Ranking all the World Cups in history

Italian Football Federation Trophies And Memorabilia Are Displayed In Turin : News Photo
There have been many historical World Cups over the course of the last 80 odd years

With international football firmly back on the radar this week due to the World Cup qualifiers taking place (let’s go England!) and the club season now over, it seems like as good a time as any to take a look at the history of the World Cup, the greatest tournament in all of sports for my money.

I’m going to be trying to rank each tournament in order of how memorable it was. I’ll preface this by saying that it hasn’t been at all easy – after all, I was born in 1984 and outside of some shadowy memories of Italia ’90, the first World Cup I can remember watching was USA ’94. With that said, there probably aren’t that many people alive right now who can properly remember Uruguay 1930 anyway! So armed with plenty of clips and information on all of the tournaments, here goes nothing...


#20 Italy 1934

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Okay, I’ll be frank about this. I’ve got this ranked bottom because by all accounts, Italy 1934 – like the Berlin Olympics of 1936 – was largely used as a backdrop to promote fascism, which obviously is a huge, huge negative. Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini was desperate to use football as a way to persuade the masses to support his government and so hosting the World Cup was the perfect route to achieving that.

With that in mind, is it any surprise that Italy ran out eventual winners, beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final? Probably not, as reports suggest that corruption and bribery in favour of the hosts ran riot throughout the tournament, helping them to all four of their victories – over the USA, Spain, Austria and finally the Czechs – after the referees had “special meetings” with Mussolini.

The tournament ran as a sixteen-team knockout competition; qualifiers were used to thin down a field of 36, and it saw the debut of sides like Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, all of whom would go on to become major powers in the game. But reigning champions Uruguay didn’t compete, nor did any of the British nations, who were content to compete in their own International Championship.

1934 stands as the only World Cup not to feature its reigning champions and thus it’s #20 on my list.


#19 France 1938

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The shadow of World War II loomed over France 1938, evident by the fact that Spain – in the grip of their civil war – were banned from entering, but more so because Austria (who had qualified) had been united with Hitler’s Germany in the infamous anschluss, forcing them to withdraw. A replacement was not invited to participate and so Sweden received a bye into the quarter-finals (the tournament had the same sixteen-side knockout format as 1934).

Like 1934, the World Cup was seen by Mussolini as the perfect opportunity to force the world to take him – and Italy – as seriously as Hitler, and so unsurprisingly, there was pressure on the Italian team to retain the trophy. So much so that Mussolini supposedly sent his players a telegram on the morning of the final warning them to “win or die!”

Win they did – the Italians defeated Hungary 4-2 in the final, but question marks hang over the match, particularly as the Hungarian goalkeeper Antal Szabo claimed, “I may have let in four goals, but at least I saved their lives.”

With fascism again overshadowing the tournament and large sides such as England, Argentina, Spain and Uruguay missing, 1938’s another one that ranks low.

#18 Uruguay 1930

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In any series of sporting events, the original doesn’t tend to be the best or most memorable even if it’s where the whole thing started, and the same can definitely be said of the World Cup. Firstly, there was no qualification system – all of FIFA’s affiliated countries were invited and the majority of European nations – largely because of the journey to South America – declined, including all of the British teams, plus Germany, Spain, Italy and others.

The format was also very odd. With 13 teams in the tournament, the sides were divided into four groups – one containing four teams, three containing three – and the winners went into the semi-finals. This meant that Argentina had to play one more game than the other semi-finalists Uruguay, the USA and Yugoslavia. They still made it to the final, beating the USA 6-1 in the semi, but lost to the hosts 4-2 in the deciding game.

Although from all sources the inaugural World Cup went down like a storm in Uruguay, it’s hard to rank it any higher based on the lack of teams and the odd format it used.


#17 Chile 1962

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For the first time, the World Cup used almost a modern format – four groups of four with the winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout stages, and a goal average system – an early precursor to the current goal difference system – was introduced, replacing playoffs between sides that ended with the same points in a group. And sides such as Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain, Italy and West Germany were all entered.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a vintage tournament. Due to an earthquake in Chile two years before, the government understandably weren’t focused on football and it meant for a dour atmosphere that was made worse by negative tactics – perhaps due to the goal average system – that meant the average amount of goals dropped below three for the first time, and also violent play, which culminated in the infamous ‘Battle of Santiago’ between Chile and Italy.

