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Year	Hosts	Teams	Winner
1930	Uruguay	13	Uruguay
1934	Italy	16	Italy
1938	France	15	Italy
1950	Brazil	13	Uruguay
1954	Switzerland	16	W. Germany
1958	Sweden	16	Brazil
1962	Chile	16	Brazil
1966	England	16	England
1970	Mexico	16	Brazil
1974	W. Germany	16	W. Germany
1978	Argentina	16	Argentina
1982	Spain	24	Italy
1986	Mexico	24	Argentina
1990	Italy	24	W. Germany
1994	USA	24	Brazil
1998	France	32	France
2002	Korea-Japan	32
2006	Germany

1930 Uruguay

Champion -- Uruguay

The inaugural World Cup Tournament was held in Uruguay and featured 13 nations, including seven from South America. European nations objected heavily after being overlooked as hosts and did not enter any of its main powers. The two semifinal matches featured Argentina against the United States and Uruguay against Yugoslavia. Argentina and Uruguay humiliated their opponents, winning by identical scores of 6-1 and setting up a South American Final. At the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay took the lead after 10 minutes on a goal by Pablo Dorado before Peucelle and Guillermo Stabile gave Argentina a 2-1 lead going into intermission. In the second half, Uruguay dazzled the 80,000 spectators with goals from Pedro Cea, Santos Iriarte and Manco Castroto to defeat Argentina, 4-2, and win the first-ever World Cup. Guillermo Stabile of Argentina was the tournament's leading scorer with eight goals.

1934 Italy

Champion -- Italy

In its second edition, the World Cup had become a worldwide event. Thirty-two of FIFA's 50 affiliated member nations took part in the qualification rounds, with 16 gaining berths to the Finals. In the semis, Italy defeated Austria's famed "Wunderteam", 1-0, and Czechoslovakia downed Germany, 3-1. In the Finals in Rome, Laslo Puc gave the Czechs an early one goal lead but Raimondo Orsi scored with eight minutes left to send the match into overtime. Angelo Schiavo's goal nine minutes into overtime gave Italy and Europe its first World Cup title. Czechoslovakia's Oldrich Nejedly was the tournament's leading scorer with five goals and Schiavo was second with four.

1938 France

Champion -- Italy

For the first time ever, the host nation France and defending champion Italy were automatic entrants into the Finals. Italy went into the tournament as the heavy favorite after winning both the World and Olympic championships. At the Prince's Park Stadium in Paris, Italy got two goals each from Gino Colaussi and Silvio Piola to record a 4-2 triumph over Hungary in the Finals and retain the World Cup. Italy's head coach, Vittorio Pozzo, is revered as a master innovator of tactics and his team is lauded for its unselfish play. The tournament's leading scorer was Leonidas da Silva of Brazil, who had seven goals.

1950 Brazil

Champion -- Uruguay

After a 12-year interruption following World War II, the Finals went back to South America. Brazil was awarded the reopening of the competition and built a new 200,000-seat stadium in Rio de Janiero called Maracana. Brazil entered the tournament as the heavy favorite. For the first time ever, the four British Federations participated in the qualifiers, with England being the lone representative to advance to the Finals. The greatest upset in international soccer history took place in the opening round. The United States, on a goal by Larry Gaetjens, scored a shocking 1-0 victory over England. Brazil, which played magnificently throughout the opening round, went into the Final needing only a draw in the round robin tournament to win the title. However, Uruguay, playing a European brand of soccer, got second half goals from Juan Jose Schiaffino and Alcide Ghiggia to defeat their South American rivals, 2-1, and reclaim the World Cup title. Ademir of Brazil was the leading scorer with nine goals. Brazil's head coach, Flavio Costa, had to be hidden by police to avoid the fans' vengeance.

1954 Switzerland

Champion -- West Germany

The fifth edition of FIFA's World Cup witnessed the beginning of live television broadcasting of matches. FIFA had now reached a membership of 80 affiliated nations of which 36 participated in the preliminary rounds. Hungary's "Magnificent Magyars" were considered the finest team of its time. However, it was West Germany, rebounding from a stinging 8-3 opening round loss to Hungary, which would emerge as World Cup champion. Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Csibor gave Hungary an early two goal lead before Max Morlock and Helmut Rahn produced goals in an eight-minute span to tie the score at 2-2. With five minutes remaining, Rahn scored the winner, giving West Germany a 3-2 victory and its first World Cup title. Hungarian soccer has still not never recovered from the devastating defeat. Sandor Kocsis of Hungary had 11 goals to lead all players. His mark is the second best of all-time.

