The 2002 FIFA World Cup™ in Korea/Japan reflected a changing football world. On a new continent, old powers were falling fast and after a succession of surprises, for the first time the quarter-finals featured teams from five different federations. In the end, however, it was two well-known faces, Germany and Brazil, who contested the Final and the South Americans who claimed an unprecedented fifth world crown.

Ronaldo, so subdued in Brazil’s Final defeat by France four years earlier, was the hero for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Seleção, scoring both goals in their 2-0 victory in Yokohama. He ended the tournament with eight in total – the most at a FIFA World Cup since Gerd Muller struck ten in Mexico in 1970.

Senegal set the tone
The tone of the group stage was set in the Opening Match as African debutants Senegal shocked the holders France with a 1-0 victory in Seoul, courtesy of Pape Bouba Diop’s scrambled finish. The French never really recovered from that result, finishing at the foot of Group A without a single goal scored. For the Senegalese, however, it was just the start. The Lions of Teranga progressed to the second round where they beat Sweden on a golden goal, before succumbing in the same way against Turkey in the quarter-finals.

The United States were the architects of another significant upset as they opened their tournament by beating highly-fancied Portugal 3-2. The Portuguese bounced back to beat Poland but then went down to Group D’s other surprise package, Korea Republic, as a second European power headed home far earlier than expected.

Argentina’s elimination alongside Nigeria in Group F was an ever bigger surprise. Marcelo Bielsa’s side beat the Nigerians in their first game but then lost 1-0 to old rivals England in Sapporo in probably the most keenly anticipated match of the first stage. England captain David Beckham, sent off when the teams met at France 98, laid that ghost to rest by netting the only goal from the penalty spot. When the South Americans were then held by Sweden in their third fixture, they joined the ranks of big names bound for home.

Hosts advance
Although the knockout rounds followed a more predictable pattern than the group stage, co-hosts Korea Republic continue to defy expectations. In the Round of 16, Guus Hiddink’s men came from behind to defeat Italy through Ahn Jung Hwan’s golden goal. Then, in the quarter-finals, they rode their luck to overcome a strong Spain side on penalties.

A 1-0 loss in the semi-final to Germany could not dampen the incredible enthusiasm of the Korean public, who flooded the streets with a sea of red every time the hosts played. It was Asia’s first FIFA World Cup and over in Japan they were busy having a party of their own. With the vociferous backing of their excitable supporters, Philippe Troussier’s Japan topped Group H, recording their first ever finals win against Russia and then beating Tunisia too.

However, Japan’s adventure ended in defeat by an impressive Turkey team in the last 16. Turkey were appearing in their first finals since 1954 and sneaked into the second round ahead of Costa Rica on goal difference. After beating Japan, Ilhan Mansiz’s golden goal took them past Senegal and into the semi-finals. There they lost another tight match, 1-0 to a Brazil side who had come from behind to beat England in the quarter-finals.

Germans work way to Final
Traditional powers Germany were few people’s favourites before the tournament, having lost 5-1 to England in qualifying and needed recourse to the play-offs. Yet three consecutive 1-0 victories in the knockout rounds took them to their seventh Final. Against both the USA in the quarter-finals and Korea Republic in the semis, a Michael Ballack goal and Oliver Kahn’s goalkeeping made the difference. However, Ballack’s booking against the Koreans meant he missed the Final.

Ironically, it was the previously flawless Kahn – winner of the Golden Ball – who gifted Ronaldo the decisive first goal midway through the second half of the deciding match in Yokohama on 30 June. ‘The Phenomenon’ then stroked a second past Kahn following a brilliant Rivaldo dummy and the glory was Brazil’s. For Ronaldo, unable to perform to his potential in the 1998 Final and injured for so long subsequently, here was a moment of redemption.

After a month of unforeseen heroes and unexpected victims, the finals in the Far East ended with a familiar scene – the yellow-shirted South Americans holding aloft the FIFA World Cup trophy. By capturing their fifth world title, Brazil kept alive their extraordinary record of having triumphed on every continent that has hosted the event.

The United States was the setting for a hugely successful 15th FIFA World Cup™ which drew record crowds and ended with Brazil celebrating their first world title since 1970. If the Final itself was a disappointment, Brazil beating Italy on penalties after a goalless draw, there were no complaints about the entertainment that had gone before.