Despite only two Italian players being sent off, the match was marred by some horrendous fouls and ended with the Italians needing police protection when leaving the field.

In the end, a Garrincha-inspired Brazil ran out winners for the second time, although they had to do it without Pele, who was injured in the group stages. Needless to say, though, it wasn’t as memorable a win as their victory in 1958 and it ended up being overshadowed by their next one too.

#16 Argentina 1978

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Whenever football and international politics mix there seems to be trouble, and the 1978 World Cup was no different as Argentina had suffered a military coup in 1976 and people – largely left-wing activists – were disappearing in astonishing numbers in the country in an act of state terrorism. It meant that some teams were reluctant to attend (although nobody pulled out) and Dutch legend Johan Cruyff refused to join up with the Netherlands squad despite arguably being the world’s best player at the time.

Controversy also surrounded Argentina’s march to the final, which they won over the Netherlands 3-1. In the first group stage, their games were staged later than the others in the group, giving them the advantage of knowing the results of their rivals.

And in the second round – another group stage, with two groups of four and the winners advancing to the final – Argentina needed to beat Peru by at least four goals to advance ahead of Brazil. Rumours of pressure from the Argentine military on the Peru side still persist today as the Peruvians capitulated and lost 6-0.

Despite Mario Kempes – who scored six goals for Argentina including a brace in the final – becoming a superstar at this tournament, due to the controversy and situation surrounding the hosts (reminiscent of the Italian wins in the 1930s), it’s impossible to rank this one overly high.


#15 Switzerland 1954

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For the first time the World Cup resembled almost a modern format – a 16-team tournament with four groups of four and the winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout stage, but it was still strangely organised – each group contained two seeded sides and two non-seeded, and only four games were played – the seeded sides didn’t face each other. Extra-time was also used in the group stages although draws were permitted after 120 minutes. Weird indeed!

A lot of records from this tournament still stand, too, including the most goals scored by any side (Hungary’s legendary Puskas-powered team scored 27) and the most average goals per game (5.38). A lot of the games were hugely one-sided though, particularly the Hungarian games which included a 9-0 win over South Korea and an 8-3 victory over West Germany.

The final was equally curious. A replay of Hungary vs. West Germany, the Hungarians were heavy favourites after the result in the group stage, but despite going 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes, the Germans came back to win 3-2, equalising on 18 minutes before scoring the winner in the 84th. Doping allegations have since come to the forefront, though – the Germans seemed fresher in the second half and a 2010 study suggested they’d used methamphetamine at half-time!

Overall this was a strange – but mostly entertaining – one.

#14 South Africa 2010

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An African World Cup had long been the dream of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and we finally got it in 2010 as the tournament headed to South Africa. It started off brightly as the hosts took a 1-0 lead over Mexico in their opening game via a thumping goal from Siphiwe Tshabalala, but Mexico equalised late on and in a nutshell that was the essence of the tournament. A lot of promise and flash, but not much substance – even the loud buzzing sound of the “vuvuzelas” in the crowd got on everyone’s nerves eventually.

In the end, a first-time winner was guaranteed as Spain faced the Netherlands in the final. It was a bad-tempered affair – arguably the worst final since 1990 or 1994 – but thankfully Spain won out in the end with an Andres Iniesta goal late in extra-time. I say thankfully because the Netherlands’ tactics in the final were filthy.

There were definitely some memorable moments – the bizarre nature of Diego Maradona as Argentina’s manager, the total meltdowns of England, France and Italy, and the pantomime villain antics of Luis Suarez to prevent Ghana from becoming Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalists, but the quality of the football just wasn’t that great although Spain and Germany, in particular, played some scintillating stuff at times.


#13 Brazil 1950

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Of all the World Cup formats, 1950’s was the strangest as it didn’t technically have a “final” as such – there were four groups to begin with but the fourth only had two sides – Uruguay and Bolivia – while the others had four, meaning Uruguay essentially advanced via knockout format. And the group winners went into a round-robin second group stage rather than into a traditional knockout.

The four finalists turned out to be Uruguay, hosts Brazil, Sweden and Spain – after early favourites England were embarrassingly eliminated following a 1-0 loss to the USA of all teams.