1958 Sweden

Champion -- Brazil

A new era began in World Cup soccer as 17-year-old Edson Arantes de Nascimento, who played under the name Pele, burst onto the world scene to lead Brazil to its first World Cup triumph. In the Final, Brazil defeated host nation Sweden, 5-2, with Pele and Vava scoring two goals apiece. Brazil, led by the trio of Pele, Didi and Garricha, is generally considered as the greatest team ever to take part in World Cup competition. Just Fontaine of France was the tournament's leading scorer with 13 goals, a record that still stands. Pele had six goals.

1962 Chile

Champion -- Brazil

After a 12-year abscence, the World Cup returned to South America with Chile as the host. In a World Cup Tournament which saw tight defensive play, Brazil went on to win its second straight title. Pele was injured in the opening round against Mexico and had to sit out the Final against Czechoslovakia. Josef Masopust gave Czechoslovakia an early lead but goals by Amarildo, Zito and Vava lifted the superb Brazilians to a 3-1 victory and their second straight World Cup crown. Brazil joined Italy as the only two nations to repeat as champions. Garricha and Vava were among five other players to score four goals apiece.

1966 England

Champion -- England

In the Final, England scored a hard-fought 4-2 overtime victory over West Germany at Wembley Stadium, with Geoff Hurst scoring the first-ever World Cup Final hat trick. However, the dramatic match was marred by controversy. With the score tied at 2-2 in overtime, Hurst blasted a shot against the underside of the crossbar sending the ball bouncing along the goalline. Germany's defense cleared the ball away for a corner kick. The referee after consulting with the linesman, ruled it a goal, giving England its first and only World Cup Trophy. Years later, the German weekly Kicker recontructed the sequence with photographs showing that the shot in dispute should not have been ruled a goal. Portugal and West Germany presented to the world two of the greatest players ever to appear in the Finals. The brilliant Eusebio scored nine goals as the tournament's leading scorer, helping Portugal to a third place finish. West Germany showed off its young genius, Franz Beckenbauer.

1970 Mexico

Champion -- Brazil

Considered by many to be the greatest World Cup competition ever, the Final was a classic matchup of South America's Brazil against Europe's Italy. Brazil cruised into the Finals going 5-0-0. Italy defeated West Germany, 4-3, in overtime in the semifinals. In the epic Final, Brazil won, 4-1. Pele, Gerson and Jairzinho scored but it was Carlos Alberto's magnificent goal from the top of the box that sealed it for Brazil. Brazil had become the first three-time World Cup champion and retired the Jules Rimet Cup. It would be Pele's last international match and he became the only player to be crowned three-time champion. Gerd Muller, "Der Bomber" of West Germany, led all scorers with nine goals.

1974 West Germany

Champion -- West Germany

The 1974 World Cup saw FIFA elect its new president, Brazilian-born Joao Havelange. Two of the most talented teams ever assembled reached the Finals. Holland was led by the top performer of the 1970s, Johan Cruyff, and West Germany had its elegant sweeper, Franz Beckenbauer. Holland and West Germany met in the Final at the Munich Olympic Stadium. After an exchange of penalty kick goals by Johan Neeskens of Holland and Paul Breitner of West Germany, Gerd Muller struck with two minutes remaining in the half from short range to give West Germany a 2-1 triumph and its second World Cup Title. Poland's Grzegorz Lato was the leading scorer with seven goals.

1978 Argentina

Champion -- Argentina

Once again, Holland would reach the Final and would fall short of becoming World Cup champion. After 90 minutes of play, the teams were tied at 1-1. In overtime, Mario Kempes scored his second goal of the game, to put Argentina ahead. Daniel Bertoni sealed the victory with six minutes left as he scored to give Argentina a 3-1 win and its first-ever World Cup. Kempes had six goals in the competition to become the first player to be a world champion and the top scorer in the same tournament.

1982 Spain

Champion -- Italy

The Finals had now modified to a foramt of 24 teams. A single name graced the world in 1982, Paolo Rossi. In the 1978 Finals, the Argentine press dubbed him "Pablito Mundial" for his fine all-around play. In Spain, he was known as the Golden Boy. Rossi led Italy to its third World Cup title by scoring three goals in a dramatic 3-2 second round victory over heavily favored Brazil. In the semis, Italy defeated Poland, 2-0, with both goals coming from Rossi. In the Final in fron of 90,000 spectators in the stands of the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Italy defeated West Germany, 3-1. Rossi, Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli scored second half goals. At 40 years of age, Italy's Dino Zoff became the oldest player to win the World Cup. Rossi led all scorers with six goals for the tournament. Italy joined Brazil as the only three-time champions. The Final was watched on television by 2.5 billion fans.

