The Best Teams Never to Win the World Cup

With the controversial 2022 Qatar World Cup now less than eight months away, the 32 qualifying teams are preparing to compete in the 22nd iteration of the world’s greatest footballing show.

Of course, only a handful of outstanding sides will stand any genuine chance of winning the tournament, including Germany, England, Brazil and defending champions France.

Certainly, not every team or country in history has been able to win the World Cup, while the brilliant Yugoslavia side of 1990 didn’t have the chance to participate at all due to internal war and conflict.

In this post, we’ll look back at the greatest sides never to win the World Cup, since the tournament’s inception in 1930.

#1. Hungary, 1954

The ‘Magical Magyars’ were the dominant team in the early 1950s, with their stunning 6-3 win over England at Wembley signalled a significant shift in the global footballing landscape.

This stunning triumph saw a rigid and complacent English side (that had never previously been beaten at Wembley) out-thought by a slick and structured Hungarian team, who eschewed all sense of convention by deploying Nandor Hidegkuti as a false nine behind a fluid front four.

The English backline simply couldn't cope with the Hungarians movement, leaving holes and spaces to be exploited for the entire 90 minutes.

As you can imagine, Hungary entered the 1954 World Cup as favourites, with the current Olympic champions more than justifying this status during the group stage. In these matches, they thrashed South Korea 9-0 and West Germany 8-3, before out-fighting Brazil 4-2 in a controversial and violent quarter-final (known colloquially as the ‘Battle of Berne’).

Uruguay were vanquished in the semis, setting up a final against a West Germany side that still carried scars from their heavy group stage defeat. However, despite roaring into a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes, the German side roared back to win 3-2 and complete the so-called “miracle of Berne”.

#2. Then Netherlands, 1974

20 years later, the so-called "nearly men" of international football also fell agonisingly short in their attempts to claim an inaugural World Cup.

Famous Ajax coach Rinus Michels was one of the men attributed for the emergence of the Dutch side prior to the 1974 World Cup, having evolved the concept of total football and won four Eredivisie titles between 1965 and 1970.

This system focused on the breathtaking interchanging of positions and creative ball retention, and the Dutch side at the 1974 World Cup (which featured the brilliant Johan Cruyff) used this to devastating effect throughout. To this end, they thrashed an excellent Argentina side 4-0, before stylishly overcoming an aggressive Brazil side 2-0 and reaching the final.

Once again, however, a functional and ruthless West Germany side lay in wait, with Cruyff marked out of the final and the latter narrowly winning a war of attrition 2-1. Incredibly, Johan Neeskens had put the Dutch ahead with a penalty before the Germans had touched the ball, but this wasn’t enough to deliver the ultimate prize.

#3. Brazil, 1982

Last, but not least, we come to the brilliant Brazilian side of 1982, which remains one of the most romanticised and talented teams to ever grace the international stage.

Prior to the 1982 World Cup, there was a great deal of hype around Brazil’s squad, which featured some truly stunning footballers in the form of Zico, Sócrates, Falcão and Éder, and boasted the type of offensive firepower that was reminiscent of the World Cup winning 1970 team.

Brazil powered through the group stages, before being drawn against an underwhelming and unfancied Italy in the second round. However, despite scoring two excellent goals, Brazil’s firepower was undermined by the side’s obvious defensive frailties, with the previously goalless Azzuri striker Paolo Rossi plundering a hat-trick in a shock 3-2 win. The Blues went on to win the final too.

Incredibly, Brazil is the only side on our list not to reach the final, but they’re arguably the most naturally gifted ever to play in the tournament.