The decisive match turned out to be the final one; Brazil vs. Uruguay. The hosts only needed to draw to win the tournament while Uruguay, one point behind in the group, needed to win. Brazil were expected to win at a canter – newspapers had already started to crown them as the world champions – but Uruguay had other ideas and after some interesting preparation (apparently urinating on the papers!) beat Brazil 1-2 to become two-time winners.

The match remains infamous to this day in Brazil – known as the Maracanazo – and caused them to change the colour of their strip from white with a blue trim to the famous yellow and blue that we see them wear today. A massively famous final match but the odd format means it’s not one of the best tournaments.

#12 Sweden 1958

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Eight years after the notorious Maracanazo, Brazil finally won the World Cup, inspired by the attacking talents of winger Garrincha and a then-unknown 17-year-old called Pele. Pele scored six goals in three matches in the knockout stages to take Brazil to victory, including two in the 5-2 final win over hosts Sweden. The five goals scored by Brazil remains a record for a World Cup final and another goal record that still stands from 1958 is that of Frenchman Just Fontaine – he scored 13 in six games, including two hat-tricks.

On the other hand, the tournament also saw the World Cup’s first ever 0-0 draw between England and Brazil in the group stages. England were eliminated in the group stage following a draw with Austria and a loss to the Soviet Union, but more famously, Wales got through the group stage to make the quarter-finals where they lost to Brazil.

They did it the hard way though via a playoff against Hungary, as both teams ended on the same points and goal difference hadn’t been introduced.

Although 1958 is memorable for being Brazil and Pele’s first victory, they’d go on to achieve much more memorable feats later on.


#11 Mexico 1986

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Mexico had hosted the World Cup in 1970 but got a bonus one in 1986 when Colombia had to withdraw from hosting due to economic reasons. The winners? Argentina, but this time they didn’t need any corruption to win – just the genius of the world’s best player at the time, Diego Maradona.

He scored five during the tournament and created another five for his teammates, including an assist for the winning goal in the final – Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2. While some have argued Argentina were a one-man team, others such as Jorge Valdano and Jorge Burruchaga also played a hand in the win.

Undoubtedly the key game for Maradona was in the quarter-final with England – he scored probably the most notorious goal of all time with his hand (the ‘Hand of God’) but then went on to score perhaps the greatest World Cup goal ever as Argentina won 2-1. While it was Maradona’s tournament, the likes of France’s Michel Platini, England’s Gary Lineker, and West Germany’s Lothar Matthaus also starred with some excellent performances.

World Cup 1986 remains memorable to this day for perhaps the best individual performance throughout one tournament – and in England, of course, it remains infamous due to the Hand of God.

#10 Italia 1990

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This one was perhaps the hardest for me to rank as it still holds a cult status in England due to Bobby Robson’s side reaching the semi-finals in their best performance since 1966. It can definitely be argued that it wasn’t a vintage edition of the World Cup – the negative tactics on display – including a then-record 16 red cards – meant that FIFA introduced two changes afterwards – three points rather than two for a group stage win, and the rule preventing the game-killing back pass.

Finalists Argentina incredibly only scored five goals in the entire tournament!

Despite that though, like South Africa 2010 in a lot of ways, there were still plenty of memorable moments. From an England perspective, the emergence of Paul Gascoigne – and his semi-final tears – remain iconic as does David Platt’s last-second goal to beat Belgium in the second round.

Then there was the first really successful African side, Cameroon – inspired by the 38-year-old Roger Milla, they made the quarters; and the emergence of bug-eyed Italian goal machine ‘Toto’ Schillaci, who scored six goals to take the Golden Boot.

The final – won by West Germany 1-0 over Argentina with a penalty – was one of the worst in World Cup history, but due to so many unforgettable moments, Italia 1990 remains hugely memorable almost 30 years later.


#9 South Korea & Japan 2002

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Early on it looked like World Cup 2002 might be the most memorable one yet, thanks to a series of upsets in the group stage – Senegal defeated reigning champions France in the opening game, contributing to a shock early exit; the USA and South Korea advanced over the favoured Portugal and Poland; Argentina crashed out after a loss to England; Italy were beaten by Croatia although they did escape the group stage.

Eventually, though, all the upsets caused more of a problem than anything as it meant weaker sides such as Turkey and Germany advanced, and it could be argued that the “real” final – between the two best sides – came in the quarters as Brazil overcame England 2-1. Brazil ended up winning their fifth tournament by beating Germany 2-0 in the final, with Ronaldo scoring twice to erase the memory of his bad showing in the 1998 final.

