FIFA World Cup 2014 Highlights: Best Goals of the Tournament [Videos]

A 32 day long football extravaganza witnessed some interesting contests with teams such as England, Spain and Italy knocked out in the group stage, while Germany prevailed over Argentina through a late strike in the final.

With 171 goals scored in the tournament and Colombia's James Rodriquez ending as top-scorer, here are some of the best goals scored in the World Cup.

1.) Robin van Persie: Netherlands vs Spain [5-1]

The Netherlands' skipper opened his team's campaign in an emphatic fashion, and arguably scored the best goal of the tournament.

2.) Claudio Marchisio - Italy vs England [1-2]

Italian midfielder Claudio Marchisio scored a long-range stunner against England in the group stages to put the Azzurri on lead in the first-half

3.) Lionel Messi - Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1)

Lionel Messi helped Argentina begin their World Cup quest with a win over Bosnia and Herzegovina when his shot rifled past two Bosnian defenders into the goal to seal the encounter for the South Americans.

4.) Tim Cahil - Australia vs Netherlands [2-3]

Although, Australia couldn't beat the Netherlands but they put a stern resistance against a formidable Dutch outfit. Socceroos skipper Tim Cahil scored a superb volley to put Australia on level terms soon after Arjen Robben opened the scoring for Netherlands.

5.) Granit Xhaka - Switzerland vs France [2-5]

Switzerland were hammered by France in the group stage but Granit Xhaka scored a consolation goal for the Swiss three minutes before time, when he rifled a first time volley in the goal.

6.) James Rodriguez - Colombia vs Japan [4-1]

Colombia's James Rodriguez finished with the highest number of goals in the tournament and on course of achieving the feat he scored a cheeky goal against Japan by outfoxing goalkeeper Kawashima and defender Maya Yoshida.

7.) Lionel Messi - Argentina vs Nigeria [3-2]

Messi's magic continued for Argentina in the group stage as the Barcelona talisman score twice against Nigeria. While the first goal was scored from a rebound, the second goal from free-kick left the Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama guessing.

8.) Xherdan Shaqiri - Switzerland vs Honduras [3-0]

In a 3-0 hammering of Honduras, Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri scored a screamer from a long-range.

9.) James Rodriguez - Colombia vs Uruguay (2-0)

James Rodriguez scored a stunning volley against Uruguay in the pre-quarterfinals to knockout the former champions from the tournament.

10.) David Luiz - Brazil vs Colombia (2-1)

David Luiz was under scrutiny for his marvellous how-not-to-defend skills in the World Cup but the former Chelsea star scored a stunning free-kick against Colombia in the last-eight clash to book semifinal berth for the hosts.

11.) Arjen Robben - Netherlands vs Spain [5-1]

This goal from Arjen Robben against Netherlands has to be on the list. The Dutchman outsmarted the trio of Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, after sprinting half-way down the line and putting the Oranje 5-1 up in the contest.

12.) Mario Goetze - Germany vs Argentina [1-0]

'Super-sub' Mario Goetze scored the most important goal of his career at the Estadio do Maracana, seven minutes before the time to help Germany prevail over Argentina in the final.