Introduction

The World Cup is the grand championship for international teams. Any nation with a national team can attempt to qualify for the tournament. Overall, 32 nations reach the final tournament in which they are placed into eight groups of four teams. Each team plays each other once in the group stage and the top two teams, based on points, advance to the next round. Following the group stage is the knockout round. Each team plays one match against another team, the winner moves on and the loser is eliminated. If a match in the knockout round ends in a draw, teams participate in a penalty shootout to decide who moves on. The champion is essentially the last team standing.

Results

World Cup Results

World Cup	Champion	Score	Runner Up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
World Cup I	France	2 - 2	Netherlands		Japan	2 - 0	Senegal
World Cup II	Georgia	3 - 0	France		Norway	4 - 2	Costa Rica
World Cup III	Cote d'Ivoire	1 - 0	France		Turkey	2 - 0	Greece
World Cup IV	Georgia	2 - 0	United States		Sweden	1 - 0	Colombia
World Cup V	Norway	3 - 2	Mali		Cote d'Ivoire	1 - 0	Georgia
World Cup VI	Norway	3 - 2	Senegal		Romania	1 - 0	Bosnia-Herzegovina
World Cup VII	England	1 - 0	Argentina		Australia	3 - 3	France
World Cup VIII	Argentina	4 - 2	Nigeria		Brazil	1 - 0	Netherlands
World Cup IX	Italy	1 - 0	Australia		Belgium	1 - 0	Netherlands
World Cup X	Argentina	5 - 5	Brazil		Uruguay	1 - 0	Sweden

Medals

World Cup Medals

Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Argentina	2	1	0
Norway	2	0	1
Georgia	2	0	0
France	1	2	0
Cote d'Ivoire	1	0	1
England	1	0	0
Italy	1	0	0
Australia	0	1	1
Brazil	0	1	1
Netherlands	0	1	0
United States	0	1	0
Mali	0	1	0
Senegal	0	1	0
Nigeria	0	1	0
Japan	0	0	1
Turkey	0	0	1
Sweden	0	0	1
Romania	0	0	1
Belgium	0	0	1
Uruguay	0	0	1

Qualification

Qualification for the first two World Cups was set up almost exactly like the World Cup itself. Each team in every continent except Asia was placed into a group of 4 teams in a single round robin tournament. Asia only had 6 members so they used groups of 3, instead of 4. The top team in every group qualified to the World Cup (8 from Europe, 2 from Africa, 2 from South America, 2 from Asia, 1 from North America). The top second place teams, based on record, were given a spot as well. All remaining second place teams, as well as all third place teams (except from Asia), were put into the play-offs to determine the remaining spots. The play-offs were a one game match hosted by the higher rated team.

For the third World Cup, qualifying went from a single round robin to double round robin, meaning teams would play eachother in the group stage both home and away. North America had expanded to, and Asia still remained with, 6 teams so both used "hexagonals" in which every team was placed in the same group. Africa, which had expanded to 10 nations, used two groups of 5, while South America and Europe stuck with traditional groups of 4. The top 2 teams in every continent except Africa (top 3 there) qualified to the World Cup. As a spot was already reserved for the defending champions, there was only one spot left, which was decided in a play-off series (home and away aggregate) between the third place teams from North America and Asia.

Since then, all qualification campaigns have been double round robin formats, with each continent varying their set up based on number of participants and number of qualifying spots available.

World Cup I

The first World Cup was contested by 58 nations. Each continent, other than Asia, set up qualifying using groups of 4 in which the top team qualified to the World Cup, the top 6 overall "best second place teams" would qualify, and the remaining second place teams and all third place teams would meet in the play-offs to determine other spots. Asia used two groups of 3 in which the top teams qualified and the second place teams each played in the play-offs.

Of the 32 to qualify to the World Cup itself were 17 from Europe, 6 from Africa, 3 from South America, 3 from North America, and 3 from Asia. Europe managed to get over half the field by having 3 of the 6 "best second place" teams in addition to their 8 automatic spots, for 11 total automatic bids. Then they managed to win 6 play-off matches to get 17 spots.

