The Legend of the FIFA World Cup

The first FIFA World Cup was one of a kind. Taking place wholly in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, the sport's inaugural showpiece was rich in details that might bemuse the modern football fan: four teams arriving together on the same boat, an unfinished stadium, even a one-armed goalscorer in the Final. Yet it ended with a familiar outpouring of joy as the whole of Uruguay took a public holiday after the Celeste became the first world champions by defeating neighbours Argentina 4-2.

The 1934 World Cup was the first in which teams had to qualify to take part. Thirty-two nations entered the competition; 16 teams would qualify for the final tournament. Reigning champions Uruguay boycotted the tournament as only four European teams had accepted their invitation to the 1930 tournament. Italy beat Czechoslovakia, 2–1, to become the second World Cup champions and the inaugural European team titleholders.

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beating Hungary 4–2. Italy's 1934 and 1938 teams hold the distinction of the sole World Cup champions under the same coach, Vittorio Pozzo. This would also be the last World Cup until 1950 due to the disruption of World War II.

Brazil built the planet's biggest football stadium as a breathtaking stage for the 1950 finals but their hopes of consecrating the cavernous, three-tiered sporting cathedral of the Maracana with a first world title were shattered in one of the competition's great surprises.

This was the tournament of Total Football, a showcase for the majestic talents of Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer, who shone in the spotlight vacated by Pele, leading their respective Dutch and West German sides through to a Final showdown in Munich on 7 July 1974. As against Ferenc Puskas's Magnificent Magyars 20 years earlier, it was West Germany who emerged triumphant, coming from behind to claim their second world crown at the expense of the favourites.

West Germany lifted the FIFA World Cup for the third time in 1990, as they avenged their Final defeat by Argentina four years earlier, overcoming the holders 1-0 in Rome. Their victory was a real triumph for Franz Beckenbauer, who became only the second man to win the world crown as first a player and then a coach.

The United States was the setting for a hugely successful 15th FIFA World Cup, which drew record crowds and ended with Brazil celebrating their first world title since 1970. If the Final itself was a disappointment, Brazil beating Italy on penalties after a goal-less draw, there were no complaints about the entertainment that had gone before, with 141 goals scored over the previous 51 matches.

France, the home of the father of the FIFA World Cup Jules Rimet, finally claimed the crown for itself in the summer of 1998. An unforgettable summer for the new champions, it was also a memorable one for the old tournament, which was now bigger than ever before.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan reflected a changing football world. On a new continent, old powers were falling fast and after a succession of surprises, for the first time the quarter-finals featured teams from five different federations. In the end, however, it was two well-known faces, Germany and Brazil, who contested the Final and the South Americans who claimed an unprecedented fifth world crown.

The FIFA World Cup ended up in Italian hands in 2006 after an Azzurri triumph that owed everything to teamwork. The abiding memory of the Final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium may be of Zinedine Zidane's meltdown, the France veteran earning an red card for headbutting Marco Materazzi, but there was much to admire about the Italian effort that earned them a fourth world crown.

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