There were plenty of goals – 141 was the highest total since 1982 – and no shortage of drama. Bulgaria, who had never won a FIFA World Cup match in 16 previous attempts, provided the biggest upset by beating Germany en route to the semi-finals. Argentina’s 1986 hero Diego Maradona, meanwhile, tested positive for drugs and was expelled from the tournament, his team following suit soon after by losing a five-goal thriller to Gheorghe Hagi’s Romania.

It was a tournament that was also touched by tragedy. Colombia defender Andres Escobar was murdered on his return home having scored an own goal against the United States in a group match that confirmed the South Americans’ surprise early elimination. That result took the hosts into the second round where they were hardly disgraced in going down 1-0 to a Brazil side who proved the world’s best.

Huge crowds
‘Soccer’ in the US has never held the widespread appeal of basketball, baseball and American football and it came as a surprise to many when the country was granted the honour of hosting the FIFA World Cup. In choosing the USA, however, FIFA President Joao Havelange was bidding to conquer football’s final frontier and it proved the right decision with the event attracting a record total attendance of 3,587,538 spectators.

Another record of 147 countries entered qualifying but some of the expected European contenders did not make it, notably reigning continental champions Denmark, England and a France side eliminated by a Bulgarian goal in the last second of their last qualifier. The surprises did not end there. The first round, where a win was now worth three points, threw up several of them. Italy went down 1-0 to Ireland in their opening game and scraped into the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.

If Colombia’s aforementioned demise was unexpected, so few people had predicted that Saudi Arabia would survive the group stage yet they won twice. Indeed Saudi striker Saeed Owairan struck arguably the tournament’s finest goal, a slaloming run and shot that beat Belgium. Russia’s Oleg Salenko managed his own scoring feat, establishing a new record after netting five times in a 6-1 victory over Cameroon. Roger Milla’s goal in the same fixture, meanwhile, meant he broke his own record as the FIFA World Cup’s oldest scorer – at 42 years, one month and eight days.

‘The Divine Ponytail’
Another African team, Nigeria, were 90 seconds away from overcoming Italy in the Round of 16 only for Roberto Baggio to rescue the Azzurri‘s ten men. The African champions had topped their group and threatened a major shock before Baggio’s equaliser and extra-time winner. The ‘Divine Ponytail’ was in the form of his life. His late goal downed Spain in the last eight before he then struck twice more to deflate Bulgaria in the semi-finals. This after the Bulgarians, with their own inspirational figure in Hristo Stoichkov, had astonished everybody by putting out the holders, Germany.

Stoichkov would eventually share the adidas Golden Shoe with Salenko but for another of the tournament’s star forwards, Romario, an even greater prize beckoned. He and strike partner Bebeto both found the net in an exciting 3-2 quarter-final defeat of the Netherlands – a game that featured the latter’s famous baby-cradling goal celebration in honour of his new-born son. Romario then registered the only goal of the semi-final against a Sweden side who produced their best performance since 1958 by finishing third.

So to the Final in Pasadena, a repeat of the 1970 climax and a contest between two countries who had already collected three world titles each. In theory, it was a dream finale but the reality was a stalemate. For the first time, the destiny of the trophy would be decided by penalties and, cruelly, it was Baggio, who had done so much to get Italy there, who missed the crucial last kick. His right leg heavily bandaged to protect his injured hamstring, the little No10 lifted the ball high into the blue California sky and Brazil were champions again, 24 years after their last success.

Captained by the tough-tackling Dunga, this Brazil may have lacked some of the flair of previous incarnations but Carlos Alberto Parreira’s squad were perfectly prepared and boasted a formidable front pair in Romario and Bebeto. With those two in tandem, Parreira could even afford to leave a 17-year-old called Ronaldo on the bench. But more of him later…

For the first time the FIFA World Cup™ was broadcast in colour around the globe and tens of millions watched spellbound as Brazil brought added brilliance to the spectacle with a glorious exhibition of attacking football that deservedly earned them a third world crown. The Brazilians’ 4-1 Final triumph over Italy gave them the right to keep the Jules Rimet Cup and provided the perfect farewell for Pele on his final appearance on the world stage.

Pele had threatened not to return after his bitter experience in England – where he was literally kicked out of the 1966 tournament – but he returned and took his place in a team rich in forward talent. The front five of Jairzinho, Pele, Gerson, Tostao and Rivelino were all No10s in their own right and together they created an irresistible attacking momentum. Nothing captured the beauty of their football better than their fourth goal in the Final at the cavernous Azteca Stadium, Pele teeing up his captain Carlos Alberto to conclude a seven-man move by arrowing a first-time shot past Enrico Albertosi and into the far corner.

