How have defending champs fared in FIFA World Cup history?

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Qatar may be hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but France also garnered plenty of attention.

After winning the 2018 World Cup final 4-2 against Croatia, Les Bleus were back in the fold in 2022 and looking to repeat for their third ever title in the tournament. However, their quest for back-to-back titles ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Let’s take a look back at all previous World Cup winners and how they fared four years later:

1930 winners: Uruguay

Next result: 1934 – Uruguay boycotted the tournament hosted by Italy due to few European teams accepting invitations to compete in the 1930 tournament it hosted.

1934 winners: Italy

Next result: 1938 – Italy defended its 1934 win by beating Hungary 4-2 in the final.

1938 winners: Italy

Next result: 1950 – World War II canceled the 1942 and 1946 tournaments, but Italy did not make it out of the group in this edition.

1950 winners: Uruguay

Next result: 1954 – Uruguay finished in fourth place after losing 4-2 to Hungary in the semis and 3-1 to Austria in the third-place game.

1954 winners: West Germany

Next result: 1958 – West Germany finished in fourth place after losing 3-1 to Sweden in the semis and 6-3 to France in the third-place game.

1958 winners: Brazil

Next result: 1962 – Brazil won the title for a second straight time after beating Czechoslovakia (now split into two countries) 3-1.

1962 winners: Brazil

Next result: 1966 – Brazil finished third place in its group behind Portugal and Hungary.

1966 winners: England

Next result: 1970 – England lost in the quarterfinals 3-2 to West Germany.

1970 winners: Brazil

Next result: 1974 – Brazil lost to Poland 1-0 in the third-place play-off.

1974 winners: West Germany

Next result: 1978 – West Germany finished third in its group behind the Netherlands and Italy.

1978 winners: Argentina

Next result: 1982 – Argentina finished third in the second group stage behind Italy and Brazil.

1982 winners: Italy

Next result: 1986 – Italy lost 2-0 to France in the Round of 16.

1986 winners: Argentina

Next result: 1990 – Argentina nearly repeated but lost 1-0 to West Germany in the final.

1990 winners: West Germany

Next result: 1994 – After West Germany and East Germany merged into one in 1990, the nation, now reintegrated as Germany (DFB), lost 2-1 to Bulgaria in thequarters.

1994 winners: Brazil

Next result: 1998 – Brazil came close to repeating but lost 3-0 to France in the final. 

1998 winners: France

Next result: 2002 – France finished last in its group behind Denmark, Senegal and Uruguay.

2002 winners: Brazil

Next result: 2006 – Brazil lost 1-0 to France in the quarters. 

2006 winners: Italy

Next result: 2010 – Italy finished last in its group behind Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand.

2010 winners: Spain

Next result: 2014 – After winning its first ever World Cup, Spain followed it up with a third-place group finish behind Netherlands and Chile.

2014 winners: Germany

Next result: 2018 – Germany finished last in its group behind Sweden, Mexico and South Korea.

2018 winners: France

Next result: 2022 – France lost to Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final despite Kylian Mbappé’s hat trick.

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