1986 Mexico

Champion -- Argentina

Superstar Diego Maradona led Argentina to its second World Cup title with a dramatic 3-2 win over West Germany. With West Germany trailing, 2-0, Karl Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Voeller scored in an eight-minute span to tie the game. However, with six minutes left, Jose Burruchaga received a brilliant pass from Maradona and scored Argentina's winning goal for a 3-2 win. Maradona was crowned world champion in the same Aztec Stadium where Pele played his last international match. The tournament was remembered for Argentina's 2-1 victory over England in the second round. Maradona scored both goals and the first one went down in history as the "Hand of God" goal. Maradona, looking to reach up to a cross in the box, jumped past England's goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched in the match's first goal with his left hand. Gary Lineker of England was the top scorer with six goals.

1990 Italy

Champion -- Germany

A penalty kick goal by Andreas Breheme produced the only score and was the margin of victory for Germany. The Germans won their third World Cup Championship and set a record for being a finalist in six of the 14 tournaments held. Argentina played without four of its key players who accumulated red cards in the semifinals against Italy. The United States made its first appearance in the Finals since 1950 and lost all three of its first round matches. The 52 games set an all-time attendance record of 2,510,686 spectators. Salvatore "Toto" Schillaci became the hero of the tournament, scoring six goals in leading Italy to a third place finish.

1994 USA

Champion -- Brazil

Brazil became the first four-time champion in World Cup history, defeating Italy in the first-ever World Cup final decided by penalty kicks. After a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime, Brazil won on penalty kicks, 3-2, as Roberto Baggio sent Italy's final shot over the crossbar. Brazilian striker Romario earned the "Golden Ball Award" as the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Russia's Oleg Salenko and Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov shared scoring honors with six goals apiece. Salenko set a single-game World Cup record with five goals in an opening-round win over Cameroon. Bulgaria knocked off Argentina and Germany before losing to Sweden in the third-place game. The United States upset Colombia in the opening round and advanced to the second round for the first time in 44 years before losing to Brazil, 1-0. Colombian defender Andres Escobar, whose "own goal" contributed to his country's loss to the United States and early dismisal, was later murdered in Medellin, Colombia. Argentine superstar Diego Maradona returned to international play and was expelled from the World Cup after two games for testing positive for banned substances. The 52-game attendance of 3,567,415 shattered the all-time record set just four years earlier in Italy.

1998 France

Champion -- France

There was flair to their soccer and passion to their approach. So typically French. Yet it took them nearly 70 years to get it right. When they did on Sunday, it was so perfect that it set off the wildest celebrations France has seen since World War II.
Vive la France, champions of soccer for the first time after a stunning 3-0 rout of mighty Brazil. The entire nation, caught up in soccer fever like never before, might not stop partying until, well, the next World Cup. "We won the final because we wanted it the most," coach Aime Jacquet said. "It was the result of hard work. We really worked as a team. There was good will and friendship between all of us." The fans in the flying-saucer-shaped Stade de France felt it, singing and cheering and worshipping the first host nation to win the World Cup since Argentina in 1978. Fans from the Mediterranean to the beaches of Normandy shared their joy, and carried it into the streets, partying long into the night.
BY THE NUMBERS: How big was this World Cup? The French organizing committee released some figures Sunday that show it was very big.
-- Broadcast at least 5,760 hours of television coverage of matches, with a total worldwide audience of 37 billion, a 5 billion-viewer jump from 1994. The audience for Sunday's final was expected to be 1.7 billion.
-- Employed 1,768 boys and girls to chase down balls that went out of bounds.
-- Received 250 million hits on its official Internet site.
-- Installed 1.2 million miles of fiber-optic cable for telephones, TVs and computers, enough to circle the Earth 50 times.
-- Used 10,000 tables, 33,000 chairs and 35,000 hangers.
-- Handed out 20 tons of crushed ice, 400,000 pates and 600,000 glasses at hospitality centers for sponsors and VIPs. Those lucky folks ate off a cumulative buffet table a mile long and covered with 10,000 tablecloths.
-- Sold 2 million drinks in stadiums, everything from sodas to mineral water.