The World Cup is in full swing. There have already been some big surprises. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the end.
How many countries have won the World Cup?
Here is a bit of trivia. Did you know that only 8 countries have ever won the World Cup? Check out the full list below.
How Does the World Cup Work?
The World Cup tournament was started in 1930 and has been running every few years since. Although they skipped 1942 and 1946 because of World War 2. It was created and continues to be organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football).
The way it works is the world is broken up into six regions:
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- Confederation of African Football (CAF)
- North, Central & Caribbean American (CONCACAF)
- South American (CONMEBOL)
- Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
- Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
Within each region, they play qualification matches. The top teams from each region are allowed to compete in the final tournament. Today 32 teams can qualify. The host country automatically qualifies.
The original tournament included only 13 teams seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America. Later in 1982, the number of participating teams was expanded to 32. This meant more teams from Africa, Asia, and North America were able to play in the World Cup.
Now they are considering expanding the number of teams to 48 in the World Cup. That’s a lot of games!
What Countries Have Won The World Cup?
Even though there have been close to 100 different teams that have competed in the tournament over the years there have only been 8 countries that have won the competition.
