FIFA World Cup: Full List of Winners

There have been 22 editions of the FIFA World Cup since its debut in 1930.

Lionel Messi captured his first World Cup in 2022. | IMAGO/PA Image

The FIFA World Cup is football’s ultimate prize.

Whether it’s Pelé and Brazil, Andrés Iniesta guiding Spain, or—most recently—Lionel Messi completing his destiny with Argentina, the World Cup trophy is reserved only for the game’s greatest teams and players.

Held every four years since its inaugural edition in 1930—apart from a break in the 1940s due to World War II—the tournament has seen just eight nations lift the famous trophy, some multiple times and others only once.

Here, we look back at every team to have won the world’s most prestigious football tournament—along with each edition’s runners-up and third-place finishers.

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World Cup Winners by Year

Year	Winner	Runner-Up	Third Place
1930	Uruguay	Argentina	United States
1934	Italy	Czechoslovakia	Germany
1938	Italy	Hungary	Brazil
1950	Uruguay	Brazil	Sweden
1954	West Germany	Hungary	Austria
1958	Brazil	Sweden	France
1962	Brazil	Czechoslovakia	Chile
1966	England	West Germany	Portugal
1970	Brazil	Italy	West Germany
1974	West Germany	Netherlands	Poland
1978	Argentina	Netherlands	Brazil
1982	Italy	West Germany	Poland
1986	Argentina	West Germany	France
1990	West Germany	Argentina	Italy
1994	Brazil	Italy	Sweden
1998	France	Brazil	Croatia
2002	Brazil	Germany	Turkey
2006	Italy	France	Germany
2010	Spain	Netherlands	Germany
2014	Germany	Argentina	Netherlands
2018	France	Croatia	Belgium
2022	Argentina	France	Croatia

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Countries With the Most World Cup Titles

Pelé (top) won three World Cups. | AS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Brazil stands alone as the most successful nation in World Cup history, lifting the trophy five times. Their golden era came between 1958 and 1970, when a team led by the legendary Pelé—still the only player ever to win the World Cup three times—dominated the global stage.

Behind Brazil are Germany (including titles won by West Germany between 1954 and 1990 during the Cold War split) and Italy, with four titles each. Argentina follow with three, most recently in 2022.

Elsewhere, France and Uruguay have lifted the trophy twice, while England and Spain have each tasted World Cup glory once.

Team	No. of World Cups
Brazil	5
Germany/West Germany	4
Italy	4
Argentina	3
France	2
Uruguay	2
England	1
Spain	1

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