the play from deep.

The hosts successfully kept their rivals at bay to win 2-1 - with 'Der Kaiser' defining the sweeper role to perfection - though it was Cruyff who received the bittersweet consolation of being awarded the Golden Ball.