Which countries have won the most World Cups?

When it comes to the world of football, winning the World Cup is any player’s true dream. Playing for your country is an amazing achievement, but being crowned champions of the world is on another level. In total, there have been 22 World Cup tournaments, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If you haven’t been paying attention to the most recent World Cup, then you should know that Argentina lifted the trophy after beating France 4-2 on penalties following a 120-minute game that ended 3-3.

The first World Cup tournament took place in 1930 when Uruguay lifted the trophy in their home country. During this tournament, only 13 teams took part, whereas nowadays, a total of 32 teams compete in the World Cup finals. For the upcoming 2026 World Cup, 48 countries are set to battle for a chance at being crowned champions of the world. For those interested in placing bets on their favorite team for the next World Cup, it’s a good idea to get the best soccer odds to increase your chance of winning. Below we will go through the history of the World Cup champions and talk about what the future may look like.

Who has won the most World Cups?

One country has lifted the World Cup more times than any other and that country is, of course, Brazil, which has managed to win the World Cup a total of 5 times. Behind Brazil are Germany and Italy, which have both won the global tournament a total of 4 times. 

In 1958, Brazil won their first-ever World Cup when legendary footballer, Pele, managed to score in the final against almighty Sweden. Pele was just 17 years old at this time, making this accomplishment even more special. 

Fast forward to 1962, and Brazil lifted their second World Cup trophy with the likes of Zito, Vava and Amarildo in the squad, who were paramount in their victory against Czechoslovakia in the final of the World Cup. The 1970 World Cup was the third time that Brazil managed to win and, of course, none other than Pele scored in the final game against Italy, convincingly winning 4-1. Twenty-four years later, the 1994 World Cup marked Brazil’s 4th World Cup victory. Brazil managed to beat Italy again on penalties in the final game, with Roberto Baggio failing to score his penalty kick. The last World Cup that Brazil won was back in 2002 when legendary player Ronaldo scored two times to defeat Germany at the World Cup tournament held in Japan.

Germany has won the World Cup on four separate occasions, which span from 1954 to 2014. In 1954, Helmut Rahn scored the winning goal for Germany to take the victory over Hungary, with the final game finishing 3-2. In 1974, legendary player Gerd Muller carried Germany to their second World Cup win against the Netherlands, with the final game finishing 2-1. In 1990, Andy Brehme led Germany to their third World Cup win against Argentina, winning 1-0. The last World Cup won by Germany was in 2014 when Mario Gotze was the player to take Germany all the way by scoring the winning goal in the second half of extra time. This game was also against Argentina and marked the end of a 24-year period of Germany never winning the World Cup.

Italy has also picked up 4 World Cup victories since the start of the tournament. The first time Italy won the World Cup was in 1934 when Angelo Schiavio scored to take down Czechoslovakia and win extra time. Four years later, Italy managed to pull off the impossible once more, where Silvio Piola and Gino Colaussi scored to defeat Hungary 4-2 in the final of the World Cup and take the victory for two consecutive tournaments. It wasn’t until 44 years later that Italy lifted their third World Cup trophy after defeating Germany 3-1 in the final game. In this game, there were a number of impressive performances; however, Alessandro Altobelli, Marco Tardelli and Paolo Rossi were the difference makers, all scoring to take Italy all the way to victory. The last World Cup that Italy won was in 2006 when the Italians managed to win on penalties against France.

Which countries have won the most World Cups?