Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the global governing body for the football game. The members of this body contend with the senior men of their national teams to contend for the coveted trophy. The favorites never remain constant in this tournament. However, a few countries have better records of winning than others.
FIFA World Cup is the ace tournament in the football game. It started in 1930 and is played every four years with exceptions of the years when the world was going through the Second World War. This tournament is most widely watched throughout the world. People from all walks of life soak the games with equal excitement and the bettors find it an amazing opportunity to speculate and earn.
This tournament is hosted by one, and sometimes, multiple countries. By the virtue of being a host, the organizing country automatically gets the entry in the world cup squad and contends for the coveted title. Apart from the host country, 31 other countries participate in the tournament. Overall, 8 groups of four teams each are formed. However, things will change from 2026 edition when the tournament will create berths for 16 more teams. Hence, total of 48 teams will be playing in FIFA World Cup from 2026.
Let’s take a look at the top countries and their winning records at the FIFA World Cup.
- Brazil: Brazil has participated 21 times in the FIFA World Cup. Of the 21 times, it took home the Cup 5 times. The team won the Cup in years 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Since 2002, the team has been struggling to win back the glory. It is now looked up to as a strong contender in 2022 edition and is given a low odd of +6.0 by many reputed bookmakers
- Germany: Germany stands second in terms of most number of FIFA World Cup trophies won. It has won the title 4 times. The country participated in the FIFA World Cup 19 times. However, Italy matches it in the number of successful editions to the credit. The country is a football-loving nation and has fans in every nook and corner. Germany brought the Cup home in year 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014.
Miroslav Klose is the star performer of this team. He has posted 16 goals, which is the highest in the entire history of the FIFA World Cup. Another interesting trivia about this team is that the former captain Franz Beckenbauer has contributed both as a player and manager to the Germany team.
- Italy: Italy stands third but won the title as many times as Germany. The total points scored put it below Germany in the ranks’ table. It has won the coveted title of the FIFA World Cup for 4 times. These 4 cups are won from the 18 participations made by the team. Italy won the title in the years 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006. Italy is a strongly motivated team as it recently bagged the top European tournament UEFA Euro Cup in 2020. The country managed to reach finals too in 1970 and 1994.
- Argentina: Argentina is also one of the top teams that stay on the radar of football fans. This country appeared in the FIFA World Cup 17 times. Of these 17 times, it bagged the trophy twice. Argentina has appeared in the World Cup finals for five times. It won the title in the years 1978 and 1986.
This country has yielded top brass footballers who are institutions in themselves. They have a huge fan following and are looked upon as no less than the God of Football. Diego Maradona, the most famous footballer of yesteryears hails from this country. His legacy is carried forward by Lionel Messi in current times. In his captaincy, the team emerged as the strongest team in America and won Copa America very recently in 2021. They share the total number of times they have won Copa America with Uruguay. However, the team is looked upon as strong adversary to Brazil, England, Uruguay and Germany in 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
- France: France are currently the reigning champions of FIFA World Cup. The team won the final of 2018 and beat Croatia in that match by 4-2. This country has appeared 15 times in the FIFA World Cup tournament. The team is one of the four European countries that participated in the first edition of the FIFA World Cup in 1930. France did struggle during initial years and could manage to finish third only in 1958, 28 years after the tournament had started. It won the title for the first time in 1998 under the captaincy of Zinedine Zidane and broke the dry spell of 20 years in the last edition.
- England: England has won the FIFA World Cup title only once. But, it has participated in the tournament about 15 times. The country has emerged as a surprise entry with low odds in the bookmakers’ list this year because of its strong form and current performance levels. The country won the FIFA title in 1966 when it hosted the tournament too. It did finish forth in 2018 edition and so has caught the eyes of the bettors.
- Uruguay: Interestingly, Uruguay beats England in the number of times trophy won by bagging it two times. However, it lags in the score tally because of the lesser number of participations in the tournament.
Another team among the winners of the FIFA World Cup is Spain. It is also one of the strong teams of Europe and gives tough fight to opponents whenever it enters the turf.
Of the 32 countries participated so far, only 7 to 8 countries rule the tournament. Though other countries qualify to the tournament, they lack in facilities and the way the game is promoted in those parts of the world. Host country gets the entry automatically to the tournament and in a few cases have got it the title too, for example, France. Explore deeply about these countries with the help of football tipster if you have thought of betting on the FIFA World Cup games.
You may select multiple teams to bet upon. It helps increase chances of winning. Also, a better reputed bookmaker provides personalized services and various additional benefits like tips, bonuses, etc. All these facilities can maximize the fun of world cup 2022 predictions.