A couple of minutes to the end of extra time in the last quarterfinal game between Costa Rica and the Netherlands, the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal decided to bring on deputy keeper Tim Krul for the inevitable penalty shoot-outs.

“Who does such a thing like that?” asked an exasperated Netherlands fan watching the game at a noisy and crowded bar in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb.

“Now if they lose it is their fault and they deserve it,” he added as he made to turn away and leave (but stayed glued anyway).

Krul, in a sterling display, saved two shots. His team’s Ugandan fans went delirious. Costa Rica’s remarkable showing, in spite of being one of the tournament’s dark horses, came to an end on a proud note. Football, long considered the beautiful game, emerged even more beautiful. The tourney’s stakes as the best ever yet intensified.

“World Cups are uncompromising, brutal and emotional affairs that invariably end in heartbreak for all but a few. But that’s why we love them,” noted Gary Lineker, a sports broadcaster and England’s record goal scorer at the World Cup, on his Twitter handle way before the game.

Krul’s reflexes underlined the brilliance of goalkeepers at this cup even as van Gaal’s potentially career-ending gamble earned him praises as a master tactician.

Such moments, in which the least and most favoured teams have wrestled each other to death, have packed unbearable tension, unpredictably, quality and drama. These features have come to define the 20th edition of the greatest showpiece on earth. They are the reason the competition is ending in a way very few people could have imagined when it started.

The teams that made the coveted semi-finals are truly major footballing powers. Brazil, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands have 10 World Cups between them (five for Brazil, three for Germany and two for Argentina). Collectively, they have been runners-up another 11 times and have played the semi-finals 33 times since 1930.

Since football is about goals, more is always better. A total of 167 had been netted, 14 more than the entire tournament in South Africa recorded, thanks in great part to Germany’s routing of Brazil in the first semi-final last week. The standing record is 171 goals from France 1998.

And these are just a few of the records this competition has been about.

The debate is on about whether the world has witnessed the best World Cup ever since the inaugural competition in 1930.

The Technical Study Group (TSG) of football’s world governing body Fifa intends to crown it so when it files its report in September.

The TSG has since the 1966 finals in England, analysed matches at international tournaments and highlighted the latest trends in the game, according to its profile on the Fifa website. It mainly observes teams in matches and training sessions, and then conducts “a series of in-depth conversations, with the objective of prompting discussion and an exchange of views.”

The early word from these experts, who are mostly former topflight players or managers, is that Brazil 2014 has distinguished itself by combining daring coaches, a pool of attacking talent, intelligent preparation, good spirit and good energy, and a clear desire to win.

Not everybody agrees, of course. To the dissenters; “Brazil 2014 has simply provided an extreme version of a pattern that the majority of recent international tournaments have followed,” wrote Rob Smyth, a sports writer at the Guardian newspaper.

“The issue is complicated by the fact there is considerable flexibility of interpretation with regard to what constitutes a great World Cup. Some prioritise excellence, others excitement. Some like shocks; others like a heavyweight last four. It’s all in the eye of the beholder,” he argued.

This debate has only begun. One can safely bet it will still be alive in 2018 when Russia hosts the competition. For now, though, what both sides can agree on is that Brazil has been truly exciting, even maddeningly competitive especially as the minnows have taken on the giants with reckless abandon – and triumphed.

Consider Costa Rica again. En route to clashing with the Dutch, they topped their Group D with comfortable wins against Uruguay (3-1), Italy (1-0), a draw with England (0-0), and saw off the Greeks on penalties (5-3) in the Round of 16.

Besides coming into the competition with some of the best odds, all these countries rank high above Costa Rica in Fifa’s rankings where it occupies the 28th position.

The Dutch are 15th, the Greeks 12th, the English 10th, the Italians 9th, while Uruguay is 7th. Five of the eight second round games went to extra time, a record since 1990 and another marker of the type of competition that has marked Brazil.