The World Cup final matches are the last of the competition, and the results determine which country's team is declared world champions. If after 90 minutes of regular play the score is a
draw, an additional 30-minute period of play, called
extra time, is added. If such a game is still tied after extra time it is decided by kicks from the
penalty shoot-out. The winning penalty shoot-out team are then declared champions.The tournament has been decided by a one-off match on every occasion except
1950, when the tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil was the decisive match (and one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensured that they finished top of the group as world champions. Therefore, this match is regarded by FIFA as the
de facto final of the 1950 World Cup.
In the 19 tournaments held, 76 nations have
appeared at least once. Of these, 12 have made it to the final match, and eight have won. With five titles,
Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup finals tournament.
Italy have four titles and
Germany have three. The other former champions are
Uruguay and
Argentina with two titles each, and
England,
France, and
Spain with one each. The current champions, Spain, took their first title in 2010. The team that wins the finals receive the
FIFA World Cup Trophy, and their name is engraved in the bottom side of the trophy.
List of finals matches, their venues and locations,
Argentina
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Brazil
Hungary
Sweden