In this World Cup there weren't many upsets as favorites Argentina, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Cote d'Ivoire all won their groups. Japan and Peru were surprise group winners, overcoming Italy and England respectively in their groups. The knockout round was two-fold, with a handful of favorites moving on as well as a few outsiders.

In the end, France met Netherlands for the championship and after a thrilling match that ended 2-2, won on penalty kicks to claim the first ever title. Outsiders Senegal and Japan met in the third place match, with Japan claiming the bronze.

World Cup II

Only one new nation entered the second World Cup, bumping it up to 59 total teams in the field. This team was Georgia, who ended up winning the Cup.

Qualifying was the exact same as the first World Cup, except France qualified automatically as defending champions. That meant there was still the same set up with groups of 4 (3 in Asia), just the allocations were altered since there were only 31 spots available now instead of 32. Again, Europe managed to gain enough additional spots to overtake the field, sending 18 teams this time, counting France. There were also 5 from South America, 4 from Africa, 3 from Asia, and just 2 from North America.

There were several results in this World Cup which were considered 'upsets' by most fans. Some of the more notable ones from the group stage include Greece defeating England, Wales defeating France, Tunisia defeating Brazil, and Georgia defeating Cote d'Ivoire. Of all the teams who faced an upset, France were the only ones to advance.

In the knockout round there were even more upsets, including Greece over Argentina (on penalties), Uruguay over Czech Republic (on penalties), and Costa Rica over Portugal. It was only fitting that the tournament would end on an upset, as Georgia shocked France in the championship to win the title. Norway also defeated Costa Rica for third.

World Cup III

Even more nations entered for the third World Cup, with the field expanding to 63 for the event as Mali, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, and Suriname all participated in qualifying for the first time.

As WEFA switched from single round robin to home and away qualifying, the third World Cup saw little change in the number of spots given out. Like the first World Cup, Europe sent 17 teams, while Africa sent 6. South America sent 4 while North America sent 3 and Asia sent 2.

Like the first World Cup, most of the favorites ended up topping their groups. The biggest surprise was former champions Georgia crashed out in the group stage. The surprises began to pop up in the knockout round when Norway knocked off the Czech Republic, Turkey eliminated Netherlands, and Greece kick started its incredible run by overcoming Portugal. Greece would go on to beat Brazil in the next round as well but fell just short of obtaining a medal by losing to France and then Turkey to finish 4th. France made it all the way to the championship again, for the third straight time, but failed to claim their second title as Cote d'Ivoire bested them in overtime to become the first non-European team to win the World Cup.

World Cup IV

The field swelled to 70 teams for the fourth World Cup, especially in Africa where Algeria, Angola, Congo DR, Guinea, Mozambique, and Togo all took part in qualifying for the first time. Guadeloupe also joined in from North America. Qualifying remained a double round robin and pretty much stayed the same, with Africa making a few tweaks to accommodate all their new entrants. A lot of the shocks in this World Cup came from qualifying as big teams like Greece, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Argentina, Peru, Mali, Japan, and Spain all failed to qualify.

In the actual World Cup, France was eliminated during the group stage, marking the first World Cup in which they would not participate in the championship. Netherlands, Brazil, England, and Costa Rica were all knocked out in the group stage as well, leaving the field wide open for the nations who had qualified to the knockout round. Some surprising teams to show up in the knockout round were Scotland, Togo, Slovakia, and Colombia, who took 4th overall.

While most of the favorites were getting knocked off in the Round of Sixteen, like Cote d'Ivoire, Turkey, and Norway, Georgia stayed the course. Georgia won every single game in this World Cup and outscored opponents 16-2 en route to becoming the first team to win the championship a second time. In the championship Georgia bested the United States, who made a surprising run to make it this far, while Sweden also picked up their first ever medal by taking third.

World Cup V

The fifth World Cup saw more expansion as 73 nations took part in the competition, three more than the previous edition. UEFA expanded for the first time since the second World Cup, welcoming Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland into the fold while CONCACAF added Honduras to allow them to go back to groups of four rather than deal with the marathon 7-team group they'd used in the previous World Cup.