There had been fears before the finals about the conditions facing the players – intense heat and high altitude – and these worries were exacerbated by the decision to stage matches at midday to suit European television schedules. It was not the only sign that times were changing: there were now two substitutes allowed per team, red and yellow cards for the referees, and an adidas ball, the white-and-black checked Telstar.

Banks’ wonder save
The highlight of the first round was the meeting of holders England and champions-elect Brazil. It featured the most famous save in FIFA World Cup history, Gordon Banks somehow stopping Pele’s goal-bound header by pawing the ball out from the bottom corner and back up over the crossbar. Brazil won 1-0 through a goal by Jairzinho, who made history by scoring in every round, but this proved their stiffest test. England captain Bobby Moore, in particular, produced a career-defining performance that belied his pre-tournament difficulties, having been detained by the Colombian authorities in Bogota after he was falsely accused of stealing a bracelet.

There were promising showings by newcomers Israel – who qualified after Korea DPR refused to play them and duly held Italy 0-0 in their opening match – and also Morocco. The North Africans led against West Germany before eventually succumbing to Gerd Muller’s late decider, the first of ten goals for the Golden Shoe winner.

Muller then registered successive hat-tricks against Bulgaria and Peru, before his extra-time strike decided a dramatic quarter-final against England. The West Germans trailed 2-0 with 23 minutes remaining in Leon before Franz Beckenbauer and Uwe Seeler brought them level. Ironically Geoff Hurst, scorer of a controversial goal against West Germany in the Final four years earlier, then had an effort disallowed before Muller’s match-winning volley. England would bemoan the absence of goalkeeper Banks, taken ill beforehand, but for Helmut Schoen’s men this first competitive win over the English was the sweetest possible revenge for 1966.

Semi-final thriller
The Mannschaft’s never-say-die spirit then helped produce an epic semi-final against Italy, which witnessed the highest-scoring additional period in the tournament’s history. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger’s 90th-minute equaliser forced extra time at 1-1, precipitating a flood of five goals, including another two for Muller, before Italy prevailed 4-3, European Footballer of the Year Gianni Rivera netting the winner against opponents whose captain Beckenbauer played on with a dislocated shoulder.

While West Germany would take third place, European champions Italy, who had earlier eliminated hosts Mexico, were now through to a first Final since 1938. But despite a defensive excellence personified by Giacinto Facchetti and the scoring touch of Gigi Riva, they were clear underdogs.

Brazil had dazzled en route to the Final. Mario Zagallo may have replaced Joao Saldanha as coach only three months earlier but his squad spent that time preparing intensively. After defeating Czechoslovakia, England and Romania, they reached the semi-finals by bettering a Peru side coached by the Brazilian Didi, a team-mate of Zagallo’s in 1958 and 1962. The Peruvians had qualified for the finals at Argentina’s expense and boasted exciting young striker Teofilo Cubillas but they could not contain the Seleção, going down 4-2.

Pele dummy
Brazil then exorcised the demons of their 1950 Final defeat with a semi-final success against Uruguay. Trailing 1-0, they hit back through Clodoaldo, Jairzinho and Rivelino although more memorable was a moment of audacity by Pele that encapsulated his unique genius. Reaching Jairzinho’s pass ahead of goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, he let the ball run past him. Mazurkiewicz’s momentum left him stranded but Pele ran beyond the custodian, picked up the loose ball and shot narrowly wide.

It was Pele, seeking his third winner’s medal, whose powerful header opened the scoring in the Final and although Roberto Boninsegna equalised, there was only going to be one outcome: Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto struck in the second period and Brazil were champions. Even Rome’s Messaggero newspaper had to admit the Azzurri “were beaten by the best footballers in the world”.

Winner: Brazil

Garrincha was the inspiration for a Brazil side that flew across the Andes and mounted a successful defence of the Jules Rimet Cup in Chile in 1962. Amarildo, Zito and Vava scored the goals that defeated Czechoslovakia in the Final but there was no question who was the real hero of the Seleção‘s second FIFA World Cup™ triumph. “The most extraordinary right winger football has known” was French newspaper L’Equipe’s description of Garrincha, the so-called ‘Little bird’ who was, at 25, at the very height of his powers.

Brazil’s squad featured nine of their 1958 world champions, albeit under the guidance of a new coach in Aymore Moreira. Brother of Zeze, the man in charge in Switzerland in 1954, he took the reins after Vincente Feola stood down because of ill health. Moreira adopted a 4-3-3 formation and the holders opened with a 2-0 win over Mexico, Mario Zagallo and Pele scoring.

