Who has won the most World Cups
Brazil, the only country to have played at all 23 World Cups, won in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Germany has four titles, the first three as West Germany, and so does Italy; Argentina has three; France, Uruguay and Spain two each; and England one, in 1966. Six countries won the 11 tournaments up to 1978 and six the 12 since, with France and Spain new to the list; Spain, in 2010, was the last first-time winner.
Germany has played the most finals, eight, and shares the record of four defeats with Argentina, beaten in 1930, 1990, 2014 and 2026. The Netherlands lost all three of its finals, the most without a title, while Uruguay, Spain and England have never lost one. Uruguay's last title, in 1950, is the oldest of any champion; England's, in 1966, is next.
World Cup winners list: every final since 1930
Every winner, runner-up and score below matches FIFA's champions pages for 1930 to 1978 and 1982 to 2026 and its record of finals. The 1950 tournament had no final: Uruguay won a four-team final round by beating Brazil 2-1 in its last match, in Rio de Janeiro.
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Spain | 1-0 (ET) | Argentina | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford |
| 2022 | Argentina | 3-3 (4-2 pens) | France | Lusail Stadium, Lusail |
| 2018 | France | 4-2 | Croatia | Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow |
| 2014 | Germany | 1-0 (ET) | Argentina | Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro |
| 2010 | Spain | 1-0 (ET) | Netherlands | Soccer City, Johannesburg |
| 2006 | Italy | 1-1 (5-3 pens) | France | Olympiastadion, Berlin |
| 2002 | Brazil | 2-0 | Germany | International Stadium, Yokohama |
| 1998 | France | 3-0 | Brazil | Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
| 1994 | Brazil | 0-0 (3-2 pens) | Italy | Rose Bowl, Pasadena |
| 1990 | West Germany | 1-0 | Argentina | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |
| 1986 | Argentina | 3-2 | West Germany | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City |
| 1982 | Italy | 3-1 | West Germany | Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid |
| 1978 | Argentina | 3-1 (ET) | Netherlands | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires |
| 1974 | West Germany | 2-1 | Netherlands | Olympiastadion, Munich |
| 1970 | Brazil | 4-1 | Italy | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City |
| 1966 | England | 4-2 (ET) | West Germany | Wembley Stadium, London |
| 1962 | Brazil | 3-1 | Czechoslovakia | Estadio Nacional, Santiago |
| 1958 | Brazil | 5-2 | Sweden | Råsunda Stadium, Solna |
| 1954 | West Germany | 3-2 | Hungary | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern |
| 1950 | Uruguay | 2-1 (final round) | Brazil | Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro |
| 1938 | Italy | 4-2 | Hungary | Stade Olympique, Colombes |
| 1934 | Italy | 2-1 (ET) | Czechoslovakia | Stadio Nazionale, Rome |
| 1930 | Uruguay | 4-2 | Argentina | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo |
World Cup winners by confederation and host continent
European teams have won 13 titles and South American teams 10, and no team from another confederation has reached a final. Only three of the 92 top-four places have gone elsewhere: to the United States, third in 1930, South Korea, fourth in 2002, and Morocco, fourth in 2022. Where the tournament is played has mattered:
- Europe, 11 World Cups: 10 European champions; only Brazil, in Sweden in 1958, won there from outside.
- South America, 5: four South American champions, then Germany in Brazil in 2014.
- North America, 4: Brazil in 1970 and 1994, Argentina in 1986 and Spain in 2026, the first European winner there.
- Asia, 2, and Africa, 1: Brazil in 2002 and Argentina in 2022; Spain in 2010.
European teams have won five of the last six titles; Argentina's in 2022 is the exception. Before that, South American teams had won seven of the 12 from 1958 to 2002.
Host nations and back-to-back World Cup winners
Six hosts have won the trophy: Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1934, England in 1966, West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978 and France in 1998, the last. South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022 are the only hosts knocked out in the group stage. In 2026 all three co-hosts went out in the round of 16, FIFA's final standings show: Mexico 3-2 to England, Canada 3-0 to Morocco and the United States 4-1 to Belgium. Canada won its first World Cup games, and Mexico its first knockout game in 40 years.
