The FIFA World Cup is the premier competition for the men’s national teams affiliated with FIFA, and no other sporting event ignites the imagination of entire continents in quite the same way. Born in 1930, it is held every four years and was skipped only in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. In just under a century it has grown from the thirteen nations invited to the first tournament to the nearly two hundred federations that now compete for a place in the finals, spanning every era of football, from the South American pioneers to the media phenomena of the present day.

Jules Rimet’s Idea and the First Tournament of 1930

It all began in 1928, when the president of FIFA, the French administrator Jules Rimet, decided to establish a tournament reserved for national teams, following the rift with the Olympic movement over the question of professionalism. The first edition was held in Uruguay in 1930 and was the only one in history without any qualifying stage: the thirteen nations that accepted the invitation took part, and the choice to stage the tournament overseas meant that only four European teams competed. The hosts of Uruguay triumphed, beating Argentina in the final and setting in motion the long South American rivalry that would mark the competition’s early decades.

The Roll of Honour: Eight Queens of World Football

In twenty-two editions, only eight nations have managed to lift the trophy. Brazil leads the way with five titles, won in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, followed on four apiece by Italy, victorious in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, and Germany, champions in 1954, 1974 and 1990 as West Germany and then again in 2014. Argentina has lifted the cup three times, in 1978, 1986 and 2022, while Uruguay and France have two successes each, the South Americans in 1930 and 1950 and the French in 1998 and 2018. England, champions at home in 1966, and Spain, winners in South Africa in 2010, complete the list. Curiously, Brazil, the most decorated nation of all, has never managed to win when the World Cup was held on home soil, in 1950 and 2014.

The Champions Who Made History

Every era of the World Cup has had its great players, both on and off the podium. In the 1930s the pioneers shone, such as Uruguay’s José Nasazzi, Italians Giuseppe Meazza and Silvio Piola and Brazil’s Leônidas, while the 1950s handed down to legend the magical Hungary of Ferenc Puskás and Sándor Kocsis, Frenchman Just Fontaine with his thirteen goals in 1958 that still stand unbeaten, and the emergence of a very young Pelé, flanked by the unpredictable genius of Garrincha. In the 1960s the Portuguese Eusébio, Englishmen Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore and Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin entered the pantheon of football, before the 1970 Mexico tournament handed history the perfect Brazil of Pelé, Tostão, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, with Germany’s Gerd Müller relentless in front of goal. The year 1974 was marked by the Total Football of Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens’s Netherlands, beaten in the final by Franz Beckenbauer and Müller’s West Germany, while 1978 crowned Argentina’s Mario Kempes. The 1980s exalted Paolo Rossi, hero of Italy’s triumph in 1982, the spectacular Brazil of Zico, Sócrates and Falcão and the Germany of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, before 1986 became the personal tournament of Diego Armando Maradona, with England’s Gary Lineker as top scorer and France’s Michel Platini lighting up the same decade. Italy’s 1990 produced the magical nights of Totò Schillaci, the historic run of the forty-year-old Roger Milla with Cameroon, the Netherlands of stars Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, the Germany of Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann and the debut of Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama. The 1990s saw the heartbreak of Roberto Baggio, beaten on penalties in 1994, Brazil’s Romário and Bebeto, Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov and Romania’s Gheorghe Hagi, through to a 1998 dominated by Zinédine Zidane and Ronaldo. The new century opened with the Brazil of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, champions in 2002, the Italy of Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero, victorious in 2006, the tiki-taka Spain of Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Iker Casillas in 2010, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, among the brightest stars never to win the trophy. It all culminated in the great generational duel between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, which came to a head in the Qatar 2022 final, in which the Argentine champion finally completed his journey to world glory.

The Great National Teams and the Rivalries of All Time

The history of the World Cup is also the story of the teams that defined its identity. The Brazil of the verdeoro remains the symbol of beautiful football, capable of winning on every continent, while Italy embodies the tactical and defensive tradition that earned it four titles. Germany represents solidity and consistency at the highest level, Argentina the pure talent of its number tens, from pioneering Uruguay to the phenomenon Messi. There has been no shortage of great nearly-men, such as the Total Football Netherlands, three-time finalists who never won, or the Hungary of the 1950s, nor of the surprises that broadened the tournament’s horizons, from South Korea’s run to the semi-finals in 2002 to Morocco finishing fourth in 2022, the first African side to climb so high.

A Global Phenomenon

The 1954 World Cup was the first to be broadcast on television, and ever since the tournament has established itself as the most watched sporting event on the planet: the 2006 final between Italy and France alone set the record for a televised sporting event with over seven hundred million viewers. The tradition of stars on the shirts was born here too, launched by Brazil after its third title in 1970 and later formalised by FIFA with one star for each success. Seventeen countries have hosted the competition so far, always in a single nation except for 2002, shared between Japan and South Korea, the first Asian edition, while 2026 will mark another first, with the tournament jointly entrusted to Canada, Mexico and the United States and the expansion to forty-eight teams.

The Shirt of Those Who Wrote History

Every edition of the World Cup has left behind unforgettable images, and with them the shirts those champions wore in the decisive moments. From the colours of pioneering Uruguay to the azure of four-time champions Italy, every kit tells a story of triumphs, sacrifices and passion that lives on well beyond the final whistle.

Discover our collection of vintage shirts of the national teams that made World Cup history and wear a piece of legend yourself on vintagefootballclub.com