Elsewhere, hosts South Korea made the semis, but their run was questionable as strange refereeing allowed them to beat Italy in the second round and Spain in the quarters. It was the type of thing not really seen since the 1970s at least. A memorable tournament but it petered out in the later rounds.

#8 Germany 2006

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After 2002’s plethora of upsets, the traditional powers dominated the 2006 World Cup – the only sides in the quarter-finals who hadn’t won it before were Portugal and Ukraine, and for once the group stage saw no unexpected casualties.

The main story of the tournament was the final hurrah of the great Zinedine Zidane, who had helped France to win the tournament in 1998. His individual performance in the quarter-final against Brazil was one of the all-time great World Cup showings, as he inspired his side and set up Thierry Henry’s winning goal.

Unfortunately for Zidane, things came off the rails in the final against Italy. After he’d scored an early penalty to put France in the lead, defender Marco Materazzi equalised for the Italians. Both sides missed key chances throughout the game and with the score deadlocked at 1-1, the final headed to penalties. But not before the most shocking moment in World Cup history, as Zidane reacted to a taunt from Materazzi by headbutting him in the chest. He was shown the red card and France went on to lose the penalty shootout.

The football at World Cup 2006 was largely pedestrian outside of a couple of games and moments, but the picture of Zidane walking past the trophy in disgrace is so iconic that it makes the top ten.


#7 USA 1994

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People complained that the Americans just didn’t understand football, and an odd opening ceremony featuring Diana Ross botching a penalty didn’t help. But in the end the tournament was pretty great even if the final turned into a damp squib; Brazil and Italy playing out a 0-0 draw that led to the World Cup final’s first penalty shoot-out.

Brazil claimed their fourth World Cup when Italy’s Roberto Baggio sent his penalty miles over the bar – an iconic moment as Baggio had arguably been the tournament’s best player.

Baggio scored five goals – all in the knockout stages to take Italy to the final – and the only player who came close to his greatness was Brazil’s Romario, who also scored five and created a formidable striking partnership with Bebeto, who got three himself.

The best game? The thrilling quarter-final between Brazil and the Netherlands, which saw the Dutch come from two goals down to equalise, only for Branco to hit a late winner via a free-kick.

Other iconic moments included Ireland upsetting Italy in the group stages, Maradona’s positive test for ephedrine, Bulgaria’s upset of Germany in the quarters, and – sadly – the shooting of Colombian Andres Escobar after he scored an own goal against the hosts.

This was a classic tournament for sure.

#6 West Germany 1974

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The final of this tournament – between two of the World Cup’s classic sides, Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands and their ‘Total Football’ against the Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller-inspired hosts – remains one of the most iconic in World Cup history and assures this one a place in the top ten. This one introduced the idea of two group stages, with the winners and runners-up of an initial four groups going into another two groups, and the winners going into the final.

Cruyff’s Netherlands were the outstanding side throughout the tournament as their ‘Total Football’ style allowed their defenders to seamlessly attack and vice-versa. Alongside Cruyff, other players such as Ruudi Krol, Johan Neeskens and Johnny Rep also became iconic names. The side somehow failed to win in the final though, as the hosts pulled out the win with a goal from all-time great Muller.

Other memorable moments included the World Cup’s first red card – for Chile’s Carlos Caszely – and a weird moment during the Brazil vs. Zaire game that saw defender Alunga Mwepu charge out of the wall during a free kick to boot the ball down the field. England might’ve missed out but this was still a memorable tournament.


#5 Spain 1982

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When people think of great celebrations in football, they don’t remember the flashy ones – the emotional, visceral ones come to mind first and there can be nothing more emotional than Marco Tardelli’s wide-eyed screaming when his goal helped Italy to a 3-1 victory over West Germany in the final – arguably the Azzurri's first “clean” World Cup win, despite bad press for the side due to a match-fixing scandal in Serie A.

The whole tournament was filled with entertaining and memorable moments – the Brazil side are often called the greatest never to win a World Cup, as the likes of Zico, Socrates, Falcao and Eder lit up the early games before they were eliminated in one of those pesky second group stages following a stunning loss to Italy.

Elsewhere Michel Platini’s France were fantastic too, getting to the semi-finals before losing to West Germany on penalties following a 3-3 draw that is recognised as one of the World Cup’s greatest ever games.

