Since football’s global showpiece was first staged, eight nations have got their hands on the grandest of prizes. Will new kings be crowned in 2018?

1930: Uruguay

The inaugural World Cup was staged in Uruguay, with a nation celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and boasting the reigning Olympic football champions selected as hosts.

Uruguay, Argentina, Yugoslavia and USA topped their groups in a 13-team tournament to make the semi-finals.

There, Uruguay and Argentina each recorded convincing 6-1 wins, over the Yugoslavs and the Americans, respectively, before the hosts took the trophy with a 4-2 victory in front of more than 68,000 people at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.

The Albiceleste did claim one honour, though,as Guillermo Stabile ended up as the tournament’s top scorer, with eight goals.

Advertisement1934: Italy

The 1934 World Cup was the first in which teams had to qualify, while 16 nations graced an expanded tournament.

Uruguay refused to participate, though, in protest at the fact that just four European teams had accepted invites to play in the inaugural tournament, which they had hosted.

The absence of the reigning champions paved the way for 1934 hosts Italy to sweep to a first success on the global stage.

In a straight knockout tournament without any group stage, the Azzurri overcame USA, Spain and Austria en route to the final, with Angelo Schiavo snatching an extra-time winner to edge out Czechoslovakia 2-1 in Rome.

However, Czech forward Oldrich Nejedly was the tournament’s top marksman on five goals.

AFP1938: Italy

The tournament moved to France in 1938 but Italy once again emerged victorious in what would be a record-setting triumph.

With Austria withdrawing after being annexed by Germany, only 15 teams took part, including the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Cuba.

Italy successfully defended their crown by seeing off Hungary 4-2 in the final, with Gino Colaussi and Silvio Piola each bagging a brace.

Brazil’s Leonidas topped the scoring charts, with seven strikes.

The outbreak of World World Two meant that Italy retained the trophy for 16 years, while Vittorio Pozzo remains the only manager to have won the World Cup twice.

AFP1950: Uruguay

The World Cup returned to South America, with Brazil playing host to a 16-team tournament. It was the first event in which the winning prize was referred to as the Jules Rimet Trophy, in recognition of the Frenchman’s 25th anniversary as FIFA president.

The group stages were marked by a massive shock as USA upset a much-hyped England side but the biggest shock was reserved for the tournament decider, as Uruguay stunned an approximate 200,000 crowd at the Maracana by coming from behind to beat hosts Brazil 2-1 with goals from Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia. 

The Selecao, for whom Ademir claimed the golden boot with eight goals, had only needed a draw to claim their first title – the winner was determined by the results of a three-team round robin – and an entire nation was left in a state of disbelief as the Albiceleste celebrated a second World Cup triumph.