Norway stole the headlines in qualifying, becoming the first nation to win every single qualifying match. They did so in dramatic fashion, coming from behind in each of their last three games to overturn a 0-1 deficit and win 2-1. All three newbies announced themselves as they each topped their qualification groups to secure their first trip to the World Cup. Aside from the newcomers, Angola and Trinidad & Tobago also qualified for their first ever World Cup. On the other end of the stick though, Northern Ireland, Ecuador, and Ireland all came very close to ending their own World Cup droughts, having yet to qualify to the competition in five tries, but all narrowly missed out by finishing one spot below the qualification zone in each of their groups.

In the actual World Cup France avenged their humiliating exit from the previous tournament by winning all three group games by a combined score of 8-0. Norway also continued its winning streak by sweeping the group, albeit not as forcefully as the French. Netherlands nearly made big news in the group stage, but for the wrong reasons. After drawing against Trinidad & Tobago in the opening match and then falling to Egypt in the second it looked as though the Dutch were going to be eliminated despite being drawn into what many had criticized before the tournament as the 'easiest group imaginable'. Netherlands just barely avoided total embarrassment by defeating Saudi Arabia in their final match to give them just enough points to scrape through to the knockout round. With some other big names such as Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Uruguay, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Georgia all moving into the knockout round there were high expectations for these colossal matchups.

The games didn't disappoint, especially if you were an African supporter. Cote d'Ivoire piqued Portugal by a goal while Morocco knocked off Brazil by the same margin, but in overtime. Mali and Spain also went into overtime at one apiece and when the match ended at two apiece the winner, which ended up being Mali, had to be determined by penalties. Things weren't as great for South American fans. Besides losing Brazil, Argentina lost a tightly contested match to France and then Chile and Uruguay were each knocked off as well. The big game between Norway and Netherlands lived up to the hype as Norway overcame the Dutch in a thrilling 3-1 victory.

The quarterfinals produced less drama as three games were blowouts. Cote d'Ivoire smashed Honduras 3-0 while Norway and Georgia each dispatched their opposition, Iceland and Morocco respectively, 4-0 apiece. In another thriller, Mali once again went to overtime, taking France to the limits and then beating them in the extra period. The semifinals matched the clearly four best teams in the tournament against each other and both produced one-goal winners as Norway overcame Georgia while Mali surprised Cote d'Ivoire.

In the championship, which truly lived up to its billing as one of the greatest finals ever, Norway and Mali battled it out like heavyweights. The teams took turns trading goals and when the dust had settled Norway had emerged victorious, 3-2. In doing so, they became the first team to win every single game, going 15-0-0 over qualification, the group stage, and the knockout round. They also tied Georgia's record for going unbeaten during the World Cup Finals which had been set during the previous World Cup. In the third place game Georgia aimed to tie France's medal count at 3, but Cote d'Ivoire nipped them 1-0 to take their second medal instead.

World Cup VI

The sixth World Cup would be the final World Cup played on Winning Eleven 8 for xbox, although that was not known at the time of the competition. It was contested by 78 teams, a record at the time. This World Cup was also notable for the immense parity in qualifying which saw a lot of big names fail to reach the tournament. This included former two time champions Georgia, former champion Cote d'Ivoire, and heavyweights Brazil, all of whom failed to qualify for the first time in any of their previous attempts. Even the defending champions Norway struggled through qualifying, only finishing with 15 points of a possible 30, and only qualified thanks to goal difference. On the other hand, four teams qualified for the first time ever: Burkina Faso, Canada, China, and Congo DR.

In the finals, the group stage was just as competitive. In Group A, Togo had to oust Austria on a penalty shootout after the two sides finished tied for second with neither side holding a tiebreaker over the other. Group E also required a penalty shootout between Morocco and Hungary, although less was at stake since the sides had finished tied for first and only needed it to determine seeding in the next round. In Group B, Norway managed to advance as group winners, but once again only due to goal difference as they finished tied with both China and Ukraine on 6 points. Group C also ended up really close, finishing 5-4-3-2 with former champions France being eliminated on 2 points. Former runners up United States were also bounced from Group D without getting a single point as Senegal surprisingly won the tough group that also featured Netherlands and Germany.

Denmark had been the big story of qualifying, as they had torn through their group (which featured Norway) to easily qualify. In Group F they kept up their great form, topping the group that featured Argentina, Italy, and South Africa with 2 wins and a draw. Canada were the only debutants to win their group, taking Group G and causing England to miss the knockout round. Costa Rica won Group H as well, eliminating Portugal in the process.

