Golden generation

Led by Manu Ginóbili and accompanied by players like Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni, Pablo Prigioni and Walter Herrmann, the Argentina national basketball team between 2000 and 2012 has been referred to as the "Golden Generation".

[3] During the 10 years from 2002 to 2012 in which Belgium failed to qualify for major tournaments, a golden generation matured, many of whom gained both prime individual and team awards in foreign European clubs and competitions.

[12] Other key players of this golden generation include Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Yannick Carrasco, Axel Witsel, Mousa Dembélé, Dries Mertens, Marouane Fellaini, Thomas Vermaelen, and Toby Alderweireld.

During the reign of Sven-Göran Eriksson, Adam Crozier, the chief executive of the Football Association and some members of the British media, touted players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen, and Steven Gerrard as the nucleus of a potential Golden Generation team.

Rio Ferdinand claimed that the pressure of the "Golden Generation" tag had a negative effect on the players, restricting their ability to perform to their full potential for the national team.

[44] With the rise of stars such as Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Dele Alli, Kyle Walker, Jordan Henderson, Kieran Trippier, Raheem Sterling, Harry Maguire, Eric Dier, John Stones, and other youngsters, England again became a powerhouse in world football, claiming 4th place at the FIFA World Cup 2018 and maintaining a top 5 place in the FIFA rankings since October of that year.

Despite this impressive recent record, the French team flopped at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, losing to newcomers Senegal in the opening match of the tournament and crashing out in the group stages without scoring a single goal and taking only one point from their three games.

[46][47] The French golden team[48] was composed of players such as Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps, Fabien Barthez, Emmanuel Petit, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu and Franck Ribéry.

Then in 2018, they won the FIFA World Cup, beating Croatia 4–2 in the final and thus starting a new golden generation of players including Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, N'Golo Kante, Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane and Blaise Matuidi.

At the subsequent Euros, they were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16 but then won the Nations League in 2021, beating Spain in the final with goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe.

With Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Per Mertesacker playing a major role in these results already, it was the addition of Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira, Mesut Özil, Toni Kroos, Mario Götze and Thomas Müller that pushed Germany to a top-tier world class team.

Led by Joachim Löw the team finished in the top 4 in all major tournaments, additionally 2014 winning their first world title after the German reunification in 1990 and reaching first place in the FIFA rankings for the first time after 20 years.

The generation of Italian players during the late 1990s and early 2000s was renowned for an elite defense, most notably consisting of Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Other key players included Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri, Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi, Gennaro Gattuso, and Andrea Pirlo.

This golden generation was filled with players most notably including, Iker Casillas, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Busquets, David Villa, Fernando Torres, Gerard Piqué, Xabi Alonso and David Silva helped Spain win the UEFA European Championship in 2008 and 2012, and the FIFA World Cup in 2010, making them the first team ever to win the World Cup and both continental championships either side of it.

[64][65][66] Key players in the 2010–2014 period included Madjid Bougherra, Mehdi Lacen, Djamel Mesbah, Hassan Yebda, Sofiane Feghouli, Islam Slimani, Yacine Brahimi and Raïs M'Bolhi.

In the 1962 World Cup, Brazil earned its second title with Garrincha as the star player, a mantle and responsibility laid upon him after the regular talisman, Pelé, was injured during the second group match against Czechoslovakia and unable to play for the rest of the tournament.

2002 is commonly considered the peak of the national team as they won every game en route to victory at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with the 3R's (Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rivaldo who scored 2, 8 and 4 goals respectively) carrying them to the trophy.

In 2010, however, a new generation of footballers, led by Luis Suárez, Diego Forlán and Edinson Cavani, formed a team considered to be Uruguay's best in the last four decades, catching international attention after finishing fourth in the 2010 World Cup.

In the second round, they played South Korea, defeating them 2–1 with star striker Luis Suárez scoring a brace and earning Uruguay a spot in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1970.

After the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in which Argentina were eliminated in the round of 16 and sacked boss Jorge Sampaoli, Lionel Scaloni was hired and reached the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2019 before winning it in 2021 and 2024.

[69] Other notable players during this period include Claudio Bravo, Eduardo Vargas, Mark Gonzalez, Mauricio Isla, Jean Beausejour, Gary Medel, Charles Aránguiz and Gonzalo Jara.

[70] Star players James Rodríguez, Juan Cuadrado and Radamel Falcao helped the team reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup knockout stage after topping a group featuring Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan, winning all three games.

[88] Key players include Giovanni Reyna, Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun, Brenden Aaronson, Sergiño Dest, Yunus Musah, Timothy Weah, and Tyler Adams.

Lucas Neill observed if he did not concede a foul against Fabio Grosso, who won Italy's penalty, Australia would have "possibly gone on to the semi-finals of the World Cup"[97] had they defeated Ukraine who would have played them in the quarter-finals.

[102] The curriculum, combined with the significant goodwill Australia's football executives expressed from Dutchman Guus Hiddink's tactical nous, led to Pim Verbeek's appointment as Socceroos head coach.

[105] Despite a 1–1 draw against Ghana and a 2–1 victory over Serbia, Australia failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament due to poor goal difference from a heavy 4–0 loss against Germany.

Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton, who all featured in the qualification campaign leading up to the tournament, had recently retired or were not selected for the final squad.

[121] Viduka rued the demise of the Australian Institute of Sport's football program, which other golden generation players Vince Grella, Mark Bresciano, Josh Kennedy and Brett Emerton attended.

[124] Future members of Hockey Hall of Fame Nicklas Lidström, Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin and Daniel Alfredsson, along with Markus Näslund is the most famous players from the generation.