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 World Cup History: 1930-1966
 1966: Bobby Moore lifts the Jules Rimet Trophy as England win at home at Wembley. 1966 England Final: England 4 West Germany 2 English football's finest hour came on home soil under the Twin Towers of their famous fortress against the side that have remained their greatest rivals ever since. With their thrilling extra time win over the West Germans, the nation that had invented the game but sat out the early years of the World Cup finally proved itself a match for the rest of the world, laying to rest the ghosts of their defeat by the U.S. in 1950 and their humiliation by Hungary at Wembley in 1953. Geoff Hurst justified his selection ahead of the popular Jimmy Greaves by scoring a hat-trick in the final -- though it remains questionable whether his second shot that bounced down off the crossbar actually crossed the line. Portuguese striker Eusebio was the player of the tournament, scoring nine times before his side were knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual winners. Four of them came in an extraordinary second round clash with North Korea in which the surprise Asian side, who had knocked out Italy in the first round, raced into a three-goal lead before slipping to a 5-3 defeat. World champions Brazil and Pele suffered a miserable tournament, kicked out in the first round after bruising encounters with Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal. 1962 ChileFinal: Brazil 3 Czechoslovakia 1 Brazil triumphed once again as the competition returned to South America, proving also that they could win without Pele, who only featured in the world champions' opening two games before injury ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. Instead it was Garrincha who proved to be Brazil's most potent weapon, with the tricky winger scoring twice against England in the quarterfinals and twice more in a 4-2 win over the hosts in the semifinals and then tormenting Czechoslovakia in the final. The Czechs, who had held Brazil goalless in the opening round before advancing to the title match with wins over Hungary and Yugoslavia, actually took the lead through Masopust, but goals from Amarildo, Zito and Vava sealed Brazil's successful defense. The tournament was also memorable for an infamous opening round clash between Chile and Italy that became known as the "Battle of Santiago" following a series of mass brawls between the teams which saw Italy's Giorgio Ferrini dragged away by police after being sent off and his teammate David Mario also sent off with a broken nose after retaliating to being punched in the face. 1958 SwedenFinal: Brazil 5 Sweden 2 Brazil's first ever World Cup success will always be remembered as the world's first glimpse of a 17-year-old from Santos called Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Pele, as he would soon be universally known, started the tournament on the bench, but made an immediate impression when he got his chance in the quarterfinals, scoring the only goal of the game against Wales. He then scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win over France in the semifinals and two more, including an audacious solo effort, in a 5-2 win over the hosts as Brazil finally put the trauma of 1950 behind them. Pele was carried from the field in tears and a football legend was born. But the young Brazilian was not the only star of the competition. Just Fontaine set a World Cup scoring record with 13 goals as France blazed through the opening round, scoring 15 goals in four games before coming unstuck against Brazil. But the scoring didn't stop there, with Fontaine finding the net four times in France's 6-3 win over West Germany in the third-place playoff. 1954 SwitzerlandFinal: West Germany 3 Hungary 2 The 1954 finals featured goals galore, many of them scored by the Hungarian "Golden Squad" of Ferenc Puskas, Jozsef Bozsik, Sandor Kocsis and Nandor Hidekuti which arrived at the tournament as Olympic champions and unbeaten in 28 internationals. The Hungarians had also demolished England at Wembley and in Budapest by an aggregate score of 13-4 the year before. No team have been bigger favorites for the title, and few had any doubts that Hungary were heading for glory when, having beaten West Germany 8-3 in their opening game, they took a two-goal lead against the same opposition in the final. Incredibly, in a match known as the "Miracle of Berne," the West Germans, marshalled by their brilliant captain Fritz Walter, fought back to win 3-2, with Helmet Rahn scoring the winner six minutes from time. What went wrong for the Hungarians? They had been rattled in a brutal quarterfinal with Brazil, winning 4-2 but brawling with the South Americans on the pitch and in the dressing rooms afterwards. They had then played an exhausting semi against Uruguay, surrendering a two-goal lead before scoring twice in extra time to again win 4-2. And there were doubts over Puskas's fitness after he had sat out with injury since the opening round. Some have suggested the West Germans also deliberately fielded an under-strength side in their opening game against Hungarians. Whatever the reasons, the World Cup had witnessed one of its greatest-ever upsets. 