The older tournaments made a bigger impression on me. Perhaps because I was younger, perhaps because my country was (often) there although I loved 1986 and 2002 for various other reasons. I also felt that the old stars were bigger stars, or that at least there were more of them. The football felt more open, more attractive.
1986: Denmark, France, Argentina, Mexico and Belgium were nice teams to watch.
1990: When this came on, I was very much into it. I collected players for this Panini book:
I have a vivid memory of all their faces. At the moment, I can't find the book. Damn, I hope I didn't lose it. Netherlands played bad, their were internal struggles.
I was very excited about Cameroon. What a revelation to see Africans doing so well with the legendary Roger Milla. Columbia was also entertaining with Higuita and Valderrama.
1994: not a very successful tournament for the Netherlands either, but some matches were
very exciting. We qualified for the round of 16 with 6 points, but Belgium and Saoudi Arabia also had 6 points (check
this out)! This was the tournament of e.g. Romario, Baresi, Baggio, Stoichkov and Hagi. Sweden and USA were also interesting and Nigeria of course. Milla scoring a goal at his age of 42 was pretty brilliant as well! Great memories, and a special host (soccer nation).
1998: The era of Zidane and Ronaldo. We had a great team. Several other good memories as well: E.g. Norway beating Brazil! Nigeria beating Spain with 3-2. Romania-England: 2-1. Croatia-Germany: 3-0.
2002: This tournament was memorable for the rise of South Korea with Guus Hiddink as coach, and Senegal doing so bloody well. Senegal won from France, did not loose from Uruguay and Denmark and they reached the quarter finals by beating Sweden.
2006: No particular fond memories. Surely not my favourite.
2010: The only tournament with my country in a World Cup final that I witnessed. Terrible suspense and outcome. ;-)
2014: Also a good tournament for my country and I remember some excitement but not particular love for other countries or players, compared to earlier tournament.
2018: I loved to see Japan against Belgium. Brazil-Belgium, Switzerland-Brazil, Switzerland-Serbia, Mexico was very nice in their first two matches. Iran-Portugal or was it Iran-Spain, or both. Iran's tactics may not have worked out but I liked how they played. Nice technique, some soft sort of style. England winning their penalties vs Colombia was memorable! Croatians played very nice as well. And cool penalty series.
EDIT:
My son's favourite matches from this tournament:
Spain-Russia: 1-1 (3-4 penalties)
France-Argentina: 4-3
Germany-Sweden: 2-1
Brazil-Belgium: 1-2
