Ranking every World Cup in history from worst to best

The 2022 World Cup is just around the corner and the excitement for the biggest tournament in men’s football is careering towards fever pitch.

Each and every edition of the quadrennial competition takes on its own personality, aura and legacy for better or for worse, and Qatar 2022 will be absolutely no different.

Football fans all have ‘their World Cup’, those precious and fleeting memories of seeing the grand tournament on their television screens for the first time, just as they also have a favourite iteration that they hold dearest to their hearts.

What is the greatest World Cup of all time?

And the World Cup that supporters rate as their number one can be informed by a number of things: how well their nation performed, where it was hosted, the entertainment of the games, the overall culture of the competition and much more.

As such, ahead of Qatar 2022 taking its first steps in the history books of this grandest of 92-year-old institutions, we thought that it would only make sense to take a look back at what came before.

Here at GIVEMESPORT, one of our contributors has already tried their hand at ranking the top 10 tournaments in World Cup history, but now yours truly is upping the ante by putting all 21 editions under the microscope.

To do so, your humble GMS writer is calling upon the trusty medium of Tiermaker to rank every World Cup from the 1930 inception to the most recent 2018 outing into various categories ranging from ‘Is that it?’ to ‘GOAT status’.

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What makes a great World Cup?

The placements will be informed by criteria such as the quality of the competition, the format of the tournament, the entertainment factor, the spirit of the game and wider cultural significance.

However, the picks will not be based upon wider political or socioeconomic factors surrounding the tournament unless it had a direct impact on how the competition was postured or played out.

It would, after all, feel inappropriate to compare incredibly serious and poignant factors beyond the football that surrounded a number of these tournaments to one another, nor would it be plausible to sufficiently juggle those topics alongside sporting matters.

But beyond those caveats, the moral of the story is that the selections are based upon the opinion of yours truly, which is informed by thorough research as well as both anecdotal and personal experiences.

How did we rank every World Cup?

Catch my drift? Right then, well, without further ado, let’s rank every single World Cup in the competition’s long and illustrious history from worst to best with plenty to discuss in between.

Is that it?

Uruguay 1930, Italy 1934, Brazil 1950, Chile 1962

Now, look, it might seem as though we’re picking on the early years of the World Cup here, but as much as we’ve got to tip our hats to the founding fathers of the tournament we love dearest, it was nevertheless a sign of the times that it didn’t always feel like a World Cup.

With huge boat journeys across the Atlantic Ocean required for European nations to take part in the inaugural tournament in Uruguay, only teams from France, Yugoslavia, Romania and Belgium challenged the North and South American nations in a mere 13-team competition.

And you only have to look at the 6-1 victories that both Uruguay and Argentina racked up in the semi-finals to see how processional it was for the world’s two leading nations at times.

The subsequent final might have been a 4-2 thriller that saw hosts Uruguay complete the cycle of their golden era, which had already struck Olympic glory in 1924 and 1928, but the World Cup’s first few steps didn’t leave the biggest imprints.

It’s a similar story with the World Cup’s sophomore effort, too, which particularly embodies the ‘Is that it?’ branding of this tier by way of champions Uruguay not actually defending their title.

Marry that to eventual winners Italy not necessarily getting the blood pumping beyond a 7-1 thrashing of the United States of America – subsequently scoring just five goals in four games in an era defined for rampant goalscoring – and it’s not a tournament that lives long in the memory.

As for Brazil 1950, it might be an edition famous for the host nation’s humiliation in front of 173,850 fans at the Maracana, but it’s also the messiest that the World Cup format has ever been.

In fact, there wasn’t even a proper World Cup final with the climatic meeting between Brazil and Uruguay only taking on that significance by way of being the deciding game in a second group stage.

A second group stage, by the way, which Brazil didn’t win despite racking up 6-1 and 7-1 victories in their opening two games of the round. We’ll leave you to work out that mess in your head.

Then, rounding off our collection of wooden spoon winners is Chile 1962, which saw the World Cup shuffle into a modern era of the game in all the worst ways as the goal-per-game average plummeted from 3.60 to 2.78.

