All-Time World Cup Winners
1930
2002
(photo related info below)
Winner |
Yr. |
Final Match |
Host Nation |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Brazil {¤}
|
  ¤ 
|
Brazil 5 x 2 Sweden Brazil 3 x 1 Czechoslovakia {Þ} Brazil 4 x 1 Italy Brazil 3 x 2 Italy (on pens) Brazil 2 x 0 Germany {Þ}
|
Sweden Chile Mexico United States Korea & Japan |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Italy
|
    |
Italy 2 x 1 Czecholslwakia Italy 4 x 2 Hungary Italy 3 x 1 W. Germany Italy 5 x 3 France (on pens) |
Italy France Spain Germany {Þ}
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
West Germany {Þ}
|
   |
W. Germany {Þ} 3 x 2 Hungary W. Germany 2 x 1 Netherlands W. Germany 1 x 0 Argentina
|
Switzerland West Germany Italy |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Argentina
|
  |
Argentina 3 x 1 Netherlands Argentina 3 x 2 W. Germany |
Argentina Mexico |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Uruguay
|
  |
Uruguay 4 x 2 Argentina Uruguay 2 x 1 Brazil {#}
|
Uruguay Brazil |
 |
 |
 |
 |
France |
 |
France 3 x 0 Brazil |
France |
 |
 |
 |
 |
England |
 |
England 4 x 2 W. Germany |
England |
 |
 |
 |
 |
? |
 |
? x ? |
South Africa |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
{¤} Brazil earned permanent possession of the Jules Rimet Trophy, by having been the first Nation to win three Jules Rimet World Cups. Thus, a new Trophy was created for the 1974 and subsequent World Cups (details below), which were officially named "FIFA World Cup," as we know it today. The old rule, of permanent possession of the Trophy, by the contender conquering it three times, was not carried over to the new Cup⁄Trophy regulations. In fact, the new regulations state that the Trophy remains in FIFA's possession. World Cup winners of course keep the Trophy for four years, at the end of which period they are awarded a replica, for the Trophy, itself, will go to the new World Cup winner, and so forth. So, the Trophy awarded in 1974 is the very same that is played for, up to this date and, in all likelihood, will be the Trophy to be awarded in the future World Cups, as well.
The former Trophy was so named in honor of FIFA's president Jules Rimet, who served from 1921 to 1954. That trophy depicted the "Goddess of Victory" (see
below) holding an octagonal vessel in her hands raised high, over her head. She stood on a likewise octagonal base. The total weight of the statuette was approximately 3,8 kilograms and its height about 35 centimeters. The trophy was designed by the French sculptor Abel Lafleur.
Note: No World Cup took place in the 1940's due to the Second World War. The story goes that, during the War, the Jules Rimet Trophy was kept safely, by being hidden inside a shoe box, under FIFA's vice president's bed (Dr. Ottorino Barassi).
The current Trophy was of course introduced in 1974, as above mentioned, since Brazil then had permanent possession of the Jules Rimet Cup Trophy. The new Trophy was 36 centimeters tall (that is, about the same height as the previous), but a bit heavier: 5 kilograms, comprising solid gold and malachite (the replicas, which are kept by the winning Nations, are merely gold-plated, it should be remarked). This time, it was an Italian sculptor, Silvio Hazzaniga, who had the honor to design the World Cup Trophy. In Hazzaniga's own words, "the lines [on the Trophy] spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the World. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory."
{¤} Brazil is the only National Squad to have won a World Cup outside its own Continent (at least two, in fact: 1958, in Sweden, Europe; and 2002, in Korea Rep.⁄Japan, Asia – that is, if one considers North, Central and South America as a single Continent; otherwise, Brazil's wins in 1970 and 1994, in Mexico and in the United States, respectively, double the initial figure). Brazil is likewise the only World Cup Champion never to have won a World Cup Tournament when it was the Host Nation: all of Brazil's five World Cup conquests, to date, have been on foreign soil.
Bellini's statue (see picture above) constitutes a symbol of Maracanã Stadium, itself, as well as of Brazilian soccer. The bronze statue, made by plastic artist Matheus Fernandes, was inaugurated on November 13, 1960, to celebrate the World Champions of 1958. The name of the stadium, at the main entrance of which is Bellini's statue, comes from the native Tupi language: "maracá" is a percussion instrument, in line with the maracas used today, whereas "nã" means 'like, resembling.' Maracanã could thus be an allusion to the shape of the stadium. However, "Maracanã-guaçu" (likewise originated from the Tupi language) signals a big parrot-like bird, the sound of which resembles that of the "maracá." These birds were native of the area where the stadium was built. So the name might merely be a reference to the former inhabitants of that area, if the double meaning (regarding also the shape of the stadium) was never intended. This is not the official name of the stadium, though. Maracanã stadium is officially called "Estádio Mario Filho," paying honor to a journalist who played a capital role in pushing the project of building that stadium forward. Maracanã Stadium, as it is popularly called, used to be the largest soccer stadium in the World (in capacity: 200,000) and must remain at least among the very largest. Physically, its perimeter is equivalent to 1⁄40,000 of the Globe's Meridian, and its structure is said to contain 80,000 cubic meters of concrete. On days of very popular matches, it reportedly takes around twenty minutes for all spectators to clear the stadium, at the end of the match. For over fifty years, now, Maracanã has held FIFA's record of attendance at the closing World Cup match: 174 thousand in 1950! (Pls. see World Cup related information right below)
{#} Maracanã Stadium (see paragraph just above and photograph) was built for the 1950 World Cup, the only one Brazil has hosted so far. Brazil had been the best squad in that tournament, and the Title seemed inevitable. There was no final match, as such, that year (the tournament being decided in a final group contested by four teams) and Brazil needed a simple tie to be the Champion, by the last match. However, after scoring the first goal, the Brazilian squad somehow allowed the Uruguayans to astonish everyone and manage a 2x1 score over Brazil. Uruguay thus clinched what would have been Brazil's first World Championship, leaving the native spectators in a state of shock and disbelief (legend goes that a fan actually died of a heart attack, right in the stadium, after Uruguay's second goal). As a result, Brazil remains the only World Champion that has never conquered a Title on home soil.
{Þ} Pls. see these Special Notes on geo-political changes the World has undergone.
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Jules Rimet Trophy (1930–1970) |
FIFA World Cup Trophy (1974–) |
2006
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