Of course, in the years that have followed, there have been a number of teams like Brazil and Italy who have debunked this myth by being able to win a number of World Cups outside of the comfort of their own country.

2018 will be the 21st World Cup final and there is a chance that hosts Russia could become just the seventh team to lift the historic trophy on home soil. There have only been a handful of other teams who have been able to accomplish this feat over the course of history and here are the ones who managed it.

#6 Uruguay

Uruguay are still part of the 2018 World Cup after incredibly finding a way past Portugal a few days ago, but even though they are a team that many fans around the world haven’t seen as favourites throughout this competition, they have already lifted the World Cup on two occasions.

Uruguay will always have the distinct advantage of being the first ever team to lift the Jules Rimet trophy back in 1930 when the final took place at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay.

An interesting fact about this final is that aside from the 1966 World Cup in England that will be mentioned later in this list, this was the only final not to take place on a Sunday. Goals from Pablo Dorado, Pedro Cea, Santos Iriarte and Héctor Castro gave Uruguay a distinctive 4-2 win over Argentina who were leading 2-1 at one point in the match.

Uruguay went on to win the World Cup again in 1950, but have been unable to even get close to a World Cup final ever since.

#5 Italy

Italy were once one of the most feared teams at the World Cup, having lifted the trophy on four separate occasions throughout history, most recently in 2006 which means that they have definitely earned the right to be feared.

Much like Uruguay, the Italians were able to take advantage of the fact that the second World Cup in history back in 1934 took place in their country. The final was contested between Czechoslovakia and Italy at the Stadio Nazionale PNF in Rome, Italy and was the first final to be taken into extra time.

The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes after Antonín Puč gave Czechoslovakia the lead in the 19th minute, but this was later wiped out by Raimundo Orsi. Italy needed just five minutes of extra time for Angelo Schiavio to pop up and secure a victory which allowed the Italians to write their names in the history books.

Italy then became the first team to win back to back World Cups when they won the final World Cup before World War 2 in 1938 in France followed by the 1982 final in Spain and the 2006 Cup in Germany.

#4 England

England were finally given the chance to host the finals of a game that they created back in 1966 and they made sure that equalized on the opportunity. One of the most famous World Cup finals in history because of the story about The World Cup being stolen and Pickles the dog going on to find it, England managed to lift the trophy in their own backyard when they defeated West Germany 4-2.

The match took place at the old Wembley Stadium in London, England where it’s best remembered for Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick which became the first and currently the only one to be scored in a World Cup final, as well as the fact that referee Gottfried Dienst awarded England a controversial third goal when it was later argued that the goal never crossed the line, something that would never happen in the current VAR era.

The game was a tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes so extra time was commissioned and Geoff Hurst then dispatched two more goals to ensure that the West German team couldn’t argue that this win belonged to England.

#3 West Germany

West Germany or just Germany as they are now known were able to bounce back from the disappointment of that final in England just eight years later when they lifted the World Cup in their home country. The final of the 1974 World Cup took place at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany a stadium that had only been built two years earlier when the country hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics.

This was West Germany’s second World Cup final and second victory after they were already able to lift the trophy following a 3-2 win over Hungary at the 1954 World Cup. This time, Germany took on The Netherlands in a game where the Dutch took the lead after just two minutes via a penalty from Johan Neeskens.

Paul Breitner went on to equalize from the spot in the 25th minute, which swung the game into Germany’s favor since this was then followed up by Gerd Müller just minutes before halftime.

Germany have now won four World Cups and are the current holders following their victory over Argentina back in 2014, but they have already been eliminated from this year’s finals after a poor showing in the group stages.

#2 Argentina

The Argentinian team has become well-known in recent years for the threat of Lionel Messi, but before the years of Sergio Aguero and Messi, Argentina were able to collect a number of pieces of silverware.

The Argentines have lifted the World Cup twice in history and the first time came back in 1978 when they faced the Netherlands in the final at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Netherlands were seen as the favourites since this was their second successive final, but this was another final that was forced to go into extra time after the score was tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes.

It was a hostile game full of fouls, but it was Argentina who opened the scoring when Mario Kempes beat Jan Jongbloed from 12 yards out. The Dutch equalised via the head of Dick Nanninga which then forced extra time.

Kempes popped up again to once again give Argentina the advantage, before Daniel Bertoni’s goal in the 115th minute sealed the win and the first World Cup for Argentina. The Netherlands were later so annoyed that they refused to attend any of the celebrations after the game.

Argentina went on to become World Cup Champions once again eight years later when they lifted the trophy in Mexico in 1986.

#1 France

The most recent team to lift the World Cup trophy in their home country was France back in 1998 when they incredibly managed to defeat Brazil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France.

Brazil had already won four World Cup finals at this point whilst France were yet to etch their names on the famous trophy. Brazil won the 1994 World Cup and were the defending Champions and easily considered to be the favourites with a fantastic team that had been tearing apart defences throughout the summer.

The most shocking part of this final is how one-sided it actually was, there weren’t many fans who would have expected France to score three without reply against Brazil, but that’s the feat that Aimé Jacquet’s side achieved.

With all the pre-match build surrounding the condition of Ronaldo who had been Brazil’s stand out star throughout the tournament, France were able to sneak under the radar and two goals from man of the match Zinedine Zidane and one from Emmanuel Petit gave the French their first and only World Cup victory.

Do you think Russia stand a chance of becoming the seventh team in history to lift the World Cup at home? Have your say in the comments section below…

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