Whatever happens over the weekend, this World Cup is guaranteed its place at the top table in the history of the tournament.

The debate as to whether Brasil 2014 is beyond doubt the outstanding edition of the finals will spark into life after Sunday’s showdown, after the awarding of the trophy and the medals, and the mopping of tears of joy and despair.

But, inevitably, there have already been comparisons with previous contests, some in the dim and distant past, others more recent.

Generally, a tournament will linger in the memory for a particular reason, good or bad, rather than for the consistent quality that set it apart from the rest. Or it will be hailed by some fans for no other reason than that their team won.

So England fans will look no farther than 1966, France will remember 1998 for ever and Spain have 2010 etched into the memory.

My vivid recollections extend no farther back than 1970, although countless TV tributes remind us that, in addition to England’s success, the 1966 tournament brought the phenomenal North Koreans, the power and poise that Eusébio found to finally overcome them in the quarter-finals and the appalling antics at the same stage of the competition of the Argentina captain Antonio Rattin.

But, overall, the enjoyment of a World Cup is about more than the quality of the action and the nationality of the winners. Much is about where you watched it, how you watched it and with whom. Because of those factors, and in spite of England’s infuriating habit of catapulting your mood between ecstasy and agony, my favourite World Cup was Italia ’90.

England, under Bobby Robson, improved as the tournament progressed, not least because they could hardly have deteriorated after the dullest of group games. Their knockout victories over Belgium and Cameroon were edge-of-the-seat viewing, and their penalty defeat by the Germans in the semi-final utterly undeserved.

The final descended into a circus in England’s absence, but the biggest farce was the team’s failure to even qualify for 1994 in the United States after the Football Association casually allowed Robson to walk away.

I watched it in Bermuda, in a community passionate about football and swept away with the excitement of every kick.

The landlord of our apartment said that he would hook us up to his satellite so we could watch every match live — and then he let us down, leaving us in the hands of the erratic Bermuda Broadcasting Corporation.

Its coverage of England’s second-round match against Belgium was delayed transmission, as-live, unsatisfactory but the only option. It went down to the last kick. We were frantic: chewing nails, tearing hair out, emptying the fridge and wondering why one of our number remained calm and unruffled throughout. And afterwards he told us: he had heard the score on the way round to our place, but he managed to keep it to himself so as not to ruin our enjoyment.

We bumped into the same guy on our way home from National Sports Club after watching that semi-final against Germany. His girlfriend was visiting from the UK and he had had to take her to the beach instead of watching the match. He read our faces for traces of emotion that might indicate the outcome of the match, and he told me later that he was convinced that England had won.

During the tournament, we spent even more time than usual in the Robin Hood — and at house parties. The only low-key event was the third-place play-off when Italy beat England in a contest played at little more than friendly pace — and the Bermuda Broadcasting Company joined in by not transmitting the game until it was about 25 minutes old.

The biggest letdown was the final, a clash between Argentina and West Germany as brutal and as raw as the burgers served up by our Canadian host — OK as The Royal Gazette’s Chief Reporter, but lousy as a chef!

World Cup six-pack

Team of the tournament: Undoubtedly Cameroon. But for a late penalty, converted by Gary Lineker to take the quarter-final into extra time, they would have become the first African team to reach the last four.

Player of the tournament: The manic Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci claimed the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and will be remembered for ever for the boundless energy and sheer joy of his goal celebration.

Goal of the tournament: England appeared to be heading for their first World Cup penalty shoot-out until, with a minute left on the clock, David Platt swivelled to volley a chip from Paul Gascoigne into the net. Knapton Hill erupted!

Misjudgment of the tournament: Maradona made the error of thinking Napoli fans thought more of him than of their own nation when Argentina faced Italy in the semi-final in Naples. They didn’t, and his plea for support sparked a furious reaction.

Media high point: The Royal Gazette’s Sports Editor responded to Cameroon’s second-round win over Colombia and place in the last eight with a one-word headline the width of a big page: “Camerooooooooon!”

Media low point: This was the World Cup at which Ron Atkinson ended up in hot water for his racist comments about the Cameroon player Benjamin Massing. We broke the story in The Royal Gazette and then offered it to the English media. We had Big Ron’s voice on tape, but The Sun, for which he wrote a column, insisted the words were never said!

n Phil Ascough, the author of Never Mind The Penalties — The Ultimate World Cup Quiz Book (foreword by Kevin Kilbane) and Never Mind The Tigers, both published by The History Press, was a senior reporter and sub-editor at The Royal Gazette from 1989 to 1992