With the widely considered the best tournament in the world, it's never surprising to see countries wanting to host it. It carries luxury and pride, as the globe's eyes are fixated on that nation for a whole month. Not only can it provide an economic boost, it can also help improve a nation's image.
"Sportswashing" it is dubbed and Qatar highlighted it by hosting the World Cup in 2022. However, although the hosts typically focus on putting on a show, they are always hoping their team can shine under the world's spotlight. It's easier said than done, with the battle to be crowned world champions taking place from the very first match to the last.
Since the first tournament in 1930, six teams have won the tournament whilst hosting it. In doing so, they have gone down in history as record-breakers. It hasn't happened since 1998, as Germany and Brazil have both blown chances to win the tournament whilst hosting in 2006 and 2014 respectively.
We have outlined everything you need to know about the six successful nations. Every host nation to win the World Cup Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 England 1966 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 France 1998 The 1930 World Cup will always be remembered. It was the very first tournament organised by Jules Rimet, kickstarting a love between nations able to compete on the world stage.
With Uruguay previously winning the Olympics, they were chosen as the hosts for the tournament. Originally, 16 teams were meant to compete, but only 13 did due to issues with travelling. Japan and Siam both withdrew, whilst Egypt missed their ship.
It epitomised the struggles of travelling in the 1930s, yet it only helped Uruguay's chances. They took it with both hands and cruised through the group stages by beating Peru 1-0 and Romania 4-0. It set up a semi-final against Yugoslavia, and although it was expected to be a tense affair, the South American nation won 6-1, partially due to a hat-trick from Pedro Cea.
Only Argentina stood in their way in the final, but another goal from Cea saw him score the second-most goals in the tournament as they won 4-2. History for Uruguay in front of 68,000 people at the Estadio Centenario. Information Group Stage Uruguay 1-0 Peru Uruguay 4-0 Romania Semi-finals Uruguay 6-1 Yugoslavia Final Uruguay 4-2 Argentina Four years later, FIFA wanted to go global for the tournament, so Italy were selected to host the tournament ahead of Sweden.
Europe was finally at the centre — and, due to Italy's location, 12 countries from the continent competed. Only Argentina and Brazil travelled from South America. Unlike most tournaments, the 1934 World Cup went directly into a knockout system.
Italy kickstarted their campaign with a comprehensive 7-1 win against the United States of America, with a hat-trick from Angelo Schiavio, who some may consider to be one of , helping them on their way. It set the tone for the rest of their tournament, as they beat Spain following a replay and edged past Austria to reach the final. An extra-time strike from Schiavio in the final against Czechoslovakia secured a 2-1 victory to win the competition — the first of four in total.
Information Round of 16 Italy 7-1 USA Quarter-final Italy 1-1 Spain Quarter-final replay Italy 1-0 Spain Semi-final Italy 1-0 Austria Final Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia (aet) Every tournament, England fans sing about 'football coming home'. The song was only created in 1996 — and since then it has been marked as a curse as they continually fell at the final hurdle, including . However, the song was created to commemorate the nation hosting a tournament, Euro 96, for the first time since 1966.
It remains the golden age of England, as Sir Alf Ramsey, arguably the , guided the Three Lions to victory. With the likes of Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton, he had some of the , who are now considered the . During the group stage, they finished top of the group without conceding a single goal, and they took that form into the knockout stages.
They knocked out Argentina and Eusebio's Portugal to reach the final, before beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley. The deciding goal from Sir Geoff Hurst remains controversial as it's unclear if it went over the line, but England did not care in the slightest. Geoff Hurst became the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
Only Kylian Mbappe has done so since. Information Group Stage England 0-0 Uruguay England 2-0 Mexico England 2-0 France Quarter-final England 1-0 Argentina Semi-final England 2-1 Portugal Final England 4-2 West Germany Eight years after losing the final to England, West Germany tasted success on home soil. It was during a time of deep political divide in the area, with the Berlin Wall separating the west from the east.
West Germany was technically seen as the more prosperous area, so when they lost to East Germany in the group stages, it came as a surprise to everyone. However, it was only a blip, as they progressed into the second round, before winning their next three matches to reach the final. A 4-2 win against Sweden where they had to battle from 1-0 down showcased their talent before they confirmed their credentials by beating Netherlands 2-1 in the most important match in sport — after once again coming from 1-0 down.
Gerd Muller, one of the , scored four goals in the tournament — the most in the team. Information Group Stage West Germany 1-0 Chile West Germany 3-0 Australia West Germany 0-1 East Germany Second Round West Germany 2-0 Yugoslavia West Germany 4-2 Sweden West Germany 1-0 Poland Final West Germany 2-1 Netherlands However, West Germany could not defend their title, as four years later, Argentina claimed glory by winning the World Cup on home soil. Maradona was left out of the squad for the tournament on home soil by coach Cesar Luis Menotti because he felt he was too young at age 17.
This could have been a distraction for the nation, but they continued to impress. They finished second in the first group stage after losing to Italy 1-0 in their final match, but their intentions remained clear; they wanted the ultimate prize. Going into the final match in the second round, Argentina needed to better Brazil's goal difference to reach the final, after the pair drew 0-0 in the previous match.
They did exactly that by beating Peru 6-0 to face the Netherlands in the final. Taking place at the Estadio Monumental, Argentina completed the ultimate goal in football after extra time, as Daniel Bertoni sealed victory in the 115th minute. Meanwhile, striker Mario Kempes finished with six goals in the tournament to win the Golden Boot.
Information Group Stage Argentina 2-1 Hungary Argentina 2-1 France Argentina 0-1 Italy Second Round Argentina 2-0 Poland Argentina 0-0 Brazil Argentina 6-0 Peru Final Argentina 3-1 Netherlands (aet) Finally, France are the most recent team to win the World Cup on home soil. The nation narrowly fought off Morocco to host the tournament in the first place, but as soon as the competition started, they shone. With the likes of Emmanuel Petit, Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira in the squad, manager Aime Jacquet had some of at his disposal.
They cruised through the group stage by beating South Africa 3-0 and Saudi Arabia 4-0. It became a nervy affair during the knockout stages, as is always the case; they scraped past Paraguay and beat Italy on pens, before narrowly edging past Croatia to reach the final. They were expected to lose to Brazil as they had a team full of talent, including one of the greatest strikers of all time, Ronaldo, however, France defied expectations to win 3-0.
Thierry Henry scored three goals, the most of any French player, whilst the team were named the most entertaining side at the tournament. It's easy to see why, considering how many goals they scored. Information Group Stage France 3-0 South Africa France 4-0 Saudi Arabia France 2-1 Denmark Round of 16 France 1-0 Paraguay Quarter-final France 0-0 Italy (4-3 on pens) Semi-final France 2-1 Croatia Final France 3-0 Brazil.