In addition, Bryan Robson’s 1st-minute goal helped England to beat France in their first game, and Northern Ireland made the second group stage in their first tournament since 1958. 1982 was a truly brilliant tournament with some classic sides, classic games and one of the most memorable moments in any World Cup final.

#4 England 1966

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For obvious reasons this tournament remains the most memorable in England – it was the only one to take place over here and it remains England’s only World Cup victory following arguably the best final in tournament history – the dramatic 4-2 win over West Germany that required extra-time, the World Cup final’s only hat-trick from Geoff Hurst, and the controversial second goal from Hurst that may or may not have crossed the line.

Hurst, Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore were the outstanding players for England, who started slowly with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay but then picked up steam to beat Mexico, France, Argentina and Portugal en route to the final. With Pele injured and Brazil eliminated in the group stage, another star was born in Portugal’s Eusebio, who scored nine goals as his side reached the semis. And North Korea scored one of the all-time great upsets too, beating Italy 1-0 in the group stage to send them packing.

It’s the final game – the classic clash between Moore’s England and Beckenbauer’s West Germany – that ensures this tournament a place in history, though. Even outside of England it’s still one of the most memorable due to such a tremendous final.


#3 Brazil 2014

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The latest edition of the World Cup got off to an absolute bang – on just the second day of the competition, the Netherlands thumped reigning champions Spain 5-1 – and never really slowed down from there. There were only five 0-0 draws throughout the competition and the majority of the games – ranging from group clashes between Italy and England, Portugal and the USA, and Australia and the Netherlands through to knockout clashes like Belgium vs. USA and Algeria vs. Germany were fantastic.

For the first time too there were no true whipping boys – smaller sides like Costa Rica and Algeria advanced to the knockout stages and pushed the bigger sides harder than ever, and even the likes of Iran and Australia gave good accounts of themselves in losses. The most memorable moment though was Maracanazo, part deux. The hosts Brazil had advanced to the semi-finals despite looking shaky at numerous points, but in their game against Germany they were cruelly exposed and embarrassed in a 7-1 loss.

Germany went on to defeat Argentina 1-0 in a replay of the 1990 final, but the game was much better tempered and more entertaining even if it was tight. In the end, 2014 lived up to all of the hype.

#2 Mexico 1970

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The traditional pick for the best World Cup, Mexico 1970 was the first to be broadcast in colour and it remains fondly remembered almost 50 years on. The tournament used the classic 16-team line-up and all of the favourites advanced through the group stage – which is most memorable for an amazing game between Brazil and holders England, won by Brazil 1-0, and the embrace between Pele and Bobby Moore is still an iconic photo today.

England were tipped to retain their trophy and got through the group despite the Brazil loss, but met their match in the quarters in a rematch with West Germany – this time a tired Bobby Charlton was substituted and that allowed Franz Beckenbauer to take over the game; Germany won 3-2 after going 2-0 down. They didn’t make the final though, losing out to Italy in the semi-finals 4-3 in what some labelled as the ‘Game of the Century’.

The most memorable part of the 1970 World Cup though was undoubtedly the Brazil side that ran out winners, beating Italy 4-1 in the final. The names are still household ones today; Pele, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto, Rivelino, Tostao – simply put, the team is the most iconic one in World Cup history which is why 1970 is so memorable.


#1 France 1998

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The World Cup was expanded to 32 teams for the first time in 1998 and the tournament remains arguably the last time when the World Cup was truly the pinnacle of football – before the explosion of the Champions League in the 2000s. And it lived up to the hype as we saw almost all of the best players of the 1990s on show, ranging from Zidane, Ronaldo and Bergkamp to Batistuta, Shearer and Suker.

The tournament saw some truly iconic moments – Michael Owen’s solo goal for England against Argentina in the second round, Dennis Bergkamp’s equally brilliant one to send the Argentines home in the quarters, Laurent Blanc’s last-ditch goal to allow France to defeat Paraguay, and Ronaldo at his peak, scoring four goals as Brazil rampaged through to the final only to fall apart on the day after the great man fell ill, apparently suffering a seizure on the morning of the game.

With Ronaldo out of the way, it became Zidane’s final, as his two headed goals allowed the hosts to run out 3-0 winners over the holders and claim the World Cup for the first – and only – time. Classic goals, iconic moments, and a roster of incredible players before everything changed. This World Cup had it all.

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Edited by Staff Editor