Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.)
The World Cup is the largest sports event outside the summer Olympics: the progress of the 32 countries which qualify for the finals is watched by billions all over the globe. Since the very first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, there have been 18 finals, held every four years (with a 12-year break over the World War II period). The World Cup in South Africa will be the 19th. Brian Glanville, the distinguished journalist and World Cup historian, has written a fascinating history of the event. Here are the men who played, the goals they scored, the triumphs, the failures, the shocks and the scandals. Here are the stories of heroes – Pele, Eusebio, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Cruyff, Diego Maradona and many more – as well as the villains, the managers, the referees and the football politicians. It is one of the greatest stories of world sport.
The History of the World Cup
Introduction - Bob Wilson
Sir Bobby Charlton - the significance of the world cup for the player
A world cup for football - the concept
1930 URUGUAY
Semi-Finals: Argentina v USA; Uruguay v Yugoslavia
1934 ITALY
The tournament was played on a straight knock-out basis…
The Final: Italy v Czechoslovakia
1938 FRANCE
The Semi-Finals: Hungary v Sweden; Italy v Brazil
The Final: Italy v Hungary
1950 BRAZIL
The final pool: Uruguay, Brazil, Spain, Sweden
The Final: Brazil v Uruguay
1954 SWITZERLAND
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Hungary v Uruguay; West Germany v Austria
The Final: West Germany v Hungary
1958 SWEDEN
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Sweden v West Germany; Brazil v France
The Final: Sweden v Brazil
1962 CHILE
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Brazil v Chile; Czechoslovakia v Yugoslavia
The Final: Brazil v Czechoslovakia
1966 ENGLAND
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: England v Portugal; West Germany v Soviet Union
The Final: England v Germany
1970 MEXICO
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Italy v West Germany; Brazil v Uruguay
The Final: Brazil v Italy
1974 WEST GERMANY
Two Final Pools
The Final: Germany v Holland
1978 ARGENTINA
Group A
Group B
The Final: Argentina v Holland
1982 SPAIN
Groups A-C
The Semi-Finals: Italy v Poland; West Germany v France
The Final: Italy v West Germany
1986 MEXICO
The Second Round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: West Germany v France; Argentina v Belgium
The Final: Argentina v Germany
1990 ITALY
The Second Round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: West Germany v England; Argentina v Italy
The Final: Germany v Argentina
1994 USA
The Second Round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Italy v Bulgaria; Brazil v Sweden
The Final: Brazil v Italy
1998 FRANCE
The Second Round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Brazil v Holland; France v Croatia
The Final: France v Brazil
2002 KOREA AND JAPAN
In Saitama, in Group F, England…
What of Brazil?
The second knock-out round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Germany v Korea; Brazil v Turkey
The Final: Brazil v Germany
2006 GERMANY
The Second Round
The Quarter-Finals
The Semi-Finals: Portugal v France; Italy v Germany
The Final: Italy v France
1950 - Brazil: My first awareness of the World Cup
Introduction - Bob Wilson