There have been 20 editions of the FIFA World Cup, 80 nations have taken part at least once in the tournament (including former countries). Since the first edition of the World Cup in 1930, the tournament has become the most prestigious football competition in the world!
The Beginning (1930):
The host nation of the first ever World Cup has been held in Uruguay. The Uruguayans have been considered as the biggest favourites of the tournament, as they have won the Olympics football tournament twice in a row (1924 in Paris and 1928 in Amsterdam). There have been 13 teams in 4 groups, the winner of each group has proceeded to the semi-finals of the competition. So, the semi-finalists of the tournament have been Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Argentina and USA. Logically the best teams of the tournament – Argentina and Uruguay have reached the final game, which has been won by the Uruguayans (the strongest team at that moment). The top goal-scorer of the first ever World Cup has become Guillermo Stabile, who has bagged at least one goal in every game he has taken part in (8 goals in 4 matches).
The Champions:
To begin with, Selecao have taken part in all the 20 World Cup tournaments so far! The most entitled nation is Brazil. Selecao has won the World Cup on 5 occasions. The first World Cup title for Brazil came in 1958 in Sweden, when the 18-year-old Pele lifted the trophy with his country! Then, the Brazilians easily became the rulers of world football. They retained the title 4 years later in the next edition in Chile. Pele, himself managed to lift the trophy on one more occasion – in 1970 (The World Cup in Mexico). After the great successes with Pele, Garrincha, Vava and many other great players, Brazil had to wait until 1994 to win the World Cup again! Selecao beat Italy on penalties in the USA, to win the fourth title in their history. The last big success for Brazil was in 2002, when there were stars like Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in the squad. They smashed every single team on the road to the final, where they beat 2-0 Germany with 2 goals, scored by Ronaldo. Selecao have also become the runners-up twice (1950 and 1998) and have won the third place two times. Brazil have left in 4th place on two occasions.
The second best teams in World Cups are Italy (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006) and Germany (1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014). Both nations have won the competition on 4 occasions. The Germans have lost 4 final matches, while the Italians have been defeated in the final twice.
Germany’s first World Cup title in 1954 is the most legendary one, because the Germans were the total underdogs against the goal-scoring machines from Hungary. The final of the competition is called “The miracle in Bern”. That’s because Hungary smashed Germany (West Germany at that time) 8-3 in the group stage and nobody believed the Germans can do something to stop Puskas, Kocsis and the other Hungarian forwards in the final game. Moreover, Hungary took the lead by 2-0 after just 8 minutes of playing time. But, Germany are famous for their team spirit and that was the first time they proved it. Just 10 minutes after Germany were 2-0 behind, they managed to equalize! In the 84th minute Rahn scored the winning goal. 3-2 for Germany!
The Italians’ most significant performance in a World Cup tournament was in 1982 (Spain). The Azzurri struggled a lot in the first group stage, finishing in 2nd position with 3 draws (against Poland, Cameroon and Peru). But, then in the second group stage of the competition, Italy showed their real face! Firstly, they beat Argentina 2-1. Then, the star of Paolo Rossi started to shine. Italy have never played in such a dramatic and unbelievable game, like this against Brazil. Zico and Socrates pulled the strings in midfield for the Brazilians, who had one of the strongest teams in the tournament. But, Paolo Rossi bagged a hat-trick and Dino Zoff saved a lot of goal-scoring chances, to secure the 3-2 victory for Italy, which meant that the Azzurri headed to the semi-finals! After such a victory, the semi-final against Poland seemed like an easy task. Rossi scored another two goals to see his team in the final. The Italians won their 3rd title after a 3-1 victory against West Germany.