1950 BrazilFinal Match: Uruguay 2 Brazil 1 Brazil had simmered through the first round before catching fire in the final group round, beating Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 with Ademir scoring six goals. The final group format meant that the hosts only needed a draw in their final match against Uruguay and 220,000 expectant people crammed into the brand new Maracana Stadiumin Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilians took the lead at the start of the second half, but never settled into their usual fluid game -- players later complained they had been forced to go to Mass at 7 a.m. on the morning of the final. Juan Schiaffino equalized soon afterwards and with 11 minutes left Alcides Ghigga scored the goal that sent a nation into mourning. Brazil would have to wait eight more years for their first World Cup. In another huge upset earlier in the tournament, England, finally making their World Cup debut and expected to pose a serious challenge for the title, were beaten 1-0 by the United States as they crashed out in the opening round. 1938 FranceFinal: Italy 4 Hungary 2 Italy's second consecutive victory was overshadowed by the tense political climate as Europe marched towards World War II with several members of the Austrian team that had reached the semifinals four years earlier playing for Germany, which had annexed its neighbor a few months earlier. Brazil were South America's only representatives as the continent's other teams boycotted the tournament as it remained in Europe for a second consecutive time. The Brazilians were involved in the match of the tournament in the opening round, beating Poland 5-4 after extra time as both the fleet-footed Leonidas and Poland's Ernest Willimowski scored four goals apiece. The Brazilians knocked out Czechoslovakia in the next round in a match that ended with three players sent off and five players injured, but their decision to rest Leonidas for the final backfired spectacularly as defending champions Italy beat them 2-1. Having survived a tough opening match with Norway thanks to Silvio Piola's extra time winner, the Azzurri found their form in a second round win over the hosts. In the final they proved too strong for Hungary with Piola and Gino Colaussi sharing the goals. 1934 ItalyFinal: Italy 2 Czechoslovkia 1 The first World Cup in Europe was an all-European affair from the quarterfinals onwards with Uruguay declining to defend their title and Brazil and Argentina both eliminated in the first round. With home advantage, Italy were under pressure to deliver the propaganda victory that Mussolini's fascist regime demanded, but they needed an exhausting replay to get past Spain in the quarterfinals, with their playmaker Giuseppe Meazza scoring the only goal of the game. The semifinals pitted Italy against Austria, one of the era's most talented sides, but a quagmire of a pitch neutralized the skilful Austrians and Meazza again grabbed the winner. Italy's luck appeared to be running out in the final when Antonin Puc put the Czechs ahead with 20 minutes to go but Raimondo Orsi scored with eight minutes left to send the match into extra time when Meazza laid on the cross for Angelo Schiavo to score the winner. 1930 UruguayFinal: Uruguay 4 Argentina 2 Conceived in France, the first World Cup was hosted by Uruguay, widely considered to be the strongest team in the world having won Olympic gold in 1924 and 1928. The decision wasn't popular in Europe however, with only Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia making the three-week boat trip to compete. In the end only 13 teams took part with the hosts and their rivals from across the Rio de la Plata, Argentina, making the final with 6-1 wins over Yugoslavia and the U.S. respectively. With the two finalists having scored 27 goals between them in seven games en route to the final there was little danger of the inaugural World Cup final ending in a 0-0 draw and 93,000 people crammed into the barely finished Centenario Stadium to see the match. After a disagreement over who should provide the match ball, it was decided that the first half should be played with Argentina's ball and the second half with Uruguay's. The Argentines led 2-1 at halftime, but Uruguay, led by their inspirational captain Jose Nasazzi, struck three times after the break, triggering massive celebrations. Uruguay declined to defend their title in 1934 and missed the tournament again in 1938, before winning the tournament once again in 1950. 
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