History of FIFA World Cup

FIFA was founded in 1904 and its stands for the Federation International de Football Association. It is the sports global governing body. The world championship awarded every four years since it started in 1930. There were only two instances when this world’s most famous world cup was not played those were the years 1942 and 1946 due to world war 11.

International Competitions Before the Foundation of FIFA

1872 was the year when the world’s first International match was played. It’s a challenging match played in Glasgow between Scotland and England.

In 1884 the first International tournament was played under the name of the British Home Championship.

At the start of the 20th Century, Football gains popularity in other parts of the world. Football has been included in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics but no medals were awarded.

These were the early days of Football. The First time when football became an official competition it was the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but this event was for amateur players only. the Gold medal was won by Great Britain (England National Amateur football team)

First time in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognize the Olympic tournament as a World Football Championship for amateurs. FIFA took the responsibility to organize the event. This step leads to the way for the world’s first international football competition in the 1920 summer Olympics.

In 1920 summer Olympics were contested by 14 teams including Egypt and 13 other European teams. Belgium was the winner of the 1920 summer Olympics.

The next two summer Olympics were held in 1924 and 1928 both football tournaments were won by Uruguay.

1924 is the year when FIFA’s professional era started.

Start of the FIFA World Cup

After the successful Olympics football tournaments. FIFA start thinking that they should arrange their own international football tournaments outside the Olympics

FIFA meeting was held in Amsterdam on 28 May 1928 in which it was decided that FIFA would stage an international world championship on its own.

Inaugural World Cup 1930 Uruguay

The honor to stage the inaugural world cup in 1930 was given to Uruguay. The reason to host the world cup was their brilliant performance in the summer Olympics. Uruguay was two time champion of the Summer Olympics in 1924 and 1928. Thus the FIFA world cup started.

Total 13 Nations took part in the inaugural world cup.

Group A	Argentina	Chile	France	Mexico
Group B	Yugoslavia	Brazil	Bolivia
Group C	Uruguay	Romania	Peru
Group D	USA	Paraguay	Belgium

• Seven teams from South America

• Two teams from North America and

• Four teams from Europe

In the Final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of 93,000 people in Montevideo. Uruguay becomes the first nation to win the world cup.

Foot Ball Dropped from Olympics

International Olympic Committee (IOC) disagreed with the decision of FIFA to stage the Football World Cup by itself. Eventually, they dropped the football from Olympics in Summer Olympics in 1932.

FIFA World Cup 1934 Italy

The second world cup was hosted by Italy. Sixteen teams participated in the world cup. In this world cup, the group stages have been abended. the tournament was played on a knockout system. The group stages keep abended till the 1950 World Cup.

The Sixteen Teams were.

Argentina	Australia	Belgium	Czechoslovakia
Egypt	France	Germany	Hungry
Italy	Netherlands	Romania	Spain,
Sweden	Switzerland	Brazil	USA

The Final was played between Italy and Czechoslovakia, and won by Italy by 2-1. This match was attended by 55,000 thousand people.

FIFA World Cup 1938 France

The Third World cup was played in France. Again sixteen teams participated in this world cup as well. As the group stages are abended the tournament is again played on a knockout system. Austria was abolished just before the start of the tournament.

The Teams were.

Austria (Abolished)	Belgium	Brazil	Cuba
Czechoslovakia	Indonesia	France	Germany
Hungry	Italy	Netherlands	Norway
Poland	Romania	Sweden	Switzerland

Italy won the world cup by defeating Hungry by two goals and become the world champion and remain the champion till 1950 as the World Cup 1942 and 1946 were not played due to world war second.

FIFA World Cup 1942 Germany (Cancelled)

The world cup was canceled due to world war second.

FIFA World Cup 1946 (Cancelled)

Canceled due to world war second.

FIFA World Cup 1950 Brazil

The fourth World cup was played in Brazil. Sixteen teams were qualified but India, Scotland, and Turkey have drawn from the world cup. Therefore thirteen teams participated in the tournament. Groups stages were introduced again. These teams were divided into four groups.

Group 1	Brazil	Yugoslavia	Switzerland	Mexico
Group 2	Spain	England	Chile	USA
Group 3	Sweden	Italy	Paraguay
Group 4	Uruguay	Bolivia

The winner of the world cup was not decided in the single-match final.

Uruguay defeated the host Brazil in the deciding match of the four-team group of the final round.

