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Countries That Have Won The FIFA World Cup Unbeaten

Countries That Have Won The FIFA World Cup Unbeaten

Brazil have won the FIFA World Cup a record 5 times and were unbeaten in all. They are the most successful country in World Cup history.

Winning the FIFA World Cup is an ultimate football achievement for any nation. There have been 21 World Cup tournaments so far, but only 8 countries have managed to win it.

Brazil are the most successful nation at the World Cup, with 5 titles.

Winning the World Cup requires a lot and most winners of the competition usually do so by remaining unbeaten throughout.

So how many teams have actually won the FIFA World Cup undefeated?

In this post, FootballOrbit looks at the teams that have won the World Cup without tasting defeat.

Uruguay (1930)

Uruguay 1930 - countries that won the FIFA World Cup unbeaten

Uruguay were the first winners of the World Cup and won it on home soil.

Just 13 teams took part in the inaugural competition, with the hosts being the only side unbeaten in the tournament.

Uruguay recorded a 1-0 win against Peru, a 4-0 win over Romania, a 6-1 defeat of Yugoslavia and a 4-2 win against Argentina to clinch the trophy.

Italy (1934)

The 1934 World Cup was the first in which teams had to qualify to participate and 16 teams qualified for the tournament.

Reigning champions, Uruguay, boycotted the tournament because only 4 European teams had accepted their invitation to the 1930 edition.

Italy won it and were the only team not to lose. They beat USA 7-1, drew 1-1 with Spain then beat them 1-0 in the replay; won 1-0 against Austria and triumphed 2-1 over Czechoslovakia in the final.

Italy (1938)

Again, 16 teams took part in the 1938 World Cup and Italy won the trophy for the second consecutive time.

Italy beat Norway 2-1, France 3-1, Brazil 2-1, and Hungary 4-2 to win it.

Uruguay (1950)

The FIFA World Cup was cancelled in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War.

It returned in 1950 and was hosted by Brazil. It was the only tournament that was not decided by a one-match final.

Uruguay won the title for the second time ever. Along the way, they beat Bolivia 8-0 in the first round, then drew 2-2 with Spain in the final round. Before defeating Sweden 3-2 and Brazil 2-1 in the final.

Uruguay’s final match victory over Brazil was one of the most shocking upsets in FIFA World Cup history.

Brazil (1958)

The 1958 World Cup hosted by Sweden was the first to be played in a Nordic country.

The format of the competition changed from 1954: 16 teams still competed in four groups of four teams. But this time; each team played each of the other teams in its group at least once — without extra time in the event of a draw.

Two points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw.

Brazil won the tournament unbeaten: winning 3-0 against Austria, drawing 0-0 with England and defeating the Soviet Union 2-0 in the group stages.

In the knockouts, they beat Wales 1-0 and France 5-2.

Brazil thrashed Sweden 5-2 in the final to claim their first ever World Cup title.

The tournament also marked the arrival of a then 17-year-old Pelé on the world stage.

Brazil (1962)

At the 1962 edition, Brazil became the second team — after Italy in 1934 and 1938 — to win the World Cup twice consecutively; no team has achieved the feat since.

Countries that have won the FIFA World Cup unbeaten

It was another undefeated tournament for Brazil, this time beating Mexico 2-0, drawing 0-0 with Czechoslovakia and defeating Spain 2-1 in the group stage.

In the knockouts, Brazil defeated England 3-1 in the quarterfinals, Chile 4-2 in the semi-finals and Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.

England (1966)

In 1966, England became the 5th nation to win the FIFA World Cup, and the 3rd host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934.

It was a memorable World Cup win for England, who started with a 0-0 draw vs Uruguay and followed it up with a 2-0 win over Mexico and another 2-0 victory against France in the group stages.

In the knockout stages, the English defeated Argentina 1-0, Portugal 2-1 and recorded a famous 4-2 triumph over West Germany in the final.

Brazil (1970)

Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and it was the first tournament held outside Europe and South America.

Brazil won the title unbeaten.

Remarkably, they triumphed over defending champions England 1-0 in the group stage, defeated another two-time world champions (who were also South American champions then), Uruguay, 3-1 in the semi-final.

They then beat another two-time world champions (and then defending European champions), Italy, 4-1 in the final.

This remains the only time in history that the World Cup winners defeated the European and South American champions alongside the tournament’s defending champions.

The win gave Brazil its third World Cup title, which allowed them to permanently keep the Jules Rimet Trophy, and a new trophy was introduced in 1974.

The Brazilian team — led by Carlos Alberto and featuring players such as Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Rivellino, and Tostão — is often cited as the greatest-ever football team.

They won all their matches throughout the tournament.

Italy (1982)

Italy. countries that have won the FIFA World Cup unbeaten.

The 1982 World Cup featured the first penalty shoot-out in the competition.

It was also the last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages. The first round was a round-robin group stage containing six groups of four teams each.

Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw, with goal difference used to separate teams equal on points. The top two teams in each group advanced.

In the second round, the 12 remaining teams were split into four groups of three teams each, with the winner of each group progressing to the knockout semi-final stage.

It was also the third time (after 1934 and 1966) in which all four semi-finalists were European countries.

Italy won the tournament unbeaten for the third time.

Surprisingly, the Italians didn’t win any match in the first group stage round of matches — drawing against Poland, Peru and Cameroon.

In the second group stage, they defeated Argentina 2-1 and Brazil 3-2, before going to beat Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals and West Germany 3-1 in the final.

Argentina (1986)

Colombia had been originally chosen to host the 1986 competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so, and resigned in 1982.

Mexico was selected as the new host in 1983, and became the first country to host the World Cup more than once.

