What does it take to win the Fifa World Cup? Reduce the world’s greatest sporting event to its bare minimum and it does not look all that hard. All it takes is seven quality outings on the football pitch—three matches in the group stages and four knock-out games. And lo, the cup is yours!
Seven matches. Just seven. And yet, only the finest teams in the world can manage to overcome the hurdles. In fact, only a handful of teams in the world have ever managed to display the quality and consistency necessary to take home the world cup.
Some of the greatest teams in world football, such as Portugal, Hungary and, of course, the Netherlands, have come close to lift the cup, but have suffered agonizing heartbreak. Across the 20 editions of the tournament, just eight teams have lifted the cup, and only four teams have made it to five or more finals—Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Italy.