FIFA World Cup 1954 Switzerland

The fifth FIFA world cup was played in Switzerland. Total of Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament. which were divided into four groups.

Group 1	Brazil	Yugoslavia	France	Mexico
Group 2	Hungary	West Germany	Turkey	South Korea
Group 3	Uruguay	Austria	Czechoslovakia	Scotland
Group 4	England	Switzerland	Italy	Belgium

West Germany won the world cup defeating Hungary 3-2.

FIFA World Cup 1958 Sweden

The sixth World Cup was staged in Sweden. Sixteen teams participated and were divided into four groups. The groups were.

Group 1	West Germany	Northern Ireland	Czechoslovakia	Argentina
Group 2	France	Yugoslavia	Paraguay	Scotland
Group 3	Sweden	Wales	Hungary	Mexico
Group 4	Brazil	Brazil	England	Austria

The Final was played between Brazil and host Sweden. Brazil won by 5-2

This is the first world cup win for Brazil and the start of the winning steak in world cups

FIFA World Cup 1962 Chile

The Seventh Edition of the FIFA world cup was played in Chile. Sixteen teams take part in the tournament and were divided into four groups. The groups were.

Group 1	USSR	Yugoslavia	Uruguay	Colombia
Group 2	West Germany	Chile	Italy	Switzerland
Group 3	Brazil	Czechoslovakia	Mexico	Spain
Group 4	Hungary	England	Argentina	Bulgaria

Brazil won the match 3-1 defeating Czechoslovakia and successfully defending the title.

FIFA World Cup 1966 England

The Eighth Edition of the FIFA World cup was staged in England. Sixteen teams again into four groups. groups were.

Group 1	England	Uruguay	Mexico	France
Group 2	West Germany	Argentina	Spain	Switzerland
Group 3	Portugal	Hungary	Brazil	Bulgaria
Group 4	USSR	Korea DPR	Italy	Chile

The Final Played between host England and West Germany

England won the match by 4-2

FIFA World Cup 1970 Mexico

The Ninth Edition of the world cup was hosted by Mexico. Sixteen teams were participated in the tournament and divided into four groups.

Group 1	USSR	Mexico	Belgium	El Salvador
Group 2	Italy	Uruguay	Sweden	Israel
Group 3	Brazil	England	Romania	Czechoslovakia
Group 4	West Germany	Bulgaria	Morocco	Peru

The Final was played between Brazil and Italy

Brazil won by 4-1 and complete the hat trick of world cups

FIFA World Cup 1974 West Germany

West Germany hosted the Tenth Edition of the world cup. Sixteen teams into four groups.

Group 1	German DR	West Germany	Chile	Australia
Group 2	Yugoslavia	Brazil	Scotland	Zaire
Group 3	Netherlands	Sweden	Bulgaria	Uruguay
Group 4	Poland	Argentina	Italy	Haiti.

West Germany won the title beating Netherland 2-1

FIFA World Cup 1978 Argentina

The Eleventh Edition of the FIFA World Cup was hosted by Argentina. Sixteen teams divided into four groups

Group 1	Italy	Argentina	France	Hungary
Group 2	Poland	West Germany	Tunisia	Mexico
Group 3	Austria	Brazil	Spain	Sweden
Group 4	Peru	Netherlands	Scotland	Iran

The host Argentina won the world cup beating Netherland by 3-1

FIFA World Cup 1982 Spain

Spain hosted the twelfth edition of the world cup. No of the teams has been increased from 16 to 24 and divided into 6 groups. Four teams in each group. The groups were

Group 1	Poland	Italy	Cameroon	Peru
Group 2	West Germany	Austria	Algeria	Chile
Group 3	Belgium	Argentina	Hungary	El Salvador
Group 4	England	France	Czechoslovakia	Kuwait
Group 5	Netherlands	Spain	Yugoslavia	Honduras
Group 6	Brazil	USSR	Scotland	New Zealand

Italy won the world cup defeating West Germany 3-1. Italy completes its third world cup title equal to Brazil.

FIFA World Cup 1986 Mexico

13th Edition of the world cup hosted by Mexico. This is the second time that Mexico hosting the world cup in 16 Years as they hosted of 1970 world cup as well. Again 24 teams into 6 groups.