The round of sixteen was just as tight. Three matches ended up going to penalty kicks, where Romania edged Belgium, Togo slipped by Chile, and Bosnia-Herzegovina shockingly ended Denmark's run. Norway topped Netherlands 3-2 in overtime in the biggest match of the round and three other games were also decided by a single goal, with Argentina squeaking past Costa Rica 1-0 and then two debutants advanced when Congo DR beat Morocco 1-0 and Canada edged China 2-1. Senegal were the only big winners of the round, taking out Hungary 4-0.

Penalty shootouts also decided half of the quarterfinals. Norway and Argentina found themselves in a 3-3 stalemate and the Norwegians advanced with the shootout victory. Togo had already won two shootouts in this tournament, but third time wasn't a charm for them as they fell to Senegal in the shootout following their 1-1 draw. Debutant runs were ended as well, Romania took out Congo DR 2-0 and then Bosnia-Herzegovina nipped Canada 3-1.

The semifinals saw an end to Eastern Europe's hopes of a title. Norway blanked Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 while Senegal edged Romania 3-1 in overtime. Romania would go on to win bronze with a 1-0 victory in the third place game.

The final was eerily similar to the final of World Cup V, featuring Norway (this time as defending champions though) taking on a West African side. The scoreline turned out to be the same too, as Norway claimed their second title with a 3-2 victory. The winning goal actually came from a Senegalese player, as Diawara was credited with the own goal to put Norway out of reach. Solskjaer had scored the opening goal of the championship, which was his seventh of the competition, making him the top scorer.

World Cup VII

The seventh World Cup was the first of the new "PES" era on Wii. The field was reduced to 64 teams for this edition, which was the only one to take place on PES 2009. Due to the new format, the vast majority of matches were simulated, rather than played out as they all were for all previous World Cups. Because of this, the higher rated teams all won fairly easily, making this tournament no where near as unpredictable as the previous editions had been. Ireland ended up being the only new team to qualify for the tournament, and former champions Georgia did not even field a team.

As in qualifying, the World Cup group stage mostly belonged to the top teams. Morocco was the only user team, and they managed to advance with a stellar group stage performance that included wins over Argentina and Norway, the latter failing to qualify to the next round, and thus losing their chance to defend their title. Some groups were very unbalanced and were very easily won by the top teams. In Group B, Italy and Brazil had little trouble qualifying ahead of South Korea and Ukraine. Meanwhile, Senegal was also eliminated early thanks to being drawn into a tough group that featured France and Australia, who each advanced with 7 points. England and Germany also made mince meat of their competition in Group D while Netherlands and Sweden also moved on from Group G, the group of death, albeit with a tougher time against Cote d'Ivoire and United States.

There was another first in this tournament as well. In previous tournaments, unbreakable ties were resolved with a penalty shootout between the teams. But in this tournament, when Japan finished level with Austria, an entire tiebreaker match was played. Austria won 1-0 to move on.

Due to all the simulating, there were some huge scorelines recorded from this tournament, including England's 6-1 win over Nigeria, Italy beating Ukraine 5-1, and a couple 4-0 victories elsewhere. This continued into the knockout round, producing scorelines such as Netherlands 5 - 3 Spain, Germany 4 - 0 Austria, England 3 - 0 Mexico. The user games were also getting out of hand, as Morocco wound up beating Brazil 4-1. France were the only former champions left in the field by the round of sixteen and they also advanced, taking out dark horses Sweden 2-1.

Things calmed down in the quarterfinals. Argentina, Australia, and England all progressed to the semifinals with 1-0 victories over Italy, Germany, and Netherlands respectively. France progressed as well, defeating Morocco 2-1.

In the semifinals, the goals came flooding back. Argentina thumped Australia 4-0 while England ousted France 3-2, setting up a final that was sure to crown a new champion. The third place match ended in a draw for the first time ever, and Australia surprisingly won the bronze in the shootout after having fought to a 3-3 draw. This denied France their fourth medal, which would have been more than anyone else at the time. In the final, Rooney scored the only goal of the final to clinch his title as top scorer and also clinch the title for England in the 1-0 victory.

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