http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Successful-World-Cup-Teams_Summary.html en-us http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23660.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:58:00 CST
Controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile, the Chile national football team is a founding member of CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation). Chile has participated seven times in FIFA World Cup tournaments, started in 1930. Of those participations, the most remarkable took place in 1962 when Chile hosted the event, reached semifinals and finished third. Chile has also reached four finals in the Copa America. Unfortunately, it is one of the tree teams that have never won the competition. Chile has participated in the World Cup in the years 1930, 1950, 1966, 1974, 1982, and 1998.

The 1962 FIFA World Cup was held in Chile and was won by Brazil. The decision of playing that edition in Chile was made in June 1956 in Lisbon. In 1960, Chile faced one of the largest earthquakes of the century when the preparations were under way. As a result, the national infrastructure was enormously damaged. By that time the president of the Organization Committee, Carlos Dittborn, said "Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild." This phrase became the unofficial slogan of this World Cup edition. The competition began as planned and Chile achieved the third place, a great satisfaction for all Chilean football fans.

Chile 1962 World Cup Team was leade by the head coach Fernando Riera. His pupils were Misael Escuti, Luis Eyzaguirre, Raul Sanchez, Sergio Navarro, Carlos Contreras, Eladio Rojas, Jaime Ramirez Banda, Jorge Toro, Honorino Landa, Alberto Fouilloux, Leonel Sánchez, Adam Godoy, Sergio Valdes, Mario Lepe, Manuel Rodríguez, Humberto Cruz, Mario Ortiz, Mario Moreno, Braulio Musso, Carlos Campos, Armando Tobar, and Manuel Astorga. All of them gave their best so that her brothers in Chile could enjoy of such satisfaction. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23659.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:57:33 CST
The 1966 FIFA World Cup championship was carried out in England, and this time, it happened to be that the host of the world cup became, at the same time, the winner of the cup!  In particular, in spite of the fact that there were 74 entrants for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, there were only 16 teams playing and working hard in order to become the winner of the finals; nonetheless, the one who did achieve this goal was the English team.

England belonged to the Group 1, and in the first round, this was the team that obtained more points, and was crowned the top scorer of the group with 5 points.  In the quarter finals, on July 23, England played versus Argentina, in a match that ended 1-0 in favor of the European team.  This allowed it to play on July 26, against Portugal.  In this match, England won 2-1 over its opponent.

For this reason, now England was now playing in the finals.  Hence, on July 30, playing in the city of London, England and West Germany were starring the final match of the 1966 World Cup championship.  After great tension, England could score 4 goals, whereas West Germany could only two.  Since Germany’s efforts were not enough to defeat the host of this world cup, England was crowned the 1966 FIFA World Cup champion.  The third place was occupied by Portugal and the URSS ended fourth. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23641.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:57:18 CST
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was held in one of the most renowned countries in Europe: France.  In this championship, there were 32 different teams disputing the first position, and in this way, become the 1998 World Cup champions.  However, at the very beginning, the world cup relied on 174 entrants willing to play too.  In general, 64 matches were played and 171 goals were scored.  In other words, in each match, 2.672 goals were scored as an average.  In addition, throughout the entire championship, there was an attendance of 2,785,100 spectators, meaning that there were 43,517 spectators per match.

In particular, in the 1998 World Cup the host and the champion refer to the very same team: France, which is a phenomenon common to happen.  As part of the four countries playing in the group C, France obtained 9 points, becoming the top scorer.  On June 12, France played versus South Africa in a match that ended 3-0 in favor of France.  Six days later, it was Saudi Arabia’s turn to play against France.  In this match, France won 4-0 over its opponent.

On June 24, Denmark and France starred a match, in which, with one-goal difference, France won over Denmark, who scored one goal.  Hence, in the round of 16, the match between France and Paraguay ended 1-0, in favor of the European team.  In the quarter-finals, the match between France and Italy ended in a draw (0-0); however, France won with 4 penalty shootouts.  In the semi-finals match on July 8, France defeated Croatia 2-1, and the final match was starred by France and Brazil, in which the South American country lost 3-0. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23630.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:54:33 CST
The 1954 FIFA World Cup was carried out in the beautiful country of Switzerland.  In this championship particularly, there were 16 different countries (of the 45 entrants who participated) giving everything they had in order to become the 1954 winners.  However, the only team that could achieve this goal was the German team.  In addition, throughout the entire championship, 26 matches were played and 140 goals were scored.  This means that the goals average was 5.385 goals per match.  In addition, this 1954 FIFA World Cup relied on an attendance of 889,500, meaning that, per match, there were around 34,212 spectators.

