Ranking All Twenty World Cup Winners
By Josh Sippie
Top World Cup Winners All-Time: Number Sixteen – Uruguay, 1950
The inaugural World Cup was hosted by Uruguay due to the nation celebrating 100 years of existence. The national football team had also maintained their ‘World’s Best’ crown at the 1928 Olympics. They were simply the footballing authority of the time and, as such, they were handed the hosting duties.
Only 13 teams entered the tournament. Most European teams opted not to because of transportation difficulties and in the end, of those 13 teams, seven were from South America, only four from Europe and two from North America.
Uruguay had a fairly easy road to the final. They won their group by defeating Peru 1-0 and Romania 4-0 before facing the United States in the semi-finals and winning conclusively 6-1.
Paired against Argentina in the finals, a 4-2 win gave the first ever World Cup to the host nation.
It was a two-horse race, the first World Cup. Uruguay and Argentina were the only two teams to score more than five goals (18 for Argentina, 15 for Uruguay) but it was the Uruguayan defense that won out, as they surrendered just three goals in the competition.
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