World Cup 1994

Winners Brazil

Teams 24

Teams in qualifiers 147

Notable absentees England, France

Surprises Greece, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia

Golden Boot Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) - 6

Stats A total of 141 goals were scored (2.71 per match); Sweden (15) scored the most

Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best 3rd place finishers

Number of matches 52

World Cup 1990

Winners West Germany

Teams 24

Teams in qualifiers 116

Notable absentees Denmark, France, Portugal

Surprises Costa Rica, Republic of Ireland, UAE

Golden Boot Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) - 6

Stats A total of 115 goals were scored (2.21 per match), which was the lowest goals-per-match ratio in World Cup history; West Germany (15) scored the most

Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best third place finishers

Number of matches 52

World Cup 1986

Winners Argentina

Teams 24

Teams in qualifiers 121

Notable absentees Netherlands

Surprises Canada, Iraq



Golden Boot Gary Lineker (England) - 6

Stats A total of 132 goals were scored (2.54 per match); Argentina (14) scored the most

Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best third-place finishers



Number of matches 52

World Cup 1982

Winners Italy

Teams 24

Teams in qualifiers 109

Notable absentees Netherlands, Mexico

Surprises Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand



Golden Boot Paolo Rossi (Italy) - 6

Stats A total of 146 goals were scored (2.81 per match); France (16) scored the most

Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where they split into four groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals



Number of matches 52

World Cup 1978

Winners Argentina

Teams 16

Teams in qualifiers 107

Notable absentees England, Czechoslovakia, USSR

Surprises Iran, Tunisia



Golden Boot Mario Kempes (Argentina) - 6

Stats A total of 102 goals were scored (2.68 per match); Argentina and Netherlands (15) scored the most

Format Four groups of four in the qualifying stage, with the top two from each group into a second round of two groups of four, the top side in each progressing into the final



Number of matches 38

World Cup 1970

Winners Brazil

Teams16

Teams in qualifiers 75

Number of matches 32



Notable absentees Argentina, France, Portugal, Spain



Surprises Morocco, the first African qualifiers since World War II



Golden Boot Gerd Muller (Germany) - 10

World Cup 1966

Winners England

Teams 16



Teams in qualifiers 70

Notable absentees None

Surprises North Korea

Golden Boot Eusébio (Portugal) - 9

Stats A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Portugal (17) scored the most

Format Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals

Number of matches 32