Football World Cup

The World Cup is the most important competition in international football (soccer). Organised by FIFA, the sport's governing body, the World Cup finals tournament is the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, bigger than the Olympic Games.

The finals tournament is held every four years, but the World Cup competition itself takes place over a two year period. Over 160 national teams compete in regional qualifying tournaments for a place in the finals. The finals tournament now involves 32 national teams (increased from 24 in 1998) competing over a 4 week period in a previously nominated host nation. A recent innovation has allowed more than one country to act as joint hosts.

In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the Jules Rimet trophy. A new trophy was then designed, which, in its turn, will continue to be used until a team wins it three times. Argentina, Germany (once as West Germany), and also Brazil, have all won the second trophy twice.

Brazil, by a clear margin, are the most successful World Cup team overall, having won the tournament five times in total and finished as runners-up twice. Germany, three-time winners and four-time runners-up, are next, while Italy have also won three trophies. Argentina and Uruguay are both two-time World Champions, although Uruguay's two successes came rather a long time ago, in the early years of the tournament.

The next World Cup finals will be held in Germany, in 2006.

Football World Cup Tournaments

Year	Host		Winner	Runner up	Score		3rd Place	4th Place	Score
1930	Uruguay		Uruguay	Argentina	4-2		USA & Yugoslavia	-----none-----	n/a
1934	Italy		Italy	Czechoslovakia	2-1(aet)		Germany	Austria	3-2
1938	France		Italy	Hungary	4-2		Brazil	Sweden	4-2
1950	Brazil		Uruguay	Brazil	n/a		Sweden	Spain	n/a
1954	Switzerland		West Germany	Hungary	3-2		Austria	Uruguay	3-1
1958	Sweden		Brazil	Sweden	5-2		France	West Germany	6-3
1962	Chile		Brazil	Czechoslovakia	3-1		Chile	Yugoslavia	1-0
1966	England		England	West Germany	4-2(aet)		Portugal	USSR	2-1
1970	Mexico		Brazil	Italy	4-1		West Germany	Uruguay	1-0
1974	West Germany		West Germany	Netherlands	2-1		Poland	Brazil	1-0
1978	Argentina		Argentina	Netherlands	3-1(aet)		Brazil	Italy	2-1
1982	Spain		Italy	West Germany	3-1		Poland	France	3-2
1986	Mexico		Argentina	West Germany	3-2(aet)		France	Belgium	4-2(aet)
1990	Italy		Germany	Argentina	1-0		Italy	England	2-1
1994	United States		Brazil	Italy	0-0(pen)		Sweden	Bulgaria	4-0
1998	France		France	Brazil	3-0		Croatia	Netherlands	2-1
2002	Japan & S. Korea		Brazil	Germany	2-0		Turkey	South Korea	3-2
2006	Germany
2010	Africa

* aet: after extra time; pen: result decided by penalties. In 1950 there was no final or third place play off.

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1930 | 1934 | 1938 | 1950 | 1954 | 1958 | 1962 | 1966 | 1970 | 1974 | 1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010