In collaboration with High Life: Living the Good Life, VOICE OF ASIA is proud to present timeless articles from the archives, reproduced digitally for your reading pleasure. Originally published in High Life Volume 2 in 2014, we look at the five of the most prolific countries who have lifted the prized World Cup trophy.
Since 1930, 76 different teams have made it to the 19 editions of the World Cup. This time around, 204 countries attempted to navigate 853 matches of regional qualifying to become one of the ‘32’ in Brazil. This puts the list of winners into context. Only 8 different nations have ever been crowned Champions and to prevail means you truly are the cream of the crop. It is an elite group indeed… HIGH Life features the 5 most prolific countries to have gotten their hands on the trophy.
CHAMPIONS
Brazil
5-Time Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Having been to the Final 7 times, Verde-Amarela (The Green and Yellow) enter each edition with great expectations – regardless of the decade or the names in the squad. Having secured the gold trophy on 4 different continents, winning in Sweden, Chile, Mexico, the USA and Japan, the one thing to elude them is to win in front of their home fans. The only other time Brazil hosted, in 1950, they were stunned by neighbours Uruguay. Brazil are feared, dangerous on the counter-attack with a rich heritage of producing players that can embarrass the very best with joga bonito (beautiful play).
Italy
4-Time Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Italy has a rich football history and won the first two World Cup tournaments that they went to. Always exciting to watch, the team embodies a national stereotype – passionate, stylish (with always well-designed football strips) and playing beautiful football…sometimes at the expense of winning. They are successful though, and when their players ‘click’ they can produce triumphs like 1982, in Spain and 2006, in Germany. Titles aside, a regular question about ‘The Azzuri’ is why a team whose national flag is red, white and green play in a blue shirt. It is a custom dating back to the country’s pre-republican days, as blue was the official colour of the Royal House of Savoy between 1861 until 1946, and the regal tribute exists to this day.
Germany
3-Time Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)
With four runners-up medals and four third-place finishes, Germany could – given a different decision here or a flick of the ball there – so easily have topped this list. As it stands, they have 3 World Cups to their name, but have a reputation for being a consistently successful football machine. Germany has its grass-roots system churning out great players who are technically gifted with sound fundamentals, and while they have not always emerged victorious, the Germans never have a barren period devoid of success like other nations.
Uruguay
2-Time Winners (1930, 1950)
Success has been a barren landscape for Uruguay, but such has been the dominance of the major nations that their early triumphs still rank them in the top 5 all-time list. They hosted the first ever World Cup in 1930 as a reward for triumphing in football at the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games, and won the inaugural tournament by beating Argentina. Only five nations with a smaller population than Uruguay’s 28 million have ever participated in any World Cup and though their titles seem relics of a bygone era, a resurgent nation placed 4th in 2010 and look strong enough to challenge again, 64 years removed from their last moment in the spotlight.
Argentina
2-Time Winners (1978, 1986)
In Latin America, football is not merely a game: it is a matter of life and death. While other champions are respected, winning the World Cup for a country such as Argentina guarantees immortality in the minds of the fans. Though they have had to cope with disappointment in recent years, the two wins that they did secure have been enough to sustain the team’s puffed-out chest and sense of belonging among the elite. Prior to winning on home soil in ’78 and in the heat of Mexico in ’86, few believed that Argentina could keep cool enough heads to prevail. They did, and now every game of theirs is like a cauldron… and should they ‘win it all’ in Brazil, they have the gall to parade the trophy down Copacabana beach and taunt their neighbours all the way back to Buenos Aires.
