World Cup 1930
Winners Uruguay
Teams 13
Teams in qualifiers N/A
Notable absentees Of the major European countries,
only France took part
Surprises USA, who finished third
Golden Boot Guillermo Stábile (Argentina) - 8
Stats A total of 70 goals were scored (3.89 per match); Argentina (18) scored the most
Format One group of four and three groups of three
in the qualifying stage, with the top from each
group going into the semi-finals
Number of matches 18


World Cup 1934
Winners Italy
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 32
Notable absentees Holders Uruguay, England
Surprises Egypt
Golden Boot Oldrich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia) - 5
Stats A total of 70 goals were scored (4.12 per match); Italy (12) scored the most
Format Straight knockout, replays for drawn matches
Number of matches 17


World Cup 1938
Winners Italy
Teams 15
Teams in qualifiers 37
Notable absentees Argentina, England, Spain,
Uruguay
Surprises Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Cuba
Golden Boot Leônidas (Brazil) - 7
Stats A total of 84 goals were scored (4.67 per match); Hungary (15) scored the most
Format Straight knockout, replays for drawn matches
Number of matches 18


World Cup 1950
Winners Uruguay
Teams 13
Teams in qualifiers 34
Notable absentees France, Germany, Hungary
Surprises Bolivia
Golden Boot Ademir (Brazil) - 9
Stats A total of 88 goals were scored (4.00 per match); Brazil (22) scored the most
Format Four groups, with the winners of
each progressing to a four-team round-robin
final group. Withdrawals meant there were
two groups of four, one of three and one of two
Number of matches 22


World Cup 1954
Winners West Germany
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 45
Notable absentees Spain
Surprises Korean Republic
Golden Boot Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) - 11
Stats A total of 140 goals were scored (5.38 per match); Hungary (27) scored the most
Format Four groups of four with two seeded and two unseeded teams in each group.
However, the teams played just two matches
per group rather than the usual three,
with the seeded sides facing unseeded sides.
Where teams
ended up tied for the
second qualifying position by points, they required
a play-off. The two teams finishing at the top
of their group went through to the quarter-finals
Number of matches 26


World Cup 1958
Winners Brazil
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 45
Notable absentees Italy, Uruguay
Surprises Wales, Northern Ireland
Golden Boot Just Fontaine (France) - 13
Stats A total of 126 goals were scored
(3.60 per match); France (23) scored the most
Format Four groups of four, with the top two
progressing to the quarter-finals
Number of matches 35


World Cup 1962
Winners Brazil
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 56
Notable absentees Sweden
Surprises Colombia
Golden Boot Garrincha, Vavá (Brazil),
Leonel Sánchez (Chile), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), Flórián Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (USSR) - 4
Stats A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Brazil (14) scored the most
Format Four groups of four, with the top
two progressing to the quarter-finals
Number of matches 32


World Cup 1966
Winners England
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 70
Notable absentees None
Surprises North Korea
Golden Boot Eusébio (Portugal) - 9
Stats A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Portugal (17) scored the most
Format Four groups of four, with the top two
progressing to the quarter-finals
Number of matches 32


World Cup 1970
Winners Brazil
Teams16
Teams in qualifiers 75
Number of matches 32
Notable absentees Argentina, France, Portugal,
Spain
Surprises Morocco, the first African qualifiers since
World War II
Golden Boot Gerd Muller (Germany) - 10


World Cup 1974
Winners West Germany
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 99
Notable absentees England, France, Hungary, Spain,
USSR
Surprises Australia, Haiti and Zaire
Golden Boot Grzegorz Lato (Poland) - 7
Stats A total of 97 goals were scored
(2.55 per match); Poland (16) scored the most
Format Four groups of four in the qualifying stage,
with the top two from each group going into
a second round of two four-team groups
and the winners facing each other in the final
Number of matches 38


World Cup 1978
Winners Argentina
Teams 16
Teams in qualifiers 107
Notable absentees England, Czechoslovakia, USSR
Surprises Iran, Tunisia
Golden Boot Mario Kempes (Argentina) - 6
Stats A total of 102 goals were scored (2.68 per match);
Argentina and Netherlands (15) scored the most
Format Four groups of four in the qualifying stage,
with the top two from each group into a second
round of two groups of four, the top side in each progressing into the final
Number of matches 38


World Cup 1982
Winners Italy
Teams 24
Teams in qualifiers 109
Notable absentees Netherlands, Mexico
Surprises Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand
Golden Boot Paolo Rossi (Italy) - 6
Stats A total of 146 goals were scored (2.81 per match); France (16) scored the most
Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams
in each group advancing to the second round,
where they split into four groups of three.
The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals
Number of matches 52


World Cup 1986
Winners Argentina
Teams 24
Teams in qualifiers 121
Notable absentees Netherlands
Surprises Canada, Iraq
Golden Boot Gary Lineker (England) - 6
Stats A total of 132 goals were scored (2.54 per match); Argentina (14) scored the most
Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams
in each group advancing to a knockout round of
16, plus four best third-place finishers
Number of matches 52


World Cup 1990
Winners West Germany
Teams 24
Teams in qualifiers 116
Notable absentees Denmark, France, Portugal
Surprises Costa Rica, Republic of Ireland, UAE
Golden Boot Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) - 6
Stats A total of 115 goals were scored (2.21 per match), which was the lowest goals-per-match ratio in
World Cup history;
West Germany (15) scored the most
Format Six groups of four, with the top
two teams in each group advancing to a
knockout round of 16, plus four best third place finishers
Number of matches 52


World Cup 1994
Winners Brazil
Teams 24
Teams in qualifiers 147
Notable absentees England, France
Surprises Greece, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia
Golden Boot Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) - 6
Stats A total of 141 goals were scored (2.71 per match); Sweden (15) scored the most
Format Six groups of four, with the top
two teams in each group advancing to a
knockout round of 16,
plus four best 3rd place finishers
Number of matches 52


World Cup 1998
Winners France
Teams 32
Teams in qualifiers 174
Notable absentees Russia
Surprises Jamaica, Japan, South Africa
Golden Boot Davor Suker (Croatia) - 6
Stats A total of 171 goals were scored (2.67 per match); France (15) scored the most
Format Eight groups of four, with the top two
teams in each group advancing to a knockout
round of 16
Number of matches 64


World Cup 2002
Winners Brazil
Teams 32
Teams in qualifiers 199
Notable absentees Netherlands
Surprises Senegal, South Korea, Turkey
Golden Boot Ronaldo (Brazil) - 8
Stats A total of 161 goals were scored (2.52 per match); Brazil (18) scored the most
Format Eight groups of four, with the top
two teams in each group advancing to a
knockout round of 16
Number of matches 64


World Cup 2006
Winners Italy
Teams 32
Teams in qualifiers 198
Notable Absentees Cameroon, Nigeria
Surprises Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago
Golden Boot Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 5
Stats A total of 147 goals were scored
(2.30 per match); Germany (14) scored the most
Format Eight groups of four, with the top two teams
in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16
Number of matches 64


World Cup 2010
Winner Spain
Host country South Africa
Dates 11 June – 11 July
Teams 32 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s) 10 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Spain (1st title)
Runners-up Netherlands
Third place Germany
Fourth place Uruguay
Tournament statistics
Matches played 64
Goals scored 145 (2.27 per match)
Attendance 3,178,856 (49,670 per match)
Top scorer(s) Diego Forlán
Thomas Müller
Wesley Sneijder
David Villa
(5 goals)
Best player: Diego Forlán