5 Best World Cup-Winning Teams

These five teams once ruled the world, and now they rule our countdown.

If you follow football, you already know them well, past and present.

In 2010, Spain passed every opponent into submission with tiki-taka precision. In 1982, Italy started slowly but built to a glorious crescendo.

In 1974, the West Germans overcame Total Football, Johan Cruyff and the Dutch in the final. But before they got there, they had to overcome a loss to East Germany and two grueling group stages.

And then there are the Brazilians. In 1958, they broke through with their first title, thanks to a 17-year-old named Pele and another youngster called Garrincha.

Twelve years later, Brazil put together what’s widely considered the greatest international team of all time. They swept to the title, scoring 19 goals in a six-match span.

Or maybe you like another World Cup-winning team. There’s Brazil in 2002, a team that played six and won six. Or even the 1994 team, which featured something most Brazilian squads don’t need: defense.

Then there’s France and their breakthrough squad of 1998, which was led by the incomparable Zinedine Zidane.  And speaking of incomparable, Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to glory with goals and guts in 1986.

And while we’re here, we have to at least mention England’s 1966 team, Brazil’s 1962 squad and West Germany’s 1990 side.

But that’s the thing with ranking World Cup-winning teams. There have been 19 of them, and they were all great.

Here’s my top five. What’s yours?

If you like this video click here to check out more from Bleacher Report Productions.