The matches were also marred by violence and ill-discipline with the tournament perhaps being best remembered for the ‘Battle of Santiago’, which saw two players sent off – despite red cards not existing at this point – as well as no less than four interventions from the local police.

Legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin was also in shocking form and Pele was injured for the vast majority of the competition, so despite the entertaining best efforts of Garrincha, Chile 1962 will always rank pretty lowly amongst fans.

Overrated

England 1966, Argentina 1978, Italy 1990

Obviously, it goes without saying that ‘overrated’ doesn’t necessarily mean bad, just that the tournament doesn’t deserve the level of hype that it receives and England’s historic run in 1966 is a prime example of that.

Perhaps it’s just because the competition has an almost mythical level of reverence in England that it’s become so overrated despite the fact, we hate to break it to you, it actually ranks amongst one of the most pedestrian World Cups ever.

The Three Lions made for some of the weakest winners in history and benefitted from a goal-that-might-not-actually-have-been-a-goal goal in the final, even if there was certainly joy to be found in the magic of Eusebio and the unlikely underdogs of North Korea.

As for Argentina 1978, we think the overrated nature of the tournament probably has a lot to do with all those iconic images of ticker tape raining down as Daniel Passarella lifted the trophy in a year packed with gorgeous kits.

In reality, though, it was a summer sullied by the absence of Johan Cruyff, controversial refereeing decisions favouring the hosts and the drama surrounding Argentina’s 6-0 win over Peru that continues to give everyone a very uneasy feeling in their stomach.

However, the biggest offender in this category is undoubtedly Italia 90, which has been inordinately romanticised in the minds of a certain generation mostly because of Luciano Pavarotti’s rendition of ‘Nessun dorma’ and England’s run to the semi-finals.

In reality, it witnessed some of the drabbest and least inspiring football that the World Cup has ever seen with a record low of just 2.21 goals per game that still hasn’t been beaten, culminating in a miserable one-goal final that saw two Argentina players sent off.

And the runners-up were pretty uninspiring to watch throughout as they scored just two times in the knockout rounds, relying on penalties in the quarter-finals and semi-finals with the other final-four match between England and West Germany similarly requiring spot-kicks.

There were dramatic moments, it must be said, but there’s simply no way that a World Cup so bereft of goals and entertainment can be considered amongst the greatest of all time.

Middle of the road

France 1938, West Germany 1974, Japan & South Korea 2002, South Africa 2010

Now, as we get underway with France 1938, it’s important to remember that we’re trying not to focus too hard on the political aspects of these tournaments, but the absence of Austria in light of the Anschluss is impossible to ignore given that it gave Sweden a bye into the quarter-finals.

From a footballing perspective, however, there could be no denying that there was entertainment in abundance with Brazil 6-5 Poland, Sweden 8-0 Cuba and Hungary 5-1 Sweden amongst the results in a purely knockout tournament.

In the end, though, Italy were the deserving winners once again in a competition that – despite being the best yet – was ultimately still a long way short of being a truly global affair with 13 of the 15 competitors hailing from Europe.

However, moving onto the 1970s and we have a tournament that – for whatever reason – has just always left us a bit cold with West Germany’s triumph on home soil not necessarily having the glut of iconic moments that its predecessors and successors boasted.

The major exception to that is, of course, the ‘Total Football’ of the Dutch side that would ultimately lose in the final with Rinus Michels’ side playing a truly mouth-watering brand of football and Cruyff showing the world his legendary turn.

But beyond that, we’re a little lost for inspiration as the goal-per-game rate slumped to a nadir of 2.55 that we wouldn’t see again on a consistent basis until the arrival of the 21st century.

Speaking of which, we hate to say it, but the 2002 World Cup just isn’t as good as you remember and all the controversial refereeing decisions that led to South Korea reaching the semi-finals continue to leave a sour taste in the mouth to this day.

And just look at some of the scorelines in the knockout rounds: both semi-finals finished 1-0, two quarter-finals were also 1-0 and another was 0-0, while the highest-scoring round of 16 fixtures were either just 2-1 or 3-0.

