Tuesday, April 8, 2014
World Cup: Top 10 Nations in the history of FIFA's World Cup
The countdown to the
2014 World Cup has since begun and today, with only 65 days to go, it
is time to take a look at some of the top Nations that have
participated in the World Cup since its inception in 1930. 32 nations
will be heading to Brazil this summer for the competition that comes
by every four years, and ever since the premier tournament in Uruguay
where they had only 13 nations in attendance, some nations have
earned the right to be called the greatest, so here are the top
10 nations in the history of the World Cup
10. Sweden- They made the third edition of the World Cup
which was held in France from June 4th to 19 June where
Sweden finished in fourth place in the tournament with Italy
retaining the Championship after beating Hungary 4-2 in the finals.
Moving up, the Swedish team ended up in third place again in the
1950 World Cup. And as host, the Blue-Yellow were runners-up in the
1958 World Cup, and in USA'94, they finished in third place.
Stats: Games Played: 46, Won: 16, Lost: 17, Drawn: 13
9. Uruguay: were hosts of the inaugural FIFA World Cup
following their double Olympic win, they also hold the record of
winning the very first edition after their 4-2 victory over
Argentina in the finals. Uruguay held the World Cup title in 1950
after boycotting World Cup 1934 and 1938 due to the refusal of some
European teams from participating in the World Cup. The South
American team had a drop in performance and managed to clench fourth
place in 1954 and 1970, they however made a comeback to the finals in
2010 World Cup finishing once again in fourth place.
Stats: Games Played: 47,
Won: 17, Lost: 17, Drawn: 12
8. Netherlands: the Flying
Dutchmen have managed to reach the finals so many times without
lifting the cup; they were runners-up in 1974, 1978, and in 2010.
After so many years filed with ups and downs in their World Cup
campaign, the Netherlands qualified for the the 2014 World Cup with
the hope of once more making it to the finals, but maybe this time,
they will eventually lift the Cup.
Stats-Games Played: 43, Won:
22, Lost: 11, Drawn: 10
7. France: The French nation has had a long history with the
World Cup, aside from hosting the third edition of FIFA's World Cup
which was the second time in a row a European country will host the
tournament, they were among the first Four teams to represent Europe
in the very first World Cup in Uruguay. And off course, it was a
French man, Jules Rimet that initiated the tournament in 1930.
However, their history in this prestigious world event does not quite
reflect on their performance, Les Bleus came in third place in 1958,
and 1986 respectively, they however had a memorable comeback in 1998
as hosts and winners of the tournament, but, they exited in the
first-round of the 2002 World Cup and were runners up in Germany
2006.
Stats-Games Played: 54,
Won:25, Lost: 18, Drawn: 11
6. Spain: The current World Champions and no. 1 nation on
FIFA's world ranking have not been to successful in their World Cup
campaign. Spain was selected as hosts of the 1982 World cup where
they exited the competition in the second round. It was however the
2010 World Cup which was held in South Africa that granted the
Spanish team their very first World Cup victory, they lifted the
Jules Rimet cup in South Africa in 2010 for the first time after many
failed attempts.
Stats: Games Played: 56, Won:28, Lost: 16, Drawn: 12
5. England: England won the
1966 World Cup when the hosted the eighth edition of the tournament,
defeating West Germany 4-2. Their best performance after this came in
1990 when they made it to the semi-finals finishing in fourth place.
The English team have made 13 World Cup appearances and have only
lost 14 matches making them one the only team to have lost fewer
times than any other team with more than 50 World Cup matches played.
Stats: Games Played: 59,
Won: 26, Lost: 14, Drawn: 19
4. Argentina: Argentina who
are currently third in FIFA's World ranking have appeared in four
World Cup finals including the very first edition in 1930. They were
runners-up in the premier edition after losing to Uruguay 4-2.
Argentina however pulled out of the competition for 20 whole year,
they came back in 1954 but finally made an impact in 1978 World Cup
which was hosted by Argentina, they beat Netherlands 3-1 in the
finals. Led by legendary player, Diego Maradona, they won again in
1986, and they were runners-up in the 1990 World Cup after losing to
Germany 1-0 via a penalty kick.
Stats: Games Played: 70,
Won: 37, Lost: 20, Drawn: 13
3. Italy: The Italian
national team were World Champions in the 2nd
and 3rd
edition of the World Cup. As hosts of the second World Cup, they won
the 2nd
title and are considered the second most successful national team in
history of the World Cup having won 4 tittles (1934, 1938, 1982, and
2006), trailing Brazil by only 1 title. They were runners-up in
1970, and 1994 and finished in third place in the 1990 edition of the
World Cup. Despite their history of victories, they are third in the
list following a series of bad performance which includes 20 years
of failing to go beyond the first round in the competition.
Stats-Games played: 80, Won:
44, Lost: 15, Drawn: 21
2. Germany: The
German national team have won a
total of 3 World Cup titles;1954, 1974 and in 1990 where they won 1-0
via a penalty kick in the 85th
minute of the game. Germany competed in two of the first four World
Cups and won third place in the second edition of the tournament,
Germany came back and won the 1954 World Cup which was held in
Switzerland, the National Team were runners-up in 1966 World Cup,
came in third place in the 1970, however, they won again in 1974 when
they hosted the 10th
edition of FIFA's World Cup.
Failing to reach the 1978 finals,
Germany were runners-up in 1982 and 1986 respectively and once again
won the title in 1990. Germany made it to the finals in World Cup
2002 but finished in second place, they would go on to clench the
third position in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup. The German National
team have reached the quarterfinals or further in every World Cup for
the last 50 years, excluding the 1978 World Cup.
Stats: Games Played: 99,
Won: 60, Lost: 20, Drawn: 19
1. Brazil: The host of the
2014 World Cup have are considered as one of the most successful
team in World Cup history having won the title for a record 5 times.
They also hold the record of the most World Cup appearance, they have
been present at every single World Cup since its inception in 1930.
Although they have made a total of 19 World Cup final appearance,
they did not start up as world's favorite. Brazil came in third place
in the 3rd
edition of the World Cup and as hosts, Brazil made it to the finals
but lost to Uruguay in Brazil 1950. The recurrent champions won the
title in 1958, and in 1962, and after failing to reach the finals in
1966, Brazil became world champions again in 1970. Taking a break
from their victories, Brazil finished in fourth place at the next
World Cup which was held in Germany and came in third place in the
1978 WC. Making a strong comeback, the Canarinho won their fourth
title in U.S.A 94 and were runners-up in France 98. Taking the
position as the World best in Football, Brazil won their 5th
World Cup title in the 2002 which was held in South Korea and Japan
after beating Germany 2-0 in the finals.
Stats: Games Played: 97,
Won: 67, Lost: 15, Drawn: 15
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