It proved Pele’s final contribution of note as early in Brazil’s second game against Czechoslovakia, the 21-year-old pulled up with an injury to his left thigh. His tournament was over but with the magical dribbling skills and matchwinning prowess of Garrincha, and prominent contributions from Zagallo – a future world champion as a coach in 1970 – and Pele’s replacement Amarildo, the Brazilians were able to shrug aside the absence of their injured No10.

‘Battle of Santiago’
Chile had won the right to host the FIFA World Cup ahead of neighbours Argentina. Despite the host country having suffered the century’s biggest earthquake two years earlier, on 30 May 1962 the finals opened with matches at the four venues of Santiago, Vina Del Mar, Rancagua and Arica. Santiago’s new Estadio Nacional stood against the beautiful backcloth of the snow-capped Andes yet it staged one of the ugliest matches in the tournament’s history in the first round, when Chile faced Italy.

There were red cards for Italy’s Giorgio Ferrini and Mario David and red mist all around. David’s dismissal followed a neck-high kick aimed at Leonel Sanchez in retaliation for a punch by the Chilean, son of a boxer, who had earlier broken the nose of Umberto Maschio, one of Italy’s naturalised South Americans. “The most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football” was the BBC’s verdict. For the record, Chile won 2-0.

Spain, like Italy, were early casualties. With Helenio Herrera, soon to conquer Europe with Inter Milan, at the helm and a host of stars from Real Madrid, including Ferenc Puskas – now appearing in Spanish rather than Hungarian red – they entered their final pool fixture against Brazil needing a positive result to reach the last eight.

Amarildo shows the way
It proved arguably the game of the round (albeit with fewer thrills than Colombia’s fightback from three down to hold the Soviet Union 4-4). Puskas set up Adelardo Rodriguez to score and with Brazil bemused by Herrera’s catenaccio tactics, Spanish hopes grew. Yet two late goals by Amarildo – the second with four minutes remaining – brought defeat and raised questions over why Alfredo Di Stefano, struggling with injury yet also seemingly at odds with his coach, had not featured once.

This was the first FIFA World Cup without play-offs to decide who should progress when a section’s second and third-placed teams finished tied on points. Hence England advanced ahead of Argentina on goal average. They had defeated the Albiceleste 3-1 but lost by the same score to Brazil in the quarter-finals. England forward Jimmy Greaves halted a stray dog’s incursion on to the field but there was no stopping Garrincha: after heading in the first, his half-saved free-kick set up Vava’s second, before he settled matters with a swerving strike from distance.

Brazil then defeated the hosts 4-2 in the semi-finals, Garrincha and Vava each netting twice to subdue opponents roared on by 80,000 fans. Chile, who would finish third, had earlier overcome the Soviets in one of several quarter-final surprises. Repeated interventions from goalkeeper Vilem Schroif and his goal frame helped Czechoslovakia beat Hungary, while it was third time lucky for Yugoslavia as they defeated the West Germany team who had ousted them at this stage in 1954 and 1958. The disappointed Germans’ response? The introduction the next year of the professional Bundesliga.

Masopust opener
Yugoslavia’s luck ran out against semi-final opponents Czechoslovakia, Schroif starring again before two late Adolf Scherer strikes secured a 3-1 win. Rudolf Vytlacil’s side had held Brazil to a first-round stalemate but were now clear underdogs, their prospects hardly helped by Garrincha’s availability to play despite his sending-off in the semi-final. Yet, reappearing in the Final after a 24-year absence, they took a 15th-minute lead through Josef Masopust, their inspirational midfielder who would end the year with the Ballon D’Or. He timed perfectly his forward run to collect a Scherer pass and score.

The lead was short-lived, however, Schroif beaten by Amarildo at his near post. Amarildo was not finished there, for with the scores level approaching the 70th minute, his turn and cross set up Zito to head Brazil in front. A Schroif spill then allowed Vava to seal the victory and join Garrincha and four others – Chile’s Sanchez, Hungary’s Florian Albert, Soviet Union’s Valentin Ivanov and Yugoslavia’s Drazen Jerkovic – at the top of the scoring table. With four goals each, all had a claim to the Golden Shoe. But the big prize was indisputably Brazil’s again.

Brazil built the planet’s biggest football stadium as a breathtaking stage for the 1950 finals but their hopes of consecrating the cavernous, three-tiered sporting cathedral of the Maracana with a first world title were shattered in one of the competition’s great surprises.

