World Cup | History & Winners

The World Cup all-time top scorer as of 2018 is Miroslav Klose of the German national football (soccer) team. He scored a total of 16 goals across four World Cup tournaments.

World Cup prize money comes from the earnings of the nonprofit Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). FIFA’s revenue is generated by high bids for television, marketing, and licensing rights for major football events that FIFA organizes. FIFA does not incur expenses for the construction of World Cup infrastructure, as those fall on the host country.

Qualifying for the World Cup is a long process during the years between each quadrennial tournament; each of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s six confederations determines its own qualification system, which produces the teams that represent each confederation’s region. The six confederations are Africa; Asia; Europe; North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; Oceania; and South America.

The World Cup happens every four years in order to have enough time for the qualification tournaments and playoffs among national teams to take place. Additionally, four years provides the host country adequate time to plan the logistics of the tournament and how to best accommodate an influx of millions of fans.

Why is the World Cup every four years?

The World Cup in football (soccer) is a quadrennial tournament of 32 national teams that is organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It determines the sport’s men’s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament.

World Cup, formally FIFA World Cup, in football (soccer), quadrennial tournament of men’s national teams that determines the sport’s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament. The equivalent event for women’s national football teams is the Women’s World Cup.

Discover the history behind the FIFA World Cup

Learn more about the history of the FIFA World Cup.

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The first competition for the cup was organized in 1930 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and was won by Uruguay. Held every four years since that time, except during World War II, the competition consists of international sectional tournaments leading to a final elimination event made up of 32 national teams. Unlike Olympic football, World Cup teams are not limited to players of a certain age or amateur status, so the competition serves more nearly as a contest between the world’s best players. Referees are selected from lists that are submitted by all the national associations.

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The trophy cup awarded from 1930 to 1970 was the Jules Rimet Trophy, named for the Frenchman who proposed the tournament. This cup was permanently awarded in 1970 to then three-time winner Brazil (1958, 1962, and 1970), and a new trophy called the FIFA World Cup was put up for competition. Many other sports have organized “World Cup” competitions.

1930 World Cup

Uruguay scoring its first goal in the World Cup final against Argentina, in Montevideo, Uruguay, July 30, 1930.

AP ImagesFIFA World Cup trophy

The FIFA World Cup trophy.

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For a list of World Cup champions, see table.

FIFA World Cup—men

year

result

*Won after extra time (AET).

**Won on penalty kicks.

1930

Uruguay

4

Argentina

2

1934

Italy*

2

Czechoslovakia

1

1938

Italy

4

Hungary

2

1950

Uruguay

2

Brazil

1

1954

West Germany

3

Hungary

2

1958

Brazil

5

Sweden

2

1962

Brazil

3

Czechoslovakia

1

1966

England*

4

West Germany

2

1970

Brazil

4

Italy

1

1974

West Germany

2

Netherlands

1

1978

Argentina*

3

Netherlands

1

1982

Italy

3

West Germany

1

1986

Argentina

3

West Germany

2

1990

West Germany

1

Argentina

0

1994

Brazil**

0

Italy

0

1998

France

3

Brazil

0

2002

Brazil

2

Germany

0

2006

Italy**

1

France

1

2010

Spain*

1

Netherlands

0

2014

Germany*

1

Argentina

0

2018

France

4

Croatia

2