#20 Uruguay – 1930
Played in front of almost 70 000 spectators, the 1930 World Cup final was contested by the two 1928 Olympic finalists, Uruguay and Argentina, in Montevideo. Despite trailing 2-1 at halftime, it was Uruguay who lifted the Jules Rimet following a 4-2 victory in what remains as one of the most pulsating finals on the world stage.

#19 Italy – 1934
Like Uruguay four years earlier, Italy went into the final of the World Cup on home soil and were forced to turn the game around after falling behind. In 1934, Czechoslovakia returned to Rome to lock horns with the hosts having beaten Germany 3-1 in the semi-final in the same ground, the Stadio Nazionale, and taking a second-half lead through Antonin Puc.

#18 Italy – 1938
Reigning champions Italy entered the 1938 France World Cup amongst the favourites to claim the trophy and picked up an opening victory against Norway on their road to the final. They then dumped hosts France out of the competition before beating Brazil in the semi-finals, ahead of their showdown against Hungary in Paris. Gino Colaussi and Silvio Piola scored twice each to deliver a second World Cup trophy for Italy under manager Vittorio Pozzo with a 4-2 result.

#17 Uruguay – 1950
Unlike previous World Cups, the 1950 winners were determined by a final group stage, with the usual knockout stage replaced by a round-robin format between the four remaining teams. Brazil were one point ahead of Uruguay going into the match in Rio and needed only to avoid defeat to claim the title of world champions, but went on to lose 2-1.

#16 West Germany – 1954
Between 1950 and 1956, the Hungary national team picked up 42 wins, 7 draws and just one defeat – a shock 3-2 loss to West Germany in the 1954 World Cup final in Bern, Switzerland. ‘The Miracle of Bern’, as it’s now known, began with the Golden Team of Hungary beating West Germany 8-3 in the group stages of the competition, three days after thumping South Korea 8-0. Ferenc Puskas and company went on to beat Brazil and two-time winners Uruguay before meeting the Germans in the final.

#15 Brazil – 1958
The 1958 World Cup saw another host reach the final of the competition, with Sweden facing Brazil in a Stockholm showdown. Unlike Uruguay and Italy previously, who had lifted the trophy of home soil, Sweden were beaten 5-2 at Rasunda Stadium, with Pele scoring twice.

#14 Brazil -1962
Brazil followed Italy’s 1930s blueprint to back-to-back World Cup titles by claiming the trophy in 1962 with a win over Czechoslovakia in Chile. Goals from Amarildo, Zito and Vava sealed a 3-1 victory Brazil, despite Pele missing out through injury.

#13 England – 1966
They think it’s all over. It is now. The famous statement, uttered by Kenneth Wolstenholme as Geoff Hurst secured the trophy for England at Wembley, is a phrase still cited today, as the Three Lions have never been close to repeating the feat since.

After 90 minutes the game was level at 2-2 and went into extra time, which enabled Hurst to complete his hat-trick and hand his country the World Cup trophy.

#12 Brazil -1970
The 1970 World Cup final saw the return of Pele, who scored one of Brazil’s four goals against Italy in Mexico City. Brazil boss Mario Zagallo became the first footballer to become World Cup champion as a player (1958, 1962) and a coach, while Pele ended his World Cup playing career as the first three-time winner, having won it in 1958 and 1962.

#11 West Germany | 1974
The likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and current Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes were in the West Germany squad which beat the Netherlands in 1974, claiming a 2-1 victory in Munich.

#10 Argentina – 1978
Argentina and the Netherlands fought out a hostile battle in Buenos Aires in the 1978 World Cup final, with the hosts coming out on top after extra-time. Mario Kempes and Daniel Bertoni were the scorers for the Albiceleste, with Dick Nanninga’s late goal for Ernst Happel’s side forcing the game past the 90 minutes.

#9 Italy – 1982
Italy and West Germany were 1982’s finalists and they went to war at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu in front of 90 000 people.

#8 Argentina – 1986
Having knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup with his hand, Diego Maradona led his Argentina team-mates to a 3-2 final victory over West Germany, whose manager, Franz Beckenbauer, became the first to lose a World Cup final as both a manager and a player.

#7 West Germany – 1990
In a repeat of the 1986 World Cup final, Argentina and West Germany again went head-to-head for the biggest trophy in football.

#6 Brazil – 1994
Another repeat final, this time between Brazil and Italy from 1970; it famously took a penalty shootout to separate the two sides here in the Rose Bowl, California  Roberto Baggio missed the decisive penalty for Italy to hand Brazil their fourth World Cup trophy.

#5 France – 1998
Brazil again reached the final in 1998, this time against hosts France. The fitness of Ronaldo overshadowed the build-up of the game, but Zinedine Zidane snatched the headlines with two goals before Emmanuel Petit secured a 3-0 victory in stoppage time.

#4 Brazil -2002
The 2002 South Korea and Japan World Cup saw both Germany and Brazil top their group stages before easing into the final, with Brazil beating England 2-1 along the way.

#3 Italy – 2006
The 2006 World Cup in Germany was contested by Italy and France and is remembered for Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt on Marco Materazzi. France’s David Trezeguet was the only player not to score his penalty, leading to Italy securing their fourth World Cup.

#2 Spain – 2010
The 2010 South Africa World Cup saw two nations looking for their first trophy in Spain and the Netherlands. Following a feisty 115 minutes, the game looked set to go to a shootout before Andres Iniesta scored a last-gasp winning goal to secure the title as world champions for Spain.

#1 Germany- 2014
In similar circumstances to four years earlier, Germany and Argentina played out a 0-0 draw before Mario Gotze snatched a 113th-minute winner for Germany in Rio.

Miroslav Klose, who became top scorer in World Cup history in Germany’s semi-final victory over Brazil, became one of the few players ever to have won gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Cup.