The format of the competition changed from 1982.

The final pair of matches in each group started at the same time and the second round was played on a knock-out basis rather than groups.

Argentina won the tournament unbeaten.

A certain 25-year-old Diego Maradona played a huge role in Argentina’s success by scoring the infamous “hand of god” goal, as well as another goal considered as the best goal in football history in the quarter-final against England.

Maradona’s first goal is one of the most controversial moments in FIFA World Cup history.

In the group stages, Argentina defeated South Korea 3-1, drew 1-1 with Italy and beat Bulgaria 2-0.

In the knockout rounds, the Argentines secured victories over Uruguay (1-0), England (2-1), Belgium (2-0) and West Germany (3-2) to win their second World Cup title.

West Germany (1990)

West Germany won the 1990 FIFA World Cup unbeaten and it was their third title.

They beat Argentina 1-0 in the final — a rematch of the previous final four years earlier.

This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany, with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later.

The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia teams also made their last appearances.

In the group, West Germany defeated Yugoslavia 4-1, UAE 5-1 before drawing 1-1 with Columbia.

In the knockouts, the Germans got the better of Netherlands 2-1, Czechoslovakia 1-0, England 4-1 (penalty shootout) and Argentina 1-0.

It was the first time that an European country won a World Cup final against a non-European team.

Brazil (1994)

The 1994 tournament was the first World Cup where 3 points were awarded for a victory instead of 2 and also the first with the “back-pass rule” — introduced to encourage a more attacking style of play after the defensive tactics and low-scoring matches of the 1990 World Cup.

Once again Brazil went unbeaten en route to winning the trophy. They beat Russia 2-0, Cameroon 3-0 and drew 1-1 in the group stage.

In the round of 16, Brazil eliminated hosts USA 1-0, before defeating Netherlands 3-2 and Sweden 1-0 in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.

Brazil were crowned the winners after defeating Italy 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out in the final — after the game had ended 0-0 after extra time.

It was the first ever World Cup final to be decided on penalties.

France (1998)

France won the FIFA World Cup unbeaten in 1998

The 1998 FIFA World Cup spanned 32 days, the longest World Cup tournament ever held

France were unbeaten as they won the trophy for the first time ever.

They also became the 6th nation (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil.

France won all their group stage matches: defeating South Africa 3-0, Saudi Arabia 4-0 and Denmark 2-1.

In the knockout, the French defeated Paraguay 1-0, Italy 4-3 (penalties), Croatia 2-1 and sensationally trounced Brazil 3-0 in the final.

Brazil (2002)

The 2002 World Cup — co-hosted by South Korea and Japan — was the first to be held in Asia, as well as the first to be jointly-hosted by more than one nation.

Furthermore, it was also the last in which the Golden Goal rule was used.

Once again, Brazil won the title unbeaten, and for a record 5th time.

They beat Turkey 2-1, China 4-0 and Costa Rica 5-2 in the group stages, before defeating Belgium 2-0, England 2-1, Turkey 1-0 and Germany 2-0 during the knockouts to win the tournament.

It cemented Brazil’s status as the most successful country in FIFA World Cup history.

Brazil also became the first nation to win every match at a World Cup since 1970 by………………………………. Brazil!!!

Italy (2006)

Italy won its 4th World Cup title in 2006 and, once again, went unbeaten like the previous three.

In the group stages, they defeated Ghana 2-0, drew 1-1 with USA and won 2-0 vs Czech Republic.

In the knockouts, Italy triumphed 1-0 over Australia, 3-0 vs Ukraine, 2-0 against Germany and defeated France 5-3 on penalty shoot-out in the final.

Moreso, it was Italy’s first World Cup title in 24 years, and their fourth overall — making them the second most successful World Cup team ever.

Germany (2014)

Germany — countries that have won the FIFA World Cup unbeaten

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th edition of the quadrennial tournament and the first in which goal-line technology and vanishing spray for free kicks were used.

Germany won the trophy unbeaten. In the group stages, they defeated Portugal 4-0, drew 2-2 with Ghana and won 1-0 vs USA.

In the knockout stages, Germany defeated Algeria 2-1, France 1-0, Brazil 7-1 and Argentina 1-0.

It was their first World Cup crown after the German reunification in 1990 — when as West Germany they also beat Argentina by the same score in the final.

Furthermore, Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas.

France (2018)

France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup without suffering a single defeat.

In the groups, they defeated Australia 2-1, Peru 1-0 and drew 0-0 with Denmark.

During the knockout stages, France defeated Argentina 4-3, Uruguay 2-0, Belgium 1-0 and Croatia 4-2.

France’s win was their second World Cup title and the final match was the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966.

French manager, Didier Deschamps, also became only the third person to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a manager.

Deschamp with the World Cup trophy

Furthermore, France’s 2018 World Cup victory was the 4th consecutive title won by an European country — after Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010 and Germany in 2014.

How many countries have won the FIFA World Cup without being unbeaten?

Only four(4) World Cup winning teams did so despite getting defeated during the tournament.

The four teams that won the World Cup despite losing a game were: West Germany in 1954, and again 20 years later in 1974.

Followed by Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 2010.

How many teams have won back-to-back FIFA World Cups?

From 1930 to 2018; only two nations have won the FIFA World Cup back-to-back: Italy in 1934 & 1938 as well as Brazil in 1958 & 1962.

Argentina almost did it after defeating West Germany in the 1986 final but the Germans turned the tables around when the two sides met again in the final 4 years later in 1990.

Brazil also won it in 1994 but were runners-up in 1998, before going on to be world champions again in 2002.

Will the winners of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar be unbeaten?

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