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2022 World Cup: Full list of past winners year-by-year

NBC Sports
·2 min read

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.

[ MORE: 2026 World Cup qualification hub ]

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

  • Runner Up: Argentina

  • Third place: United States

1934 – Italy

  • Runner Up: Czechoslovakia

  • Third Place: Germany

1938 – Italy

  • Runner Up: Hungary

  • Third Place: Brazil

1950 – Uruguay

  • Runner Up: Brazil

  • Third Place: Sweden

1954 – West Germany

  • Runner Up: Hungary

  • Third Place: Austria

1958 – Brazil

  • Runner Up: Sweden

  • Third Place: France

1962 – Brazil

  • Runner Up: Czechoslovakia

  • Third Place: Chile

1966 – England

  • Runner Up: West Germany

  • Third Place: Portugal

1970 – Brazil

  • Runner Up: Italy

  • Third Place: West Germany

1974 – West Germany

1978 – Argentina

  • Runner Up: Netherlands

  • Third Place: Brazil

1982 – Italy

  • Runner Up: West Germany

  • Third Place: Poland

1986 – Argentina

  • Runner Up: West Germany

  • Third Place: France

1990 – West Germany

  • Runner Up: Argentina

  • Third Place: Italy

1994 – Brazil

  • Runner Up: Italy

  • Third Place: Sweden

1998 – France

  • Runner Up: Brazil

  • Third Place: Croatia

2002 – Brazil

  • Runner Up: Germany

  • Third Place: Turkey

2006 – Italy

  • Runner Up: France

  • Third Place: Germany

2010 – Spain

  • Runner Up: Netherlands

  • Third Place: Germany

2014 – Germany

  • Runner Up: Argentina

  • Third Place: Netherlands

2018 – France

  • Runner Up: Croatia

  • Third Place: Belgium

2022 - Argentina

  • Runner Up: France

  • Third Place: Croatia

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)

  7. England — 1 (1966)

  8. Spain — 1 (2010)