The team of Uruguay was part of the four countries of the pool 3.  It shared the first place with the team of Austria.  Thus, on June 16, they played against Czechoslovakia, who lost 2-0 versus the South American country.  Three days later, Uruguay played again, but this time against Scotland, and the result of this match was one of the most remarkable in this world cup since Uruguay defeated Scotland 7-0.  On June 26, Uruguay and England starred a quarter-finals match, in which the South American team won 4-2.

On June 30, as part of the semi-finals, Hungary and Uruguay had to play a match that finally ended 4-2.  This time, the triumph did not belong to Uruguay, but to their opponent.  In this way, on July 3, Uruguay had to fight for getting to be in the third position.  Nevertheless, this could not be possible since their effort was not enough to defeat Austria, so they obtained the fourth place, which, of course, is an excellent position though. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23618.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:54:19 CST
Austria national football team, controlled by the Austrian Football Association, was one of the teams that participated in the FIFA World Cup Competition in 1934. Besides participating, this team also reached semifinals to finish fourth after being defeated by Germany 3-2 on June 7, 1934. This national team has qualified seven times for World Cup's competitions and will soon participate for the first time in a European competition. It will co-host the UEFA European Football Championship in 2008 with Switzerland.

Regarding the 1934 FIFA World Cup, where Austria finished forth, it is important to point out some aspects. It was played in Italy that also won the title for the first time. This tournament was special because it was the first time that teams had to qualify in order to participate. Additionally, the former host and World Cup holder Uruguay did not participate in an unprecedented act.

The Austria 1934 World Cup Team was headed by Hugo Meisl and composed of Josef Bican, Georg Braun, Franz Cisar, Friederich Franzl, Josef Hassmann, Leopold Hofmann, Johann Horvath, Anton Janda, Mathias Kaburek, Peter Platzer, Rudolf Raftl, Anton Schall, Willibald Schmaus, Karl Sesta, Matthias Sindelar, Josef Smistik, Josef Stroh, Johann Urbanek, Rudolf Viertl, Franz Wagner, Otto Walzhofer, and Karl Zischek. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23484.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:51:05 CST
Controlled by the Austrian Football Association, The Austria national football team has qualified seven times for the FIFA World Cup competition but has not qualified for participating in the UEFA European Football Championship yet. The team will participate in this European tournament in 2008 and will be also co-host with Switzerland. Regarding the team's appearances in the FIFA World Cup, there are two remarkable times in which it reached semifinals and finished fourth and third in 1934 and 1954 respectively.

In 1954, the FIFA World Cup was played and Austria was one of the countries participating in the competition. Played in Switzerland, the 1954 Football World Cup was won by West Germany in a remarkable final against Hungary 3-2. It was also relevant for West Germany since that was its first title in this event. Since FIFA was celebrating its 50 anniversary, they decided that it was appropriate to play the tournament in the home of FIFA's governing body.

Leaded by the head coach Walter Nausch, the squad that played in this event was composed by Kurt Schmied, Gerhard Hanappi, Ernst Happel, Leopold Barschandt, Ernst Ocwirk, Karl Koller, Robert Körner, Walter Schleger, Theodor Wagner, Erich Probst, Alfred Körner, Karl Stotz, Walter Kollmann, Karl Giesser, Franz Pelikan, Walter Zeman, Alfred Teinitzer, Johann Riegler, Robert Dienst, Paul Halla, Walter Haumer , and Ernst Stojaspal. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23471.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:50:15 CST
Under the auspices of Polish Football Association, Poland has a national football team that represents the country in international competitions. Having played its first match in 1921 against Hungary in Budapest, the Poland national football team has had successful appearances in worldwide competitions such as the FIFA World Cup tournament. In fact, its participations in this event have provided Polish with two main satisfactions in 1974 and 1982 when the team reached semifinals and finished third in both occasions.

Regarding 1982 FIFA World Cup, it is important to point out some of the most relevant facts about this event. It was held in Spain, according to a decision made in 1966 by FIFA. The competition was won by Italy that received its third World Cup title after defeating West Germany in Madrid 3-1. This tournament is considered the second best, after the competition of 1970 played in Mexico. The semifinal between France and West Germany (runner-up) is one of the greatest matches that marked this event.

