How the World Cup became the world's game

Montevideo, 1930: a long way to go

The World Cup was the project of Jules Rimet, the Frenchman who led FIFA, at a time when Olympic football was for amateurs and the game was turning professional. Uruguay, Olympic champions in 1924 and 1928, hosted the first edition in 1930, the centenary of their first constitution, and built the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo for it.

The voyage put most of Europe off: only four European teams made the long sea crossing. France's Lucien Laurent scored the first World Cup goal, against Mexico, and the hosts won the final, beating Argentina 4–2. Italy, under Vittorio Pozzo, won the next two tournaments, at home in 1934 and in France in 1938. Then war intervened: there was no World Cup in 1942 or 1946.

Shocks in Rio and Bern

Brazil hosted in 1950 and built the Maracanã for it. There was no final that year, but the last match of the final group settled everything: Brazil needed only a draw against Uruguay and lost 2–1, Alcides Ghiggia scoring the winner. The silence that fell over the stadium became part of the legend of the Maracanazo.

In Switzerland in 1954, Hungary arrived as the best team in the world. Ferenc Puskás and his team-mates had gone four years unbeaten and beat West Germany 8–3 in the group stage. They led the final 2–0 inside ten minutes, yet West Germany won 3–2 on a rain-soaked pitch in Bern. Germans call it the Miracle of Bern.

Brazil, Pelé and the colour years

Brazil answered 1950 with three titles in twelve years. In Sweden in 1958 a 17-year-old Pelé scored twice in the final against the hosts, while France's Just Fontaine scored 13 goals at the same tournament, a record for a single World Cup that still stands. In Chile in 1962 Garrincha carried Brazil to a second title after Pelé was injured.

England won at home in 1966, beating West Germany 4–2 after extra time at Wembley, Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick. Then came Mexico 1970, the first World Cup broadcast in colour and, for many, the finest. Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostão, Rivelino and Carlos Alberto played with a freedom television carried around the world, beat Italy 4–1 in the final and, as the first three-time champions, kept the Jules Rimet Trophy for good.

Total Football, Maradona and a bigger stage

In 1974 came a new trophy and the Netherlands of Johan Cruyff, whose Total Football had defenders attacking and forwards defending. They scored a penalty in the final's second minute, before a German had touched the ball, but Franz Beckenbauer's West Germany won 2–1 in Munich, Gerd Müller scoring the winner. Argentina won at home in 1978 behind Mario Kempes, and in 1982 the tournament grew to 24 teams. Algeria beat West Germany in their first World Cup match, and Paolo Rossi's six goals, including a hat-trick against Brazil, won Italy a third title.

Mexico 1986 belonged to Diego Maradona. Against England in the quarter-final he scored twice in four minutes, first with his hand and then after a slalom from his own half, and Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final. That summer Morocco became the first African team to reach the knockout rounds, topping a group with England and Portugal. At Italia 90 Cameroon went further, beating the holders Argentina in the opening game and reaching the quarter-finals, with 38-year-old Roger Milla dancing at the corner flag.

A tournament for every continent

In the United States in 1994 Brazil won a fourth title in the first final settled on penalties, after Roberto Baggio sent his kick over the bar. Saudi Arabia reached the last 16 at their first attempt, helped by Saeed Al-Owairan's solo goal against Belgium. France 1998 was the first World Cup with 32 teams, and Zinedine Zidane's two headers beat Brazil 3–0 in the final. In 2002 the tournament went to Asia for the first time, shared by South Korea and Japan, and Ronaldo's two goals in the final against Germany gave Brazil a fifth title.

Africa's turn came in 2010, when Andrés Iniesta's extra-time goal in Johannesburg won Spain their first World Cup. Qatar 2022 was the first World Cup in the Arab world and the first played in November and December. Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, Morocco became the first African and Arab team to reach a semi-final, and Lionel Messi finally lifted the trophy after a 3–3 final and a penalty shoot-out against Kylian Mbappé's France.

In 2026 the tournament grew again, to 48 teams across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and Spain won a second title by beating Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final. From thirteen teams in Montevideo to 48 across a continent, Rimet's idea has become the calendar by which fans everywhere measure their lives.