History of Worldcup


History of the FIFA World Cup
No other sporting event captures the world's imagination like the FIFA World Cup. Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA's (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.
A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet, are credited with the original idea of bringing the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions. The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet's name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.
When it resumed, the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world. Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.
Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history - the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea's defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon's emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990....
Today, the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France 98 tournament, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadium.
After all these years and so many changes, however, the main focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same - the glistening golden trophy, which is the embodiment of every footballer's ambition.
World Cup Summaries- updated
Year
Champion
Runner-Up
Result
3rd Place
Host
1930
Uruguay
Argentina
4-2
United States
Uruguay
1934
Italy
Czechoslovakia
2-1 (ot)
Germany
Italy
1938
Italy
Hungary
4-2
Brazil
France
1950
Uruguay
Brazil
2-1
Sweden
Brazil
1954
West Germany
Hungary
3-2
Austria
Switzerland
1958
Brazil
Sweden
5-2
France
Sweden
1962
Brazil
Czechoslovakia
3-1
Chile
Chile
1966
England
West Germany
4-2 (ot)
Portugal
England
1970
Brazil
Italy
4-1
West Germany
Mexico
1974
West Germany
Holland
2-1
Poland
West Germany
1978
Argentina
Holland
3-1 (ot)
Brazil
Argentina
1982
Italy
West Germany
3-1
Poland
Spain
1986
Argentina
West Germany
3-2
France
Mexico
1990
West Germany
Argentina
1-0
Italy
Italy
1994
Brazil
Italy
0-0 (3:2 pk)
Sweden
United States
1998
France
Brazil
3-0
Croatia
France
2002
Brazil
Germany
2-0
Turkey
Korea / Japan
2006
Italy
France
1-1 (5-4 pk)
Germany
Germany

Team RecordsBrazil holds the most World Cup championships with five, Italy is in second with four titles and West Germany/Germany holds third with three World Cup titles. Hungary has tallied the most goals in a single World Cup when they scored 27 in 1954. In the 1954 World Cup Austria beat Switzerland 7-5 for the most goals (12) combined in a World Cup match. Hungary beat El Salvador in 1982, 10-1 for the highest goal differential in a World Cup match (Hungary is also the only team to score 10 or more goals in a World Cup).
Individual RecordsRonaldo is the top scorer in World Cup history with 15 goals, and he is followed by Gerard Muller with 14. Salenko of Russia scored 5 goals in a match during the 1994 World Cup. Bert Patenaude of the US was the first player to ever record a hat trick (1930 World Cup). Hakan Sukur of Turkey scored the fastest goal in World Cup history in 2002 when he scored 11 seconds into the match against South Korea. Lothar Matthaus of Germany / West Germany has the most appearances by a player in the World Cup with 25. Norman Whiteside of Northern Ireland was the youngest player (17 years old) to ever step on the field in World Cup (1982). Pelé of Brazil was also the youngest player to score in a World Cup (1958) match. Pelé also was the youngest player to ever win a World Cup (1958). Roger Milla of Cameroon was the oldest (42 years, 39 days) player to play in a World Cup (1994). Milla also scored a goal in that match against Russia. The first player to ever be ejected from a World Cup match was Galindo of Peru in 1930.
World Cup RecordsThe 1994 World Cup held in the United States had the highest average attendance with over 68,990 for each match. The 1950 World Cup Final (Uruguay vs. Brazil) had over 174,000 spectators for the largest number of spectators to watch a single game. While this match did determine the winner of the World Cup that year, it was not a "true final", as there was a second round of group play and the top placed team, Uruguay, was the cup winner! The 1970 World Cup Final at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City had the highest Final attendance with 107,412 spectators attending the game. The 1954 World Cup held in Switzerland holds the highest average for goals per game 5.38 (140 goals in 26 matches).