How many World Cup champions have won back-to-back titles? That has only been done – officially at least – by two teams: Italy and Brazil. Italy won the second official World Cup in 1934, beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in Rome, and retained the trophy with a 4-2 victory over Hungary in the 1938 final in France.
Only two countries, however, have lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in back-to-back World Cup tournaments: Italy and Brazil.
Brazil, with five wins, are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina, with three titles; France and inaugural winner Uruguay, each with two titles; and England and Spain, with one title each.
A total of 471 players have been in the winning team in the World Cup. Brazil's Pelé is the only one to have won three times, while another 20 have won twice. Only players from Argentina, Brazil and Italy have won the world Cup more than once.
The European nation of Italy was the first country to ever retain the World Cup, winning it for the first time in 1934, and for a second time four years later in 1938.
Brazil is the only team to have appeared in all 22 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 20, Italy in 18, Argentina in 18 and Mexico in 17. To date, eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are Argentina.
1998 (Italy, France, and Belgium)
France were unbeaten as they won the World Cup for the first time. Italy were undefeated by virtue of their penalty shootout loss to France in the quarters, while Belgium never made it out the group despite drawing against Holland, Mexico, and South Korea.
Lionel Messi is the player with the most games played at the FIFA World Cup, and one of only six along with German Lothar Matthäus, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexicans Antonio Carbajal, Andrés Guardado, and Rafael Márquez to have entered the field in five different tournaments.
Of the eighteen World Cup final matches, only twice have the same two teams contested the match. Brazil and Italy played in 1970 and 1994, and West Germany and Argentina in 1986 and 1990. Every final match has also featured one of Brazil, Italy, Germany, and Argentina.
The oldest outfield player was Cameroon's Roger Milla, at 42 years and 39 days.
Brazil 1958 and 1962
Brazil won the first of their five World Cups in 1958, and defended it in 1962, in a dominant period of World Cup history for the Samba Boys.
Meanwhile, Germany and Italy rank joint-second, with four titles each. Argentina, winners of the 2022 tournament, have won three World Cups.
Considered by many to be perhaps the greatest World Cup match in history, the 1966 final delivered England its first – and only to this point – World Cup.
Italy and Germany have each won the World Cup four times (though Germany won it three times as West Germany), while Argentina, Uruguay and current holders France have all won it twice. England and Spain have won the World Cup on one occasion.
The national side has collected three World Cup medals, two bronze (1998, 2022) and one silver (2018). Due to its small geography and populace, Croatia is often one of the smallest countries competing in the tournament.
In the first match of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He got injured in the next game while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia.
What is the second tiebreaker during the FIFA World Cup? If two teams share the same number of points and goal differential, the next criteria to determine ranking is number of goals scored in all group matches. The higher-scoring team gets the advantage over the lower-scoring one.
The 28-day duration of the Qatar World Cup makes it the shortest football World Cup since 1998. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil lasted 32 days, making it the longest 32-team World Cup to date. The shortest 32-team World Cup was contested over 31 days.
The only players to have scored in every match including the final are Jairzinho of Brazil, who did this in the 1970 World Cup and Alcide Ghiggia of Uruguay in 1950. However, Ghiggia only played four games whereas Jairzinho played six.
Who is better Messi Or Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored a record number of international goals and appearances, but Messi has won more Ballon d'Or awards (7). Messi has spent most of his playing career in Spain and France, while Ronaldo has played in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy.
Highlights and analysis of Spain's 7-0 defeat of Costa Rica, the largest World Cup win ever for Spanish side.
Only one team -- Spain in 2010 -- has ever lost their opening game at a World Cup and gone on to lift the trophy.