South Africa, 2010

This was the 19th FIFA World Cup and it was held for the first time in an African nation. It started July 11 and ended one month later. There were 4 top scorers for the first time with 5 goals each and the best goalkeeper was Iker Casillas from Spain. Netherlands beat Uruguay in the semifinals and Spain defeated Germany and reached to the final against Netherlands. Spain won their first title after defeating Germany 1-0 in extra time and Germany got the third place.
The official mascot was an African leopard called Zakumi and the official ball was called Jabulani, manufactured by adidas, that means "bringing joy to everyone". The vuvuzelas were used a lot by the fans in each match. This noisy horns brought many complains from players and other people.

Vuvuzela

Jabulani

Germany, 2006

The 18th World Cup was held from June 9 to July 9 in Germany. There were 147 goals scored in 12 different venues. Italy won the World Cup, winning their 4th title, after defeating France in penalty shootout that ended 5-3 after a tie in regular time. The host Germany defeated Portugal in the match for the third place. The best young player ward was awarded to the German Lukas Podolski. Five African countries and one European qualified for the first time. This tournament had a record number of yellow and red cards with 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards. The official mascot was a lion called "Goleo VI" and the ball was the Adidas Teamgeist.

Korea-Japan, 2002

This world cup was the first one to have two countries together as hosts and it was the first world cup held in Asia. It was the 17th world cup in history. It started the 31 of May and ended on June 30. Thirty two teams played 62 matches in 20 different venues. Brazil won the world cup, winning their fifth one for the first time after beating Germany 2-0 with two goals of Ronaldo. Turkey beat one of the hosts, South Korea, in the match for the third place. The best player award was awarded to the Brazilian player Ronaldo and the best player was Oliver Khan, the German goalkeeper. Ato, Kaz and Nik were the official mascots and the official ball was the Fevernova.

France, 1998

In this world cup, held in France from June 10 to July 12, a lot of this changed to become what the world cup is now. There were 32 teams that played 64 matches in 10 different stadiums. This tournament was won by France that beat Brazil in an amazing performance from the host that ended in a 3-0. Croatia, who qualified to the World Cup for the first time, got the third place after defeating France. Other countries that qualified for the first time were South Africa, Jamaica and Japan. The mascot was called Footix and the ball was the Tricolore. For the first time there was an official song called "The cup of life" recorded by Ricky Martin.

United States, 1994

This World Cup was in 9 cities from the United States. It started the 17 of June and ended one month later, the 17 of June. The official match ball was the Adidas Questra and the mascot was a dog called Striker. There were 141 goals scored and the best player was the brazilian Romario. Brazil won their 4th world cup after defeating Italy in a penalty shootout for the first time in history. Brazil also won the FIFA Fair Play Award. This cup had the highest attendance average.

Italy, 1990

The 14th World Cup was in Italy from June 8 to July 8. There were 24 teams from 5 different confederations. There were 115 goals scored in 52 matches played in 12 cities.cThe official match mall was the Adidas Etrusco Unico and the official mascot was Ciao. Teams like Cameroon, Colombia and Costa Rica had a surprising good performance for the first time. In the semifinals both matches passed through penalties and West Germany beat England and Argentina, the defending champion, beat Italy.
Italy, the host, got the third place by defeating England 2-1. The final was played in Rome were West Germany won the World Cup for the third time by beating Argentina 1-0. The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the first one to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV
The best player and top scorer was Salvatore Schillaci.

Mexico, 1986

This World Cup was held in Mexico for the first time from May 31 to June 29. The formats were already almost like what we have right know. There were 24 teams that played 52 matches in 9 cities. There was a group stage, round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals and the final. Argentina, that had Maradona as their star, beat England in the quarter finals with the infamous "Hand of God". West Germany also beat the host Mexico in the same round. Argentina beat Belgium in thew semifinals with goals of Maradona. They played the final against West Germany and beat them 3-2 in the last exciting 10 minutes. France got the third place. The mascot was Pique and Maradona got the Golden Ball award.