As for South Africa 2010, there might be some supporters that actually think we’ve been generous here because its a tournament that brought the second-lowest goal-per-game ratio ever of 2.23 and saw Spain establish themselves as, well, some of the most boring champions of all time.

And while all of that is true and duly responsible for this pretty modest ranking, lest we forget the joyful carnage of the Jabulani, the spectacular run of Ghana to the quarter-finals and the umpteen-million worldies scored by Diego Forlan.

Do, however, balance that heartwarming carnage with the fact that the competition also saw an outbreak of world-class players flopping with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Wayne Rooney all falling short of expectations.

Read more: The story of how Spain became 2010 World Cup winners

The streets will never forget

Sweden 1958, United States of America 1994, France 1998, Germany 2006, Russia 2018

Now we’re talking. While Sweden 1958 could never have lived up to the goalscoring madness of its predecessor (more on that shortly), it nevertheless serves as one final kick and squirm of an era of football drenched in goals as each match averaged 3.6 strikes.

Just Fontaine made history by scoring a barely believable 13 goals from just six matches that included a hat-trick in a 7-2 thrashing of Paraguay and four strikes in a 6-3 barnstormer against West Germany in the third place play-off.

We also saw the greatest World Cup final in history as Brazil routed Sweden 5-2, completing the triumphant arrival of Pele on the global scene as he notched a brace in the climatic match having hit France for three in the final four. The greatest player of all time?

From the GOAT of World Cup finals to the very worst. The curtain-closer of USA 1994 might have been a damp squib as, for the first and only time, there wasn’t a single goal scored, but even that bum note brought with it Roberto Baggio’s iconic penalty miss.

But elsewhere, the tournament was a true delight at the States put on a carnival-like atmosphere as an average of almost 70,000 fans packed into the stadiums to watch each match and the goal-per-game rate rose to a height of 2.71 that we haven’t seen since.

The sequel was pretty great, too, because France ’98 is another tournament that lives on fondly in the memories of fans as two legendary teams in the form of the hosts and a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil made it all the way to arguably the most high-quality final we’ve ever seen.

The debut of the frankly perfect 32-team format bore witness to Zinedine Zidane‘s heroics in Paris, Michael Owen’s unforgettable goal in a thriller with Argentina and Dennis Bergkamp’s spine-tingling winner against the same opponents to name just a few classic moments.

And moving swiftly on from Zidane genius to Zidane chaos as the 2006 World Cup will forever be remembered for its thrill-a-minute final that featured head-butts, Panenkas and penalty drama.

It might not have been the most goal-rich tournament of the bunch, but it really was a case of quality over quantity with drama galore: Argentina’s 26-pass goal, Fabrio Grosso’s semi-final winner, Zidane’s Brazil masterclass and Ronaldo‘s record-breaking finish.

Then, to finally round off our ‘streets will never forget’ category we have the most recent World Cup, which, just like the tournaments its rubbing shoulders with, was pure entertainment without necessarily being a contender for the best edition we’ve ever seen.

Nevertheless, for all the VAR confusion and a goal-shy start to the group stages, we do indeed have goosebump-inducing moments like C. Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Spain, Benjamin Pavard’s stunner in a 4-3 epic with France and England’s first ever World Cup penalty shootout win.

Plus, it all culminated in the highest-scoring final that we’d seen in decades as France overcame the plucky underdogs of Croatia, complete with a Ballon d’Or-bound Luka Modric, 4-2 in a truly edge-of-your-seat encounter.

Read more: How France became World Cup winners in 2018

What a time to be alive

Switzerland 1954, Spain 1982, Mexico 1986, Brazil 2014

Look, where else could we place the World Cup with the highest goal-per-game ratio in its history? Believe it or not, there was a staggering 5.38 strikes per match in Switzerland with the ‘Magical Magyars’ having a lot to do with that.