Group A	Argentina	Italy	Bulgaria	South Korea
Group B	Mexico	Paraguay	Belgium	Iraq
Group C	USSR	France	Hungary	Canada
Group D	Brazil	Spain	Northern Ireland	Algeria
Group E	Denmark	West Germany	Scotland	Uruguay
Group F	Morocco	England	Poland	Portugal

Argentina won this football FIFA world cup against West Germany 3-2. This is West Germany’s second consecutive defeat in the world cup Finals

FIFA World Cup 1990 Italy

The 14th Edition of the word cup was hosted by Italy. 24 teams into 6 groups.

Group A	Italy	Czechoslovakia	Austria	USA
Group B	Cameroon	Romania	Argentina	SSSR
Group C	Brazil	Costa Rica	Sweden	Scotland
Group D	Germany	Yugoslavia	Colombia	United Arab Emirates
Group E	Spain	Belgium	Uruguay	Korea Republic
Group F	England	Republic of Ireland	Netherlands	Egypt

West Germany won the title beating Argentina 1-0. Finally, West Germany managed to win the title. This was his third consecutive World Cup Final.

FIFA World Cup 1994 United States of America

The USA hosted the 15th Edition of the World Cup. 24 teams competing for the title were divided into 6 groups. Each group has four teams.

Group A	Romania	Switzerland	USA	Colombia
Group B	Brazil	Sweden	Russia	Cameroon
Group C	Germany	Spain	South Korea	Bolivia
Group D	Nigeria	Argentina	Bulgaria	Greece
Group E	Mexico	Ireland	Italy	Norway
Group F	Netherlands	Saudi Arabia	Belgium	Morocco

Brazil won the world cup title defeating Italy in penalty shootouts by 3-2

FIFA World Cup 1998 France

16th Edition has been hosted by France. At this time FIFA has decided to increase the teams from 24 to 32. So now each team is divided into 8 different groups were 4 teams in each group.

Group A	Brazil	Norway	Morocco	Scotland
Group B	Italy	Chile	Austria	Cameroon
Group C	France	Denmark	South Africa	Saudi Arabia
Group D	Nigeria	Paraguay	Spain	Bulgaria
Group E	Netherlands	Mexico	Belgium	Korea Republic
Group F	Germany	Serbia	IR Iran	USA
Group G	Romania	England	Colombia	Tunisia
Group H	Argentina	Croatia	Jamaica	Japan

France won the Final beating Brazil by 3-0

FIFA World Cup 2002 Korea / Japan

The 17th Edition of the FIFA world cup was combined and hosted by Korea and Japan. Thirty-two teams were qualified and placed into eight groups of four teams each.

Group A	Denmark	Senegal	Uruguay	France
Group B	Spain	Paraguay	South Africa	Slovenia
Group C	Brazil	Turkey	Costa Rica	China
Group D	South Korea	USA	Portugal	Poland
Group E	Germany	Republic of Ireland	Cameroon	Saudi Arabia
Group F	Sweden	England	Argentina	Nigeria
Group G	Mexico	Italy	Croatia	Ecuador
Group H	Japan	Belgium	Russia	Tunisia

Brazil once again won the title beating Germany 2-0 in the Final. This is the 5th world cup title for Brazil. This is the first time in FIFA history and a record winning for Brazil.

FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany

Germany hosted the 18th Edition of the world cup. This is the second time when Germany hosting the Tournament. Earlier in 1974, the world cup was hosted when its called West Germany. Thirty-two teams participated and were divided into eight groups of four teams

Group A	Germany	Ecuador	Poland	Costa Rica
Group B	England	Sweden	Paraguay	Trinidad and Tobago
Group C	Argentina	Netherlands	Ivory Coast	Serbia and Montenegro
Group D	Portugal	Mexico	Angola	Iran
Group E	Italy	Ghana	Czech Republic	USA
Group F	Brazil	Australia	Croatia	Japan
Group G	Switzerland	France	South Korea	Togo
Group H	Spain	Ukraine	Tunisia	Saudi Arabia

Italy won the world cup defeating France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out as the match ended 1-1 after the extra time. This was Italy’s fourth world cup win after Brazil who won five times.

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

South Africa has the honor to host the 19th Edition of the world cup. First instance for South Africa to host a big one. Thirty-two teams, Eight Groups, and Four teams in each group.

Group A	Uruguay	South Africa	Mexico	France
Group B	Argentina	Korea Republic	Greece	Nigeria
Group C	USA	England	Slovenia	Algeria
Group D	Germany	Ghana	Australia	Serbia
Group E	Netherlands	Japan	Denmark	Cameroon
Group F	Paraguay	Slovakia	New Zealand	Italy
Group G	Brazil	Portugal	Ivory Coast	Korea DPR
Group H	Spain	Chile	Switzerland	Honduras

Spain won the world cup title beating Netherlands 1-0. This is the first time in FIFA world cup history that Spain wins its first winning title against the Netherlands.

FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil

Brazil hosted the 20th Edition of the world cup. After 1950 It was the second time when Brazil hosted the tournament. The format of the tournament was the same Thirty-two teams, Eight Groups of four teams each.

Group A	Mexico	Cameroon	Croatia	Brazil
Group B	Chile	Netherlands	Spain	Australia
Group C	Ivory Coast	Japan	Greece	Columbia
Group D	Italy	England	Costa Rica	Uruguay
Group E	Honduras	France	Ecuador	Switzerland
Group F	Nigeria	Iran	Argentina	Bosnia Herzegovina
Group G	USA	Ghana	Portugal	Germany
Group H	South Korea	Russia	Algeria	Belgium

The Final was played Between Germany and Argentina. Germany won the match by 1-0 and completes his fourth world cup title and equal to Italy after Brazil who won five-time still leading the winning streaks of the world cup titles.

FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia

Russia hosted the 21st Edition of the world cup first time in the history of the country. Thirty-two countries eight groups of four teams each.

Group A	Uruguay	Russia	Saudi Arabia	Egypt
Group B	Spain	Portugal	Iran	Morocco
Group C	France	Denmark	Peru	Australia
Group D	Croatia	Argentina	Nigeria	Iceland
Group E	Brazil	Switzerland	Serbia	Costa Rica
Group F	Sweden	Mexico	South Korea	Germany
Group G	Belgium	England	Tunisia	Panama
Group H	Colombia	Japan	Senegal	Poland

France won the world cup beating Croatia by 4-2 and completing his second world cup title. Croatia, on the other hand, played a wonderful football game though out the tournament and the first time reach the final of the big event. Perhaps their best-ever performance in the history of world cups.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar

The 22nd Edition of the World cup tournament will be played in Qatar from 20 November 2022 to 18 December 2022. The format of the tournament will be the same. A total of thirty-two countries will be participated divided into Eight Groups with four teams in Each Group.

Group A	Qatar	Ecuador	Senegal	Netherlands
Group B	England	IR Iran	USA	Wales
Group C	Argentina	Saudi Arabia	Mexico	Poland
Group D	France	Australia	Denmark	Tunisia
Group E	Spain	Costa Rica	Germany	Japan
Group F	Belgium	Canada	Morocco	Croatia
Group G	Brazil	Serbia	Switzerland	Cameroon
Group H	Portugal	Ghana	Uruguay	Korea Republic

France is the defending champion. Let’s see how he will defend the title.

FIFA World Cup Winners List by Years

Serial No.	World Cup	Host	Winner	Runner up	Score
1	World Cup 1930	Uruguay	Uruguay	Argentina	4-2
2	World Cup 1934	Italy	Italy	Czechoslovakia	2-1
3	World Cup 1938	France	Italy	Hungary	2-0
4	World Cup 1942	Cancelled
5	World Cup 1946	Cancelled
6	World Cup 1950	Brazil	Uruguay	Brazil
7	World Cup 1954	Switzerland	West Germany	Hungary	3-2
8	World Cup 1958	Sweden	Brazil	Sweden	5-2
9	World Cup 1962	Chile	Brazil	Czechoslovakia	3-1
10	World Cup 1966	England	England	West Germany	4-2
11	World Cup 1970	Mexico	Brazil	Italy	4-1
12	World Cup 1974	West Germany	West Germany	Netherlands	2-1
13	World Cup 1978	Argentina	Argentina	Netherlands	3-1
14	World Cup 1982	Spain	Italy	West Germany	3-1
15	World Cup 1986	Mexico	Argentina	West Germany	3-2
16	World Cup 1990	Italy	West Germany	Argentina	1-0
17	World Cup 1994	USA	Brazil	Italy	3-2
18	World Cup 1998	France	France	Brazil	3-0
19	World Cup 2002	Korea/Japan	Brazil	Germany	2-0
20	World Cup 2006	Germany	Italy	France	5-3
21	World Cup 2010	South Africa	Spain	Netherlands	1-0
22	World Cup 2014	Brazil	Germany	Argentina	1-0
23	World Cup 2018	Russia	France	Croatia	4-2
24	World Cup 2022

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