In a FIFA World Cup™ that concluded with a four-team mini-league, the hosts met Uruguay in a deciding fixture which proved a final in all but name. Needing only to draw, Brazil led through Friaca’s 47th-minute strike before Uruguay turned the game on its head via goals from Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghigghia. A deathly hush descended on the Maracana as some 200,000 voices fell silent and Brazil’s little neighbour to the south celebrated a second world crown.

Uruguay, winners of the inaugural FIFA World Cup, had played only one match – beating Bolivia 8-0 – to reach the final stage yet for the third game running Ivan Lopez’s charges had shown their resolve by coming from behind to record a triumph which inspired a new noun in Spanish, Maracanazo, still used today to signify a defeat for a Brazilian team by foreign rivals at the famed stadium.

This was the first FIFA World Cup since the end of the second world war. Throughout that conflict the prized trophy had laid hidden in a shoebox under the bed of the Italian FIFA vice-president, Dr Ottorino Barassi. Now, with peace restored, it was renamed the Jules Rimet Cup to celebrate the event’s survival.

Thirteen finalists
That there were only 13 teams in Brazil was down to the absence of countries from eastern Europe and a series of high-profile withdrawals, notably from Argentina and France – the latter in objection to an itinerary that would have involved a 3,500km journey between fixtures.

While England were present for the first time after winning the British Home Championship, Scotland – who earned the right to travel after finishing second – declined the opportunity, as did another qualified team, Turkey. India, meanwhile, said no because FIFA would not let them play in bare feet. Uruguay were among five South American participants who had not played a single qualifier between them.

The tournament featured an unusual first-round format with the 13 sides split into two groups of four, another group of three and a fourth section comprising just Uruguay and Bolivia. If the Maracana was a monument to Brazilian ambition, there were high hopes that Flavio Costa’s hosts would match its wow factor on the field and they opened the finals with a 4-0 win over Mexico.

A subsequent 2-2 draw with Switzerland left them needing victory in their final pool game against Yugoslavia and the South American champions enjoyed a stroke of fortune when opposition forward Rajko Mitic hurt his head as he walked up the stairs to the Maracana pitch. He was still receiving treatment when Ademir gave Brazil an early lead, later doubled by Zizinho.

While Brazil progressed, holders Italy bowed out after succumbing 3-2 to Sweden. The Scandinavian amateurs had lost key trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm to Serie A after their 1948 Olympic triumph yet George Raynor’s men still had enough to better the Italians, stripped of the core of their squad by the previous year’s Superga air crash, which claimed the lives of 19 Torino players.

US shock England
Raynor, whose Sweden team finished third, was the only Englishman with anything to smile about given the humiliation suffered by England’s footballers on their first finals appearance. The game’s founders had arrived ill-prepared and they paid the price in Belo Horizonte where they suffered a 1-0 defeat by the United States. Coached by Scotsman Bill Jeffrey, the Americans had led Spain for much of their curtain-raiser before shipping three late goals but now, with a helping hand from Lady Luck, they held on to the advantage given them by Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens’ first-half goal.

Back in England newspapers thought the result a typing error and changed it to 10-1. The reality was that England – whose team included Alf Ramsey, future architect of their 1966 triumph – were bound for an embarrassingly early exit, duly confirmed by a 1-0 reverse against Spain, Zarra the scorer.

So to the final round where Brazil made a flying start by thrashing Sweden 7-1 with four goals from Ademir, the tournament’s eight-goal leading marksman. A subsequent 6-1 rout of Spain left the Brazilians with one hand on the trophy going into the decider against a Uruguay side who had needed to retrieve half-time deficits to hold Sweden 2-2 and overcome Spain 3-2.

Although Uruguay had won one of the countries’ three friendly meetings two months before, such was the prevailing confidence in Brazil that the front-page headline in Sao Paulo’s Gazeta Esportiva before the match read: “Tomorrow we will beat Uruguay!” The mayor of Rio proclaimed Brazil world champions prior to kick-off and few souls in a crowd officially estimated at 174,000 – but more likely to have reached 200,000 – would have anticipated otherwise.

Brazil took an expected lead as star attackers Zizinho and Ademir fashioned an opening for Friaca. But Uruguay, driven forward by captain Obdulio Varela, equalised in the 66th minute when Gigghia beat Bigode down the right and centred for Schiaffino to score. Then, with eleven minutes remaining, came the unthinkable: Gigghia burst past Bigode again and beat Barbosa at his near post to leave the Celeste in dreamland – and Brazil in despair.