Poland finished third on July 10, 1982 after defeating France 3-2. The squad responsible for this was leaded by the head coach Antoni Piechniczek. His pupils were Józef Mlynarczyk, Marek Dziuba, Janusz Kupcewicz, Tadeusz Dolny, Pawel Janas, Piotr Skrobowski, Jan Jalocha, Waldemar Matysik, Wladyslaw Zmuda, Stefan Majewski, Wlodzimierz Smolarek, Roman Wójcicki, Andrzej Buncol, Andrzej Palasz, Wlodzimierz Ciolek, Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Marek Kusto, Andrzej Iwan, Zbigniew Boniek, Jacek Kazimierski, and Piotr Mowlik. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23405.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:49:33 CST
1994 FIFA World Cup marked one of the most important achievements in the history of Sweden and its national football team. Thanks to the usual hard work and dedication of players and the administrative and technical bodies, the team finished third after defeating Bulgaria 4-0. The competition was surprisingly held in the United States due to main reasons. First of all, it was surprising that FIFA chose United States over the bids of Brazil and Morocco since this country has been always considered not to have enough soccer fans. Then, in spite of this perception, the attendance at the event was surprisingly high.

This was not the only opportunity in which Sweden national football team had a good representation in international competitions like this. Controlled by the Swedish Football Association, this national team has participated successfully in previous events and has even reached semifinals and, therefore, has got medals to reward the support of their fans. In 1938, it finished fourth; in 1950, third; in 1958, second, and in this event, third again.

The team that played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup for Sweden was composed of the head coach Tommy Svensson, and 22 players. The goalkeepers were Thomas Ravelli 13, Lars Eriksson, and Magnus Hedman; the defenders, Roland Nilsson, Patrik Andersson, Joachim Björklund, Roger Ljung, Mikael Nilsson, Teddy Lucic, Pontus Kåmark; the midfielders, Stefan Schwarz, Klas Ingesson, Jonas Thern, Anders Limpar, Stefan Rehn, Håkan Mild, and the strikers Henrik Larsson, Martin Dahlin, Tomas Brolin, Kennet Andersson, Magnus Erlingmark, and Jesper Blomqvist. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23150.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:45:50 CST
The 1950 FIFA World Cup was held in a really particular country in South America: Brazil.  Without a doubt, Brazil is and has always been known for its excellent soccer.  However, the result of this championship was completely unexpected due to two main reasons.  The first one of them is that, it is usual to see how the hosts of the world cup are the champions, and secondly, Brazil is considered to be by many people as the best team of the world.  Thus, nobody thought that Brazil could not win the 1950 world cup in their own country.

In the 1950 FIFA World Cup, there were 13 different teams disputing the first position.  However, there were 34 entrants.  In addition, the number of played matches was 22 and there were 88 goals scored throughout the championship, which means that, as an average, four goals were scored per match.  Furthermore, it is estimated that around 1,036,000 people attended to this world cup.  In other words, there were around 47,091 spectators per match supporting the team they liked.

In particular, Uruguay was part of the Group 4, and in the final round, on July 9, this South American country played against Spain in a match that drew 1-1 in Sao Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu.  Four days later, the South Americans played against Sweden, who lost 3-2 with an attendance of 8,000 spectators.  On July 16, Brazil and Uruguay starred the final match, in which the Brazilians saw their opponent crowned champions of the 1950 World Cup. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Soccer_23148.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:45:01 CST
The 1990 FIFA World Cup championship was held in Europe, and the host country was Italy.  In this world cup, there were 24 different teams out of 116 entrants and there were 52 matches played.  Also, the amount of goals scored went up to 115, which means that there was an average per match of 2.212.  It was estimated that 2,516,348 people attended this 1990 championship in general.  So, this means that there were 48,391 spectators per match.

In the first round and as part of the Group B, Argentina got three points, which allowed them to share the second place with Romania.  Hence, in June 8, the South American country played against Cameroon, which won 1-0 over Argentina.  Five days later, Argentina played against the URSS, who lost 2-0 in the Stadio Sao Paolo, Naples.  On June 18, Argentina and Romania starred the third match, which ended in a draw, 1-1.

In the round of 16, on June 24, Argentina played versus Brazil, who lost 1-0 in Turin.  On quarter-finals, due to the fact that neither Argentina nor Yogoslavia could not score a goal, Argentina won with 3 penalties in favor over 2 of Yugoslavia.  The semi-finals match between Argentina and Italy ended in a draw too, 1-1, so again, Argentina won with 4 penalties in favor over the 3 of Italy.  So, the final match came and was starred by Argentina and Germany.  Nevertheless, Argentina could not be crowned as the champion due to the fact that they could draw the only goal Germany scored.