WORLD CUP

The overly-commercial World Cup of today had actually humble beginnings. Early in the 20th century, FIFA tried to arrange an international tournament, but it wasn't until 1930 that the first World Cup was held. The tournament was designed as an alternative to the Olympic games where professional footballers where not allowed to compete. Held in South America, the first World Cup was ignored by many European nations due to the inconvenience of travel. England, where professional football was first to develop completely dismissed the tournament and refused to participate until 1950


Year Winner Runner-up Result Host
2006 Italy France 1-1 (5-3) Germany
2002 Brazil Germany 2-0 S.Korea & Japan
1998 France Brazil 3-0 France
1994 Brazil Italy 0-0 (3-2) USA
1990 West Germany Argentina 1-0 Italy
1986 Argentina West Germany 3-2 Mexico
1982 Italy West Germany 3-1 Spain
1978 Argentina Netherlands 3-1 Argentina
1974 West Germany Netherlands 2-1 Germany
1970 Brazil Italy 4-1 Mexico
1966 England West Germany 4-2 England
1962 Brazil Czechoslovakia 3-1 Chile
1958 Brazil Sweden 5-2 Sweden
1954 West Germany Hungary 3-2 Switzerland
1950 Uruguay Brazil 2-1 Brazil
1938 Italy Hungary 4-2 France
1934 Italy Czechoslovakia 2-1 Italy
1930 Uruguay Argentina 4-2 Uruguay



Titles Country
5 Brazil
4 Italy
3 Germany
2 Uruguay
2 Argentina
1 France
1 England

Titles Continent
9 South America
9 Europe