Argentina and Uruguay are with 2 World Cup titles each. As we spoke about Uruguay earlier, now we will pay tribute to the Argentinians. The first time, Albiceleste won the World Cup was in 1978 (as the host nation) and the second in 1986 (in Mexico). The second World Cup title for Argentina will be remembered for Maradona’s “God’s hand”. The Argentinians won their group after victories against South Korea and Bulgaria and a draw against Italy. Then, Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in the Round of 16, before the legendary quarter final against England. Diego Maradona was doing whatever he wants with the ball on his feet. He was dribbling past all the English defenders. But, the Argentinian magician scored the first goal of the game with his hand, which wasn’t seen by any of the referees. Maradona scored another goal a few minutes later, after going through all the English defenders. Lineker scored a goal for England late in the game, but that wasn’t enough for The Three Lions. Then, Argentina beat Belgium 2-0 in the semi-final match and outsmarted West Germany in the final by 3-2.
We must also say a few words about the nations, which have become the World Cup champions just once. These teams are France (1998), England (1966) and Spain (2010).
France’s biggest success came in 1998, when they were the host nation. The Blues had really good players in their squad. Laurent Blanc, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Didier Deschamps were the key reasons for France’s trophy. We must pay attention to the final match against Brazil, in which The Blues smashed their opponents 3-0, with two header goals, scored by Zinedine Zidane. However, there are still a lot of conspiracy theories about the French victory. But, we mustn’t decry them!
England’s one and only World Cup title came in 1966. The Three Lions started with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay. Then, the Englishmen beat 2-0 Mexico and France. In the quarterfinals, they recorded a very difficult 1-0 victory against Argentina with Hurst’s only goal of the match, 12 minutes before the final whistle. Bobby Charlton secured the victory against Portugal in the semi-final, with his two goals. Eusebio could score only once against The Three Lions. England’s most dramatic game of the tournament was in the final against West Germany. The Germans led early in the match, but Hurst equalized in the 18th minute. Pieters turned thing around 12 minutes before the final whistle, but Weber equalized for Germany in the 89th minute! And here is the most controversial moment in the history of the English football! The referee counted the Hurst’s goal, which is still analyzed by the specialists. The forward shot towards Germans’goal, but his shot hit the bar, and the ball thumped on the goal line. However, Hurst scored his hat-trick in the extra time, England won 4-2 and The Three Lions won their first World Cup title!
The third nation with just one World Cup trophy is Spain. La Furia Roja were the total dominants in football from 2008 until 2012, when they also won The European Championship twice. The Spaniards lost their first game to Switzerland 0-1. But, since this defeat, they have recorded 6 victories in a row, which meant that they became the World champions! It’s interesting that Spain won all their knockout matches with the score of 1-0 (vs. Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and Holland in the final).
Other successful nations:
The unluckiest nation, when it’s up to World Cups, is Holland! The Dutchmen have lost 3 finals (1974, 1978 and 2010), without having won the World Cup. They have also become the third-placed team in 2014 and the fourth best nation in 1998. The best Dutch player ever Johan Cruyff was an integral part of the team in 1974, but the forward couldn’t lift the most prestigious trophy in football.
The biggest disappointment leaves to Hungary and their classic team, which lost the final to West Germany in 1954. The Hungarians have lost another final in 1938 (to Italy). The other nations, which have reached the final match, but have never become the champions are Czechoslovakia (1934 and 1962) and Sweden in 1958 (as the host nation).
The Goal-scorers:
The nation, which have scored the most goals in World Cups is Germany with 224, but the Brazilians have scored just 3 goals less. So, no wonders about the rankings of the top goal-scorers ever. Miroslav Klose of Germany is the best goal-scorer with 16 goals. The forward took part in 4 World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014), won the trophy in 2014, lost the final in 2002 and helped his team win the third place in 2006 and 2010.
The second best scorer remains the Brazilian Ronaldo, who has scored 15. He held the first place, until the last World Cup (2014), when Klose scored twice and left the Brazilian behind him.
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 goals;
- Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals;
- Gerd Muller (West Germany) – 14 goals;
- Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals;
- Pele (Brazil) – 12 goals;
- Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals (scored in just 5 matches – 2.20 goals per game on average);
Jurgen Klinsmann – 11 goals.