The Complete List of All Soccer World Cup Winners

“Thirty years of hurt,” the England supporters like to sing, though for most of the world, it’s been quite a bit longer; of the world’s 211 FIFA-affiliated national soccer teams, only eight have ever won the World Cup. Most winners (England and one other excepted) have more than one Jules Rimet in the cabinet. Conversely, some of the greatest national teams in history – Puskas’s Hungary, Cruyff’s Netherlands, the great Colombian side in the ‘90s with Valderrama and Rincon – have never won the tournament. So, as the Qatar World Cup marches on, here’s who has previously lifted the World Cup:

Highest international goalscorer: Pelé (77)

Key player in Qatar: Neymar

One of the favorites going into this year’s tournament, Brazil are the only nation to have appeared at every World Cup. Pelé won his first World Cup with Brazil in 1958 at age 17 and his final Cup in 1970, twelve years later; to date, he’s the only player to win three World Cups.

Highest international goalscorer: Miroslav Klose (71)

Key player in Qatar: Manuel Neuer

Germany’s four titles include three won as West Germany (split from East Germany from 1952 to 1990) and one post-reunification, brought home from Brazil 2014; if you haven’t seen the extended highlights from the Brazil-Germany semifinal in a minute, it’s worth a watch. Long-serving manager Joachim Löw stepped down after Euro 2020 after fifteen years in charge; Qatar 2022 is the first major international tournament for former Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

Highest international goalscorer: Gigi Riva (35)

Key player in Qatar: A nice hot cappuccino

It’s been a while (Denmark 1994, also Czechoslovakia 1978) since the sitting European champion failed to qualify for the next World Cup; funnily enough, each of those teams, including Italy, also missed a World Cup before winning the Euros. Italy are currently sixth in the FIFA men’s ranking, making them, by some distance, the highest-profile omission from Qatar 2022.

Highest international goalscorer: Lionel Messi (92)

Key player in Qatar: Lionel Messi

Diego Maradona led the Albiceleste to a famous win in 1986, scoring the two greatest goals in World Cup history in the quarterfinal against England. The sitting South American champions after winning the 2021 Copa America in Brazil had a tough time against Saudi Arabia in their first group game, but you still can’t count them out in what could well be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup.

Highest international goalscorer: Olivier Giroud, Thierry Henry (51)

Key player in Qatar: Kylian Mbappé

France certainly have a flair for the dramatic. They came to Japan / South Korea 2002 as world and European champions and then failed to get out of what was, at first glance, a very easy group. This year, between the extended absence of N’Golo Kanté, Karim Benzema’s untimely injury, and “l’affaire Pogba”, there were once again question marks around Didier Deschamps’s side. On their day, though, France are unplayable.

Highest international goalscorer: Luis Suárez (58)

Key player in Qatar: Fede Valverde

Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930, winning at home, and they also won Brazil 1950; that’s in addition to 15 Copa Americas, tied with Argentina for the most South American championships. Throughout its history, as Seb Stafford-Bloor of Tifo explains here, the tiny nation has punched above its weight in international tournaments. This year’s tournament is perhaps too late for Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani but too early for Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde and Liverpool’s Darwin Nuñez. No one will want to play them in the knockouts.

Highest international goalscorer: Wayne Rooney (53)

Key player in Qatar: Harry Kane

Inventors of football England have won one major trophy since other nations picked up the game, though they came desperately, agonizingly close at Euro 2020. They came to Qatar with a bunch of exciting young attackers, a reliable goalscorer, a settled backline, and a manager who’s won 64% of his games over six years in charge; why all the negativity, then?

Highest international goalscorer: David Villa (59)

Key player in Qatar: Pedri

Squint, and Spain 2022 look a bit like Spain 2010: a pass-you-to-death Barcelona midfield three of Gavi, Pedri, and Sergio Busquets, inconsistency in attack, but a lot of solid Madrid / Barca club links across the pitch that give Spain a higher level of comfort and tactical understanding than you’re used to in modern tournament football. They’ll do well in Qatar, and they’ll perhaps be even better once Gavi is old enough to vote.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.