Ranking the best Men's World Cup winning teams of all time

In 1934, Italy hosted and won the second edition of the World Cup. However, in the years that followed the Italian triumph, there were rumors that the fascist regime may have pulled a few strings in order to help aid the home country to glory. Still, a World Cup win is a World Cup win, and you can never take it away from Gli Azzurri.

Even with the rumors of corruption floating about, Italy set out to prove that 1934 was no fluke. Sure enough, Italy won the 1936 Olympics and then proceeded to win the 1938 World Cup as well, making the Italians the first repeat champions. How's that for "redemption?"

Six countries have won the World Cup in the year when they hosted, and Uruguay was the first to do it in the very first World Cup. At the time of the inaugural World Cup, Uruguay was already on top of the world after winning the 1928 Olympics, and the Uruguayans cemented their claim as the world's best by bringing the world (or at least 12 other nations) to their country and beating them. 

The story of the 1954 World Cup was supposed to be about how Hungary's "Golden Team" was going to finally officially assume the crown of the world's best team after spending years displaying dominance in various competitions. However, West Germany came out of nowhere and even overturned an early two-goal deficit to win 3-2 with a goal in the 84th minute. West Germany went on to become one of soccer's superpowers, while Hungary faded into mediocrity.

Four years before Hungary's assumed coronation, Brazil also made the mistake of going into a potential World Cup clincher thinking it was in the bag. The structure of the 1950 World Cup made it so Brazil went into its match with Uruguay needing just a draw to lift the trophy. Instead, Uruguay came back from a goal down in the second half to win 2-1 and thereby shocked an entire nation into complete silence in the process. 

When it comes to talent in relation to competition and results, this is quite clearly the best England team to ever take to the pitch for World Cup competition. Other than the obvious reason as the country's only World Cup title win, there's plenty of reason why the 1966 England squad is still talked about by fans. There was plenty of talent, and the English beat a veritable who's who of world soccer contenders on their way to the title. 

By the time the 1962 World Cup rolled around, Brazil had already atoned for its great failure in 1950 by winning the 1958 World Cup. After 1962, 1950 became a distant memory since Brazil repeated. The Brazilians also managed to do this while Pele sat on the sidelines after he was injured early in the tournament, which makes this an even more impressive feat. 

1982 was an eventful World Cup, if only because the tournament expanded from 16 to 24 teams. The first team to triumph in this new frontier was Italy, which did so in that typical resilient fashion that we're used to seeing from Italy. The Italians barely made it out of the first round and had to deal with their own media turning on them, but Paolo Rossi shook off the rust and ended up winning best player as Italy turned on the juice and brought the trophy home. 

Brazil's first World Cup triumph will be remembered on the world stage as the coming-out party for a 17-year-old prodigy known as Pele. Pele scored five goals in the tournament, including two goals in Brazil's 5-2 win in the final. It's not often that you see a teenager crush an entire nation's hopes and dreams with such ease, but that's what Pele did to host nation Sweden in 1958. 

The 1990 World Cup was a dour affair, but that shouldn't take away from what was an impressive showing from the West Germans on their way to the title. Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus and Rudi Voller were the stars on this team, which helped elevate Franz Beckenbauer into rarefied air as a World Cup-winning manager and player. 

The next two entries were great teams in their own right, but history has made it so the runners-up were more beloved. In 1978, Johan Cruyff and the rest of a popular Netherlands side once again made it to the final. This time, the Dutch ran into Mario Kempes, who scored two goals to give Argentina the win on home soil and send the Dutch home without a trophy once again. 

You could make the argument that the 1974 Dutch team was better than the one that went to Argentina in 1978. Johan Cruyff's brilliance was on full display as the world was officially introduced to "Total Football." Still, the Dutch fell at the last hurdle as the host country foiled their plans. This time, a brilliant West German team with Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller were able to show superiority over Oranje.

Even though the 2006 World Cup final will forever be remembered for the headbutt heard 'round the world, a lot of credit has to go to Italy for the way it battled to the title. Gianluigi Buffon was a wall in goal, while Fabio Cannavaro served as the infallible rock in the middle of Italy's back line. With Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings in the midfield, Luca Toni and Francesco Totti did enough to put the goals in the back of the net and help put Italy on top of the world. 

When Roberto Baggio sent a penalty kick over the bar to subsequently hand Brazil the 1994 World Cup, it made sure that yet another loaded Brazilian team would go down as one of the best to ever lift the trophy. Romario's goal-scoring prowess was on full display throughout the entire tournament, while Dunga helped bring defensive stability to a very talented squad that proved that the Brazilians were still brilliant at this game. 

After an embarrassing performance in Euro 2000, Germany set about rebuilding its soccer program from the ground up. Die Mannschaft's performance in 2014 was the end result of that grand rebuild as the Germans put together a team that was good enough to beat Brazil 7-1 and elicit a standing ovation from Brazil's home crowd after the demolition. There was no luck when it came to Germany's performance in 2014. It was all about ruthless efficiency. 

It was going to take something truly special to defeat the team that Brazil sent to the 1998 World Cup, and the hosts were the ones who delivered it. The legendary "Black, Blanc and Beur" France team from 1998 put together performances that truly electrified the home country, and the French capped it with a 3-0 masterclass against Brazil in the final that gave France its only World Cup title in magnificent fashion. 

You could make the argument that Diego Maradona was the greatest player to ever set foot on the international stage, and the 1986 World Cup was his magnum opus. Maradona did not score in the final since West Germany decided to mark him out of the game — that probably occurred as a result of Maradona scoring the greatest individual goal in the history of the World Cup during the semifinals, thereby putting the fear (and Hand) of God into the hearts of his competition back in 1986.

The squad list for the fifth Brazilian team to win the World Cup reads like a who's who of soccer legends. Ronaldo is there, Ronaldinho was present, Kaka was there as well, and the experience of Roberto Carlos and captain Cafu played crucial roles in leading this team to victory. In a tournament that sprung up plenty of surprises, Brazil's dominance was the constant that helped this team stand out from others historically. 

Brazil easily beat Italy 4-1 in the final of the 1970 World Cup, but it was the final goal that sent this team into the stratosphere of all-time great World Cup winners. Carlos Alberto is credited with the goal, but the setup was a truly beautiful team effort in which all but two of the outfield Brazilian players touched the ball in the buildup to the goal. It's still arguably the greatest goal ever scored, and it was an example of just how brilliant this squad was.

After winning Euro 2008 with relative ease, the revolution of Tiki-taka was in full swing, and Spain continued its dominance from 2008 into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Led by the brilliance of the likes of Xavi, David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and the tactical nous of Vicente del Bosque, Spain overcame a truly boorish effort from Holland in the final in order to lift the trophy and prove that stylish, brilliant soccer will always prevail.