Okay, so, today I wanted to mess around with something I’ve been curious about for a while – World Cup finals. You know, get a good look at all of them, see what I could find. I’ve always been a huge soccer fan, and the World Cup is like the ultimate event, right?
First, I started by gathering all the information I could find. I just went on the internet and started digging. It wasn’t super organized, just a whole bunch of different websites and articles. I opened tons of tabs in my browser, basically trying to find anything related to World Cup finals.
Once I had a decent amount of stuff, I began reading through everything. It was a lot to take in, I gotta admit. I was mainly focused on the matches themselves – who played, the scores, where they were played, that kind of stuff. I jotted down some notes as I went, nothing fancy, just trying to keep things straight in my head.
Then, I thought it would be cool to see all this info in one place. So, I decided to make a simple list. I opened up a new document and started typing away. I listed each final, year by year, with the teams that played and the final score. It was pretty satisfying to see it all laid out like that.
My Little Summary
- 1930 – Uruguay vs. Argentina. Uruguay won 4-2. That’s the very first one!
- 1934 – Italy vs. Czechoslovakia. Italy won 2-1. Their first win.
- 1938 – Italy vs. Hungary. Italy won again, 4-2. Back-to-back champs!
- 1950 – Uruguay vs. Brazil. Uruguay pulled off an upset, winning 2-1. Heartbreak for Brazil at home.
- 1954 – West Germany vs. Hungary. West Germany won 3-2. Another upset!
- 1958 – Brazil vs. Sweden. Brazil finally got their first, winning 5-2. Pelé’s debut on the big stage!
- 1962 – Brazil vs. Czechoslovakia. Brazil won again, 3-1. Pelé was injured, but they still did it.
- 1966 – England vs. West Germany. England won 4-2 in extra time, their only title. Controversial goal, too!
- 1970 – Brazil vs. Italy. Brazil dominated, winning 4-1. Pelé’s last World Cup triumph.
- 1974 – West Germany vs. Netherlands. West Germany won 2-1. Cruyff’s Netherlands were so good, but couldn’t quite do it.
- 1978 – Argentina vs. Netherlands. Argentina won 3-1 in extra time, their first title. Another heartbreak for the Dutch.
- 1982 – Italy vs. West Germany. Italy won 3-1. Rossi was the hero!
- 1986 – Argentina vs. West Germany. Argentina won 3-2. Maradona’s “Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century” happened in the quarter-final, but this final was great too.
- 1990 – West Germany vs. Argentina. West Germany got revenge, winning 1-0. A pretty boring final, to be honest.
- 1994 – Brazil vs. Italy. 0-0 after extra time, Brazil won on penalties. First final decided by a shootout.
- 1998 – France vs. Brazil. France won 3-0, their first title. Zidane was amazing.
- 2002 – Brazil vs. Germany. Brazil won 2-0. Ronaldo’s redemption.
- 2006 – Italy vs. France. 1-1 after extra time, Italy won on penalties. Zidane’s headbutt!
- 2010 – Spain vs. Netherlands. 1-0 Spain after extra time. Iniesta’s the hero, another loss for the Netherlands in a final.
- 2014 – Germany vs. Argentina. 1-0 Germany after extra time. Götze’s the hero, heartbreak for Messi.
- 2018 – France vs. Croatia. France won 4-2. Mbappé announced himself to the world.
- 2022 – Argentina vs. France. 3-3 after extra time, Argentina won on penalties. Messi finally got his World Cup! What a game!
After making my list, I spent some time just looking at it, thinking about all the history there. It’s crazy to see how the game has evolved, which teams have dominated, and all the amazing players who have graced the World Cup final. It’s not just a list of scores, it’s a whole bunch of stories, you know? It was a fun little project, and I definitely learned a lot.