Winners of past World Cups | Sunday Observer

Winners of past World Cups

15 July, 2018

Today is World Cup football final day in Russia. There have been twenty World Cups with eight different countries walking away with the trophy.

In 1930 at the first World Cup final Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2. In 1934 Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 and in the 1938 final Italy beat Hungary 4-2 . In that final Italy were too strong for the East-Europeans and came out as 4-2 winners. Then from this final, there was no football due to the Second World War that created a 12-year gap.

In the 1950 final Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 and in 1954 West Germany beat Hungary 3-2. The 1954 final result was one of the biggest World Cup shocks ever. Hungary were arguably the best team in the world, lead by Ferenc Puskas. They had beaten South Korea 9-0 and then beat their final opponents West Germany 8-3 during the group stages.

In the final of the World Cup in 1958 Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 that marked the beginning of the era of Pele and Brazilian dominance. The great man guided Brazil to the final after scoring the winner against Wales, then a hat-trick against France. He would go on to score two more in the final against Sweden. In 1962 Brazil beat Czechoslovakia 3-1.

Four years on, Pele was injured against Czechoslovakia, but the Brazil team still continued to win largely due to the genius of Garrincha. Two goals against England and then two more against Chile set up a rematch with Czechoslovakia. The group stage result had been a 0-0 draw, but Brazil proved too strong in the final by winning 3-1.

In 1966 England beat West Germany 4-2 in the final and in 1970 Brazil beat Italy 4-1 to lift the Cup. Then in 1974 West Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 and in 1978 Argentina beat Netherlands 3-1 in the final.

In the 1982 final Italy beat West Germany 3-1 and in the 1986 final Argentina beat West Germany 3-2. In the 1990 final West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 and in the 1994 final Brazil drew with Italy 0-0 and won 3-2 on penalties. The 1994 World Cup final was the first without goals during the run of play.

Missed chances, especially by Romario where there were plenty of opportunities over the 90 minutes and extra time had the game going into a penalty shoot-out. In the 1998 final France won for the first time. There was immense controversy revolving around Brazilian Ronaldo. There seemed to be issues around his match fitness, so much so that Brazilian coach Mario Zagallo said he would not play him. In the 2002 final Brazil beat Germany 2-0 and in the 2006 final Italy drew with France 1-1 but France won the penalty shoot-out 5-3. In 2010 Spain beat Netherlands 1-0 in the final and in the 2014 final Germany beat Argentina 1-0

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