The history of FIFA World Cup is full of legendary names, teams, and tournaments. Played every four years, the list of past winners, greatest players, and top goalscorers proves who football royalty is.
France won the cup in 2018, England’s Harry Kane won the Golden Boot and Luka Modric won the Golden Ball.
Below is a list of the winners, runners-up, top performers, and top scorers for each World Cup.
FIFA World Cup History: Past Tournaments
| Year | Winners | Runners-up | Player of the tournament | Leading goal scorer |
| 2018 | France | Croatia | Luka Modric | Harry Kane |
| 2014 | Germany | Argentina | Lionel Messi | James Rodriguez |
| 2010 | Spain | Netherlands | Diego Forlán | Thomas Müller |
| 2006 | Italy | France | Zinedine Zidane | Miroslav Klose |
| 2002 | Brazil | Germany | Oliver Kahn | Ronaldo |
| 1998 | France | Brazil | Ronaldo | Davor Šuker |
| 1994 | Brazil | Italy | Romário | Oleg Salenko |
| 1990 | West Germany | Argentina | Salvatore Schillaci | Salvatore Schillaci |
| 1986 | Argentina | West Germany | Diego Maradona | Gary Lineker |
| 1982 | Italy | West Germany | Paolo Rossi | Paolo Rossi |
| 1978 | Argentina | Netherlands | Kempes | Mario Kempes |
| 1974 | West Germany | Netherlands | Johan Cruyff | Grzegorz Lato |
| 1970 | Brazil | Italy | Pelé | Gerd Müller |
| 1966 | England | West Germany | Bobby Charlton | Eusébio |
| 1962 | Brazil | Czechoslovakia | Garrincha | Garrincha, Vavá, Leonel Sánchez, Flórián Albert, Valentin Ivanov, Dražan Jerković |
| 1958 | Brazil | Sweden | Didi | Just Fontaine |
| 1954 | West Germany | Hungary | Ferenc Puskás | Sándor Kocsis |
| 1950 | Uruguay | Brazil | Zizinho | Ademir |
| 1938 | Italy | Hungary | Leônidas | Leônidas |
| 1934 | Italy | Czechoslovakia | Meazza | Oldřich Nejedlý |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Argentina | Nasazzi | Guillermo Stábile |
Highest goalscorer in World Cup history
The World Cup is an opportunity for every country to showcase its best players. The grand tournament has allowed young players to get the national recognition they deserve and older veterans to continue their legacy.
Miroslav Klose, who has now retired, holds the record of being the top goalscorer in the World Cup finals.
More: Complete FIFA World Cup schedule 2022
Below is a list of the top scorers in the tournament’s history.
| Rank | Player | Country | Number of goals |
| 1 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 16 |
| 2 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 |
| 3 | Gerd Müller | West Germany | 14 |
| 4 | Just Fontaine | France | 13 |
| 5 | Pelé | Brazil | 12 |
| 6 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 |
| 7 | Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | 11 |
| 8 | Helmut Rahn | West Germany | 10 |
| 9 | Gary Lineker | England | 10 |
| 10 | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 10 |
| 11 | Teófilo Cubillas | Peru | 10 |
| 12 | Thomas Müller | Germany | 10 |
| 13 | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 10 |
| 14 | Eusébio | Portugal | 9 |
| 15 | Christian Vieri | Italy | 9 |
| 16 | Vava | Brazil | 9 |
| 17 | David Villa | Spain | 9 |
| 18 | Paolo Rossi | Italy | 9 |
| 19 | Jairzinho | Brazil | 9 |
| 20 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | 9 |
| 21 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | 9 |
| 22 | Uwe Seeler | West Germany | 9 |
The most successful nations of the World Cup
No national team has been as successful as Brazil in the World Cup. The Selecao have won the tournament a record five times, the last of which came in 2002 when a star-studded team of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho beat Germany 2-0 in the final.
The Germans are next on the list of most successful World Cup nations, having lifted the trophy four times – three times as West Germany and once as a unified nation in 2014. Italy, the first nation to win two World Cups, is tied. Die Mannschaft in four wins.
Uruguay was the inaugural champion, the first team to claim the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1930, and won one more title in an upset in 1950. Argentina has also won two titles.