Men’s World Cup: Full list of past winners year-by-year

Argentina won the 2022 World Cup, further cementing Lionel Messi’s name as one of, if not the, greatest players to ever play the game.

Messi joins celebrated countryman Diego Maradona as debated ‘GOATS’ to lift the World Cup trophy, as Argentina won for the third time and first since the 1986 tournament in Mexico.

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Of course, Kylian Mbappe and France won the previous tournament, four years after Germany laid claim to the 2014 honors through Mario Gotze’s marvelous winner.

Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930 and is one of six teams to win multiple World Cups (Italy, France, Brazil, Germany, Argentina). England and Spain each won once.

Who will join them in 2026, adding their names to the list of winners below?

World Cup Winners by Year

1930 – Uruguay

• Third place: United States

1934 – Italy

• Runner Up: Czechoslovakia

1938 – Italy

1950 – Uruguay

1954 – West Germany

1958 – Brazil

1962 – Brazil

• Runner Up: Czechoslovakia

1966 – England

1970 – Brazil

• Third Place: West Germany

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1974 – West Germany

1978 – Argentina

1982 – Italy

1986 – Argentina

1990 – West Germany

1994 – Brazil

1998 – France

2002 – Brazil

2006 – Italy

2010 – Spain

2014 – Germany

2018 – France

2022 – Argentina

Which country has won the most World Cup titles?

1. Brazil — 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)

2. Germany — 4 (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)

3. Italy — 4 (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)

4. Argentina — 3 (1978, 1986, 2022)

5. France — 2 (1998, 2018)

6. Uruguay — 2 (1930, 1950)