The ‘Golden Team’ might well be the greatest outfit to ever take to the World Cup with icons such as Sándor Kocsis, Ferenc Puskas and Nándor Hidegkuti securing a 9-0 win over South Korea, 8-3 demolition of West Germany and 4-2 triumphs over Brazil and Uruguay.

And yet, Switzerland 1954 was such a rollercoaster ride that Hungary then lost the final in one of the biggest ever World Cup upsets as they blew a 2-0 lead to lose against West Germany in a thriller that saw four goals in the first 18 minutes.

Fast-forward 28 years and though the modernity of Spain 1982 could never offer the goalscoring tsunami of its forebears, it was nevertheless up to its ears in legendary moments.

The hosts famously lost to a plucky Northern Ireland side inspired by Norman Whiteside, who toppled Pele’s record as the youngest player in World Cup history, while Brazil turned the entertainment factor up to the max with Zico, Falcao and Socrates.

A staggering 3-3 semi-final between France and West Germany delivered the World Cup’s first ever penalty shootout and infamously saw Toni Schumacher knock Patrick Battiston unconscious.

Bryan Robson scored after just 27 seconds for England, Marco Tardelli produced the most passionate celebration that football has ever seen and Paolo Rossi claimed the Golden Boot with six goals in his final three games. Magic.

Four years later and the iconic levels were turned up even higher as Diego Maradona led Argentina to glory with the ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Goal of the Century’ in the space of mere minutes against England, before firing two stunners past Belgium and inspiring a 3-2 victory in the final.

Emilio Butragueño also turned on the style with four(!!!) goals against Denmark in the round of 16, Gary Lineker romped his way to the Golden Boot for England and the year’s Ballon d’Or winner Igor Belanov scored a losing hat-trick in a 4-3 defeat to Belgium.

Then, rounding off this stunning quartet of tournaments that just falls short of ‘GOAT status’ is Brazil 2014, which is unfairly underrated compared to other 21st century iterations and marked the highest goal-per-game average that we’d seen in 20 years.

The final might not have been a classic, but we still got to witness the carnage of the Netherlands annihilating holders Spain 5-1 just as everyone’s breath was taken away by hosts Brazil being torn apart 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.

James Rodriguez was playing football from another planet as he bagged the Golden Boot and the Puskas Award for his Uruguay worldie, while Messi played out of his skin to score four goals and collect the Golden Ball.

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GOAT status

Mexico 1970

Where do we even begin? Mexico 1970 is and always will be the greatest World Cup in history.

Bursting onto television screens in beautiful colour for the very first time, the world watched on in awe as Brazil’s legendary side of Pele, Roberto Rivellino, Jairzinho, Tostão and Gerson lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy as the greatest team that football had ever seen.

And they wrapped up their victory in the most iconic way imaginable by crowning a 4-1 demolition job of Italy with arguably the finest goal in World Cup history as captain Carlos Roberto’s thunderous strike completed a stunning team move.

Then, of course, we have the ‘Save of the Century’ from Gordon Banks to deny Pele in legendary fashion and the ‘Game of the Century’ in the form of Italy and West Germany’s 4-3 semi-final barnstormer.

Throw in Bobby Moore’s unforgettable tackle on Jairzinho, Gerd Muller romping his way to 10 goals, Pele’s most outrageous of dummies against Uruguay and Franz Beckenbauer playing on with a dislocated shoulder for a World Cup that will never, ever be beaten.

Read more: World Cup 2022: Dates, Schedule, UK Kick Off Times, Stadiums, Groups, Tickets, Odds and Much More

What is your favourite World Cup of all time?

Are we wrong? Are we right? What would you change?

Like with pretty much everything in football, there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to subjective matters and we all have our own views on which World Cup tournaments are the greatest of all time.

Whether that’s informed by the history books or the pure nostalgia of watching it as a child, the simple fact of the matter is that certain World Cup summers put you under their spell to the point you’ll reminisce about them for the rest of your lives.

And at the end of the day, that will also be the case for some of the youngsters and new football fans who will sit in front of their television screens to watch Qatar 2022 unfold over the coming weeks.

There is, after all, just something so special about the World Cup that simply defies description.

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