FIFA World Cup^TM.

The first matches for the FIFA World Championships were played on July 13, 1930 in Uruguay:
France-Mexico 4-1 and USA-Belgium 3-0.
The first World Champion ever was Uruguay that beat Argentina with 4-2 on July 30, 1930.
Till now (2010) the World Championships have been organised 19 times.
The next final round will be played in 2014 in Brasil.
The acting World Champion Football is: Spain.

Three countries did win the World Cup more than twice:

• Brasil, 5 times
• Italy, 4 times
• Germany, 3 times

Selection of matches

For the computation of the Rating Scores for the All-time World Cup Ranking Table all matches (qualification matches as well as final round matches) for this Championship are taken into account.

Minimal number of matches for the computation of Rating Scores.

For the computation of reliable Rating Scores a specific minimum number of matches per country is requested.
For countries that played less than 10 matches for any All-time Ranking Table no Rating Score will be computed.
Results of those countries (number of matches, points etc.) will be presented at the bottom of the respective Ranking Table.
For more detailed information and explanation about the Ranking Tables please view: Ranking Tables Explained.

Presentation of former countries in the Ranking Tables.

The names of former countries like East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union etc. are skipped from the presentation in any Ranking Table as soon as 6 years are passed since they played their last game.
For a more detailed explanation and for a complete listing of former countries please view: Selection of Data.

The above presented information is partly retrieved from the website of the RSSSF: The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (Author: Karel Stokkermans).