FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The reigning champions are Yugoslavia, who won their third title at the 2018 tournament.
The format involves a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over about a month. The host nation(s) automatically qualify to the group stage of the tournament.
As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 21 final tournaments have been held and more than 80 national teams have competed. The trophy has been won by thirteen national teams. Brazil, Yugoslavia and inaugural winner Argentina all have three wins each. The United Kingdom, Poland, Uruguay each have two titles. The former Ottoman Empire, France, Caricom, the United States, Portugal, and Germany have one title each.
The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world. The viewership of the 2018 World Cup was estimated to be 3.23 billion (half of the global population) with an estimated 1.01 billion people watching the final match.
Twenty four countries have hosted the World Cup, most recently Russia, who hosted the 2018 edition. The 2022 tournament will be jointly hosted by New Zealand and Petit Tasmanie, and the 2026 tournament is set to be held in Morocco.
Results
| Year | Host | Final | Third-place play-off | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-Up | Third | Fourth | |||
| 1930 |  Empire of Brazil
|
 Argentine Republic |
4-2 |  United States of America |
.svg){kind=small}
Kingdom of Egypt |
Sublime Ottoman State | |
| 1934 |  Kingdom of Italy
|
.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
2-1 (a.e.t) |
 Czechoslovak Republic |
 Republic of Austria |
Kingdom of Italy | |
| 1938 | .svg){kind=small} Third German Reich
|
Sublime Ottoman State |
6-0 | Third German Reich |
Empire of Brazil |
.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Hungary | |
| 1942 | cancelled due to World War II | ||||||
| 1946 | cancelled due to World War II | ||||||
| 1950 | Empire of Brazil
|
 Oriental Republic of Uruguay |
2-1 | Empire of Brazil |
.svg){kind=small} Swiss Confederation |
 Empire of Japan |
|
| 1954 |  Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
|
Oriental Republic of Uruguay |
3-2 |  Kingdom of Sweden |
 Republic of Ecuador |
 Republic of New Granada | |
| 1958 |  State of Israel
|
Empire of Brazil |
2-1 | .svg){kind=small} Russian SFSR |
 Kingdom of Norway |
State of Israel | |
| 1962 |  Republic of Chile
|
.svg){kind=small} SFR Yugoslavia |
1-0 |  Kingdom of Spain |
Republic of Chile |
Empire of Brazil | |
| 1966 | .svg){kind=small} United Kingdom
|
United Kingdom |
4-2 (a.e.t) |
 Federal Republic of Germany |
.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Portugal |
Russian SFSR | |
| 1970 |
|
Empire of Brazil |
4-1 |  Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Oriental Republic of Uruguay |
 Kingdom of Morocco | |
| 1974 | Argentine Republic
|
 Polish Republic |
3-0 |  Ethiopian Empire |
.svg){kind=small} Commonwealth of Australia |
Federal Republic of Germany | |
| 1978 | .svg){kind=small} Republic of South Africa
|
 French Seventh Republic |
2-1 (a.e.t) |
 Kingdom of Belgium |
 Republic of Peru |
.svg){kind=small} Imperial State of Iran | |
| 1982 | United States of America &  Commonwealth of Canada
|
Polish Republic |
3-1 | Empire of Brazil |
Kingdom of Italy |
Kingdom of Spain | |
| 1986 | Kingdom of Spain &  Kingdom of Portugal
|
Argentine Republic |
3-2 |  Ashanti Kingdom |
 United Mexican States |
SFR Yugoslavia | |
| 1990 | United Mexican States
|
Empire of Brazil |
1-0
(a.e.t) |
.svg){kind=small} United Kingdom |
Federal Republic of Germany |
 Republic of Liberia | |
| 1994 |
|
 Caribbean Community |
0-0 (a.e.t) (5-4p) |
Republic of Chile |
Sublime Ottoman State |
 Hellenic Kingdom | |
| 1998 | United Kingdom
|
United Kingdom |
2-0 | French Seventh Republic |
Empire of Brazil |
Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
| 2002 | Empire of Japan
|
United States of America |
3-2 (a.e.t) |
Empire of Japan |
 United Provinces of Korea |
 Republic of Ireland | |
| 2006 |  Syrian AR &  Egyptian AR
|
Argentine Republic |
2-1 (a.g.g) |
Kingdom of Portugal |
 Ukrainian SSR |
Caribbean Community | |
| 2010 | Oriental Republic of Uruguay &  Republic of Paraguay
|
Kingdom of Portugal |
2-1 (a.g.g) |
Argentine Republic |
Republic of Paraguay |
Kingdom of Spain | |
| 2014 | Empire of Brazil
|
|
7-1 | Empire of Brazil |
Republic of Ecuador |
 Federal Republic of New Granada | |
| 2018 |  Russian SFSR
|
 SFR Yugoslavia |
4-3 | French Seventh Republic |
Polish Republic |
United Kingdom | |
| 2022 | .png){kind=small} Republic of Petit Tasmanie &  Commonwealth of New Zealand
|
T.B.A. | |||||
- a.e.t.: after extra time
- p: after penalty shoot out