the tournament: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay from South America, Mexico and the United States from Central and North America, and Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia and France from Europe. All games were played at one venue in Montevideo. In the final, Uruguay came from behind to win 4-2.

Final: Uruguay 4 Argentina 2 ITALY 1934 For the first time in World Cup history, qualifying rounds were played to decide which of the 32 applying teams would eventually be part of the 16 finalists. In the final, Antonin Puc put the Czechs ahead in the 70th minute, but 10 minutes later, Raimundo Orsi equalised and sent the game into extra time. Angelo Schiavio's score in the 95th minute sealed the victory for Italy.

Final: Italy 2 Czechoslovakia 1 FRANCE 1938 The third World Cup involved 36 countries, with 15 teams proceeding to the finals, staged in France. Defending champions Italy faced Hungary in the final. Hungary had been so impressive they were hot favourites.

However, Italy took a surprising 3-1 half-time lead and left the field after the 90 minutes as the old and new champions, having defeated Hungary 4-2.

Final: Italy 4 Hungary 2 BRAZIL 1950 After World War II, Brazil was the proud host of the fourth World Cup. Uruguay and Brazil staged one of the most thrilling finals ever played. In front of a crowd of 200,000 people in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, Brazil opened the scoring (Friaca 48 minutes) but Uruguay fought back and, with two goals scored (Schiaffino 66 minutes and Ghiggia 79 minutes), won the trophy.

Final: Uruguay 2 Brazil 1 SWITZERLAND 1954 Outsiders West Germany beat Hungary in the final 3-2, although Hungary had defeated the same country heavily during a first-round game. Most thought Hungary would emerge victorious and hence it was to nobody's surprise when they took the lead through Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Czibor inside the first eight minutes. But West Germany matched that score and, six minutes from time, Helmut Rahn netted the winner.

Final: W.Germany 3 Hungary 2 SWEDEN 1958 The Brazilian team were the undisputed superstars of the 1958 World Cup, with their 17-year-old wonder boy Pele, being the centre of everyone's attention.

Brazil swept past France 5-2 in the semi-finals and won by the same score in the final against Sweden, the highest score ever achieved in a World Cup final. Pele (two), Vava (two) and Zagalo scored the goals.

Final: Brazil 5 Sweden 2 CHILE 1962 More teams than ever before, 52, tried to qualify for the finals, with 15 eventually travelling to Chile to join the host nation. Garrincha was Brazil's star. Not only did he score two goals in the 3-1 victory over England, he scored two more and assisted a third in the semi-final win over Chile. In the final, Czechoslovakia took a 1-0 lead, but Brazil fought back with Amarildo, Zito, and Vava giving them a 3-1 victory.

Final: Brazil 3 Czechoslovakia 1 ENGLAND 1966 England, the inventors of the modern soccer game, at last hosted the World Cup In 1966. The hosts played West Germany in the final game. Only seconds before the the 90 minutes were up, Germany scored their second goal to draw at 2-2 and send the game into extra time. A controversial goal from Geoff Hurst gave England a 3-2 lead and Hurst netted again to mark the final 4-2 score just seconds before the final whistle. Hurst is the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Final: England 4 W.Germany 2 MEXICO 1970 Although it was Brazil who celebrated their third World Cup -- which earned them the right to keep the much coveted Jules Rimet Trophy for good, it was a different match that was discussed most after the conclusion of the tournament, Italy's semi-final win over Germany. With Germany tying the score at 1-1 with only seconds to go in overtime, a real thriller took place in extra time. Germany took the lead after five minutes, but Italy struck back twice. Germany, however, levelled the score again, before Gianni Rivera finally won it for Italy. In the final, a thrilling Brazil team, fired by Pele at his best, beat Italy 4-1.

Final: Brazil 4 Italy 1 GERMANY 1974 1974 was the year of the Netherlands, led by the great Johan Cruyff. Facing host country West Germany in the final, the Netherlands took a 1-0 lead in the very first minute after Cruyff had been brought down in the penalty area and Johan Neeskens netted from the spot. The Germans, led by Franz Beckenbauer, fought back to equalise in the 25th minute -- again with a penalty kick, by Paul Breitner. The winning goal came two minutes before half time from Gerd Mueller, who turned on a ball in the penalty area and fired a low shot into the net.

Final: West Germany 2 Holland 1 ARGENTINA 1978 The Netherlands, this time without Johan Cruyff, fought their way to the final where they met host country Argentina. In the 38th minute, Argentina took the lead with a goal scored by Mario Kempes, but the Netherlands levelled the game via a heading goal by substitute Dick Nanninga. Fourteen minutes into extra time, Kempes again put Argentina ahead, and with only five minutes to go, Daniel Bertoni took all hopes away from the Dutch with the third goal for Argentina.

Final: Argentina 3 Holland 1 SPAIN 1982 For the first time ever, the World Cup 1982 in Spain involved 24 teams and was played in as many as 14 different sites. Two well known soccer giants made it to the final: West Germany, who had defeated France in a nerve-racking penalty kick shoot-out in the semi-final, and Italy, who had eliminated Brazil (3-2) and Poland (2-0). In the final, Italy took a 3-0 lead and West Germany could only pull one back. Italy joined Brazil in being three-time winners.

Final: Italy 3 West Germany 1 MEXICO 1986 After eliminating England 2-1 in the quarter-final, albeit with the help of the controversial "Hand of God'' goal from Diego Maradona, and Belgium 2-0 in the semi-final, Argentina faced West Germany, who had made it to the final for the third time since 1974. Maradona was the most admired player of the tournament, and he drove his team to a 2-0 lead against the Germans. However, Germany fought back and levelled the game with two goals scored in the 74th and 81st minute. The Germans dominated the last 30 minutes, but it was Argentina who ended as champions. Maradona set Jorge Burruchaga free to score the winning third goal in the 83rd minute for the South Americans.

Final: Argentina 3 Germany 2 ITALY 1990 The 1990 World Cup final in Italy saw a re-staging of the final pairing of four years earlier. This time the Germans were the ones to take the honours in the dullest final in World Cup history. Germany's 1-0 victory, courtesy of a penalty by Andreas Brehme, gave them their third World Cup. The undisputed darling team of the Italy games was Cameroon. Headed by 39-year-old forward Roger Milla, Cameroon reached the quarter-finals, but lost 3-2 to England.

Final: Germany 1 Argentina 0 USA 1994 Brazil won the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties. A disappointing decider against Italy in Pasadena ended goalless after 90 minutes and no-one was able to break the deadlock in extra-time. Italian superstars Roberto Baggio and Franco Baresi were among those to miss as Brazil won the shootout 3-2.

Final: Brazil 0 Italy 0 (Brazil won 3-2 on penalties) FRANCE 1998 France defeated holders Brazil in the final to win their first World Cup in front of adoring home fans. The hero was Zinedine Zidane, who scored with two headers, before Emmanuel Petit put the game beyond Brazil's reach. The South Americans were banking on Ronaldo to win them the cup and played him in the final even though he was not fully fit. His performance suggested he should not have played.

Final: France 3 Brazil 0 SOCCER SOC