Twenty-two tournaments, eight winners. The geography is even more lopsided: all 22 trophies have gone to Europe (12) or South America (10), and no team from any other confederation has ever reached a final — the best results anywhere else being third place for the United States in 1930 and fourth for South Korea in 2002 and Morocco in 2022.

Germany is the great paradox of this list. The Germans have played in eight finals, more than any other nation, yet won only four; their four runner-up finishes are also a record. The Netherlands sit at the opposite extreme: finalists in 1974, 1978 and 2010, beaten every time, and still the most celebrated team never to win the thing.

Behind Brazil's five titles lies a record nobody else can touch — it is the only nation to have played in all 22 tournaments. Home advantage, meanwhile, matters less than the folklore suggests: hosts have won just six times (Uruguay 1930, Italy 1934, England 1966, West Germany 1974, Argentina 1978, France 1998), and not once since 1998.