Football Extra opinion: Our World Cup icons (and it's not Messi or CR7)

The greatest players have graced the World Cup and often lived up to top billing. Lionel Messi has been named player of the tournament twice, joining Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Diego Maradona among the winners.

But what about the players we remember for more personal names, those World Cup icons who spring immediately to mind when we think of the tournament. You will have yours, whether Bobby Charlton, Pele, Johan Cruyff or a more modern great such as Kylian Mbappe or Neymar.

Here are ours - and please let us know who you think of - mail us at football.extra@bbc.com.

There's no right answer here, is there? The best of the best have played at the World Cup, you could argue any one of a hundred different names fairly and equally. But among my generation, the mid-30s (and aging rapidly), 2002 Ronaldo is the most iconic player of our lifetime and you can't convince me otherwise.

For that haircut alone, he is immortal. The audacity of the man for even daring to leave the house like that, never mind becoming the talismanic force behind his nation's fifth World Cup victory, needs to be studied.

Ask anyone of my generation and they'll be able to instantly recall the name of the boy who tried the same hairstyle; there was at least one at every school. Having that level of influence is the very definition of an 'icon'.

Years later, Ronaldo would explain the haircut was actually a clever ploy to distract the world's media from focusing on an injury he'd been carrying.

"I'm not proud about the hair itself because it was pretty strange. But it was a good way to change the subject," he said.

Even before his dodgy trip to the barber, Ronaldo fascinated me growing up. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before the modern internet had taken shape, he was a figure of almost mythological brilliance. Without satellite TV, I'd only see glimpses of him over the course of a year – an occasional game in the Champions League terrorising English opposition or a few highlights on the beloved Football Italia show on Saturday morning television.

But that World Cup was the first time I felt like I really got to see the Ronaldo I knew as much by reputation as observation.

And wow, he was good. Quick, strong, skilful, intelligent; he was a modern forward long before modernity transformed football into a striker's paradise. I can only imagine how many goals he'd score in today's game.

He got a brace in the 2002 final, taking his tally for the tournament to eight. It was the third consecutive World Cup final featuring Brazil – though the Seleção have not reached one since.

Someone tell Vinicius Jr to get the clippers out.

Yes, I have marveled at the greatest talents on the World Cup stage since I first clapped eyes on Spain '82. Zico, Eder, Platini, Scifo all mesmeric, then as I got older it was Stoichkov, Klinsmann, and the Brazilian Ronaldo who one wished had been born in England.

But a true World Cup icon? A player who within the first minute of his first World Cup game, as the youngest player in the team, assisted one of the most memorable goals in the history of the tournament..... my main man is England's Terry Butcher.

I already held TB in great esteem, as a UEFA Cup winner for my team, Ipswich Town in 1981. Now he was wearing the white of England, but even getting to the World Cup had been a massive challenge. In January 1982, Butcher suffered a broken nose in a Cup tie at Luton, spending five weeks in hospital and having two operations to repair the damage. He made it back in April, just in time for selection for Spain.

Playing alongside my other Ipswich heroes Mick Mills and Paul Mariner, Butcher then flicked on Steve Coppell's throw for Bryan Robson to score his legendary 27 second goal. England were surely on their way to being World Champions, powered by Ipswich!

Butch played four games in 1982 (he was rested against Kuwait) and then all five in 1986, technically still an Ipswich player, although his move to Rangers was imminent. Famously, he was the closest player to Maradona (twice!) as the Argentina captain slalomed his way through the England defence to score the most iconic World Cup goal of all time. I have to agree with Terry's call on Maradona, I can't have him as the greatest player of all time, after his handball goal and subsequent denial of the truth.

Ironically, he and Diego were selected as players to take post-match doping tests after that game in Mexico City, I can imagine the atmosphere was tense to say the least!

Four years on, and Butch was still as good as ever. Italia '90 almost went his way, and he was captain by the time of the semi-final against West Germany, due to Robson's injury. He played five times in Italy, giving him 14 World Cup appearances for England, only Peter Shilton (17) is ahead of him. In those 14 games, England conceded just eight goals (seven legal goals!)

He always gave his all for club and country, as epitomized by his blood-soaked shirt and eerie gaze to the camera against Sweden in 1989.

In the newsletter, I spoke about Paolo Rossi but it is the striker who succeeded the Italian as Golden Boot winner that comes to mind when I think of the World Cup.

Gary Lineker was a striker who seemed to always deliver for an at-times underwhelming England side in World Cups, across the 1986 and 1990 editions he scored 10 of their 15 tournament goals.

After a slow start, a win was required against Poland in England's final group game in '86. Given the time difference and my parents' views on the importance of school, I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch. Waking up to find out a 3-0 win had been secured it was no surprise to see Lineker (x3) listed as the scorer.

Almost every England goal of note across the two editions came via Lineker. Some from the spot, some from six yards, some from two, one in a semi-final against Germany beautifully created and converted.

Lineker was a big-game player; that's what you need on a big stage.