Only Italy, in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil, in 1958 and 1962, have retained the title. Holders have reached four finals since, in 1990, 1998, 2022 and 2026, and lost them all, and four of the five from 2002 to 2018 went out in the group stage. Brazil has now gone six tournaments without winning, its longest run since its first title, and Italy, a four-time champion, has missed three World Cups in a row.
World Cup finals decided in extra time and on penalties
Nine of the 22 finals, 41 percent, have gone to extra time and three to a shootout: 1994, 2006 and 2022. Four of the last five needed extra time; France's 4-2 win over Croatia in 2018 is the exception. Spain has won both its finals 1-0 after extra time: Andrés Iniesta scored four minutes from the end in 2010, and Ferran Torres in the 106th minute in 2026. Brazil's 5-2 win over Sweden in 1958 is the highest-scoring final and shares the widest margin, three goals, with 1970 and 1998.
How the 48-team World Cup changed the numbers
The 2026 tournament had 48 teams instead of 32 and 104 games instead of 64, with a new round of 32, so Spain played eight games, one more than any champion before. By our count of every result, the 104 games produced 308 goals, a record, or 2.96 a game, the highest average since 1970 and up from 2.69 in Qatar in 2022.
Compared with the seven 32-team tournaments, scoring rose in both stages: from 2.54 goals a game to 2.99 in the group stage, and from 2.54 to 2.91 in the knockout rounds. Eighteen of the 72 group games, 25 percent, were won by three goals or more, against 15 percent from 1998 to 2022. Nine of the 32 knockout games went to extra time and four to penalties, one shootout fewer than in the 16 knockout games of 2022; Australia's loss to Egypt was one, as our Socceroos World Cup record shows.
Spain conceded one goal in eight games, the fewest by any champion, and only Cape Verde, 0-0 in the opener, stopped it from scoring. For the first time, the four semifinalists were the top four of FIFA's ranking before the tournament: Argentina, Spain, France and England, in that order, so the final matched No. 1 against No. 2. The 2.96 average is also higher than the Premier League's 2.75 in 2025-26, in our count of goals per game by league.
The United States' best World Cup finish, and England's record
The United States has played at 12 World Cups, with 12 wins, 8 draws and 22 losses. Its best finish is still third in 1930, when it lost its semifinal 6-1 to Argentina; no third-place game was played, and FIFA lists the US third. Next best is the 2002 quarterfinal. As a co-host in 2026 it won two group games for the first time since 1930, starting with a 4-1 win over Paraguay, its first four-goal game at a World Cup, and beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 for its first knockout win since 2002, before Belgium won 4-1 in Seattle.
England's one final was the 1966 win over West Germany at Wembley, 4-2 after extra time, with a Geoff Hurst hat-trick. Third place in 2026, sealed by a 6-4 win over France in Miami Gardens, Florida, was its best finish since, after fourth places in 1990 and 2018, and the 10 goals were the most in a World Cup game since 1982. In 17 tournaments, England has won 38 games, drawn 23 and lost 21.
Where the next World Cup will be played
Spain will defend the title in 2030 as one of three hosts, with Morocco and Portugal, at the first World Cup spread over three continents. FIFA's schedule puts three centenary games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay on June 8 and 9, before the official opening, and the final on July 21, 2030. Until then, follow the MLS standings, or look back at every Champions League winner.
World Cup winners: frequently asked questions
Who has won the most World Cups? Brazil, with five titles: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Germany and Italy have four each.
Who won the 2026 World Cup? Spain, which beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, called New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament. Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute.
Has the United States ever won the World Cup? No. Its best finish is third place in 1930; it reached the quarterfinals in 2002 and the round of 16 as a co-host in 2026.
How many World Cups has England won? One, in 1966, when it beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time at Wembley. It finished third in 2026.
Which country has played in the most World Cup finals? Germany, with eight: it won four, in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014, and lost four. Argentina has played seven.
How this was built: all 1,068 World Cup games from 1930 to 2026, from the public-domain international results dataset, which counts extra-time goals but not shootouts. The 22 finals and the 1950 deciding game were checked against FIFA's pages and Wikipedia's list of finals, and the 104 results of 2026 against FIFA's match list; our games and goals per tournament match Wikipedia's records page. West Germany counts as Germany, and a shootout as a draw. Group and knockout games are split by date. Finishes come from FIFA and Wikipedia's appearances table. See our methodology. Data collected October 21, 2026.