The World Cup The World Cup, is an international association football competition organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contest ed because of World War II. Previous World Cup tournaments Year Host Final Third Place Match Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Score Fourth Place 1930 Uruguay Uruguay 4–2 Argentina United States Note1 Yugoslavia 1934 Italy Italy 2–1 (a.e.t.) Czechoslovakia Germany 3–2 Austria 1938 France Italy 4–2 Hungary Brazil 4–2 Sweden 1950 Brazil Uruguay [note 2] Brazil Sweden Note2 Spain 1954 Switzerland West Germany 3–2 Hungary Austria 3–1 Uruguay 1958 Sweden Brazil 5–2 Sweden France 6–3 West Germany 1962 Chile Brazil 3–1 Czechoslovakia Chile 1–0 Yugoslavia 1966 England England 4–2 (a.e.t.) West Germany Portugal 2–1 Soviet Union 1970 Mexico Brazil 4–1 Italy West Germany 1–0 Uruguay 1974 West Germany West Germany 2–1 Netherlands Poland 1–0 Brazil 1978 Argentina Argentina 3–1 (a.e.t.) Netherlands Brazil 2–1 Italy 1982 Spain Italy 3–1 West Germany Poland 3–2 France 1986 Mexico Argentina 3–2 West Germany France 4–2 (a.e.t.) Belgium 1990 Italy West Germany 1–0 Argentina Italy 2–1 England 1994 United States Brazil 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pens.) Italy Sweden 4–0 Bulgaria 1998 France France 3–0 Brazil Croatia 2–1 Netherlands 2002 Korea Republic & Japan Brazil 2–0 Germany Turkey 3–2 Korea Republic 2006 Germany Italy 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 pens.) France Germany 3–1 Portugal 2010 South Africa Spain 1–0 (a.e.t.) Netherlands Germany 3–2 Uruguay a.e.t = after extra time pens. = after penalty shoot-out Note 1 There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. FIFA now recognizes the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the tournament Note 2 There was no official World Cup final match in 1950. The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). However, Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil was the decisive match (and also coincidentally one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensure d that they finished top of the group as world champions. Therefore, this match is often considered the final of the 1950 World Cup. Likewise, Sweden's 3–1 victory over Spain (played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil) ensured that they finished third.