1938 FIFA World Cup in the context of "Uruguay national football team"

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in late 2010. It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe and the first time they were held in Eastern Europe, also featuring one or two venues, depending on definition, located across the boundary with Asia. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup ever held until it was surpassed by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The tournament phase involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while the host nation Russia qualified automatically. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while Iceland and Panama each made their debut at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1938. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the final, France played Croatia on 15 July at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. France won the match 4–2, claiming their second World Cup and becoming the fourth consecutive title won by a European team, after Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, and Germany in 2014 - a winning streak for the teams representing the same continent that extended the record broken four years earlier.

The Italy national football team (Italian: Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in men's international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy, which is a co-founder and member of UEFA. Italy's home matches are played at various stadiums throughout Italy, and its primary training ground and technical headquarters, Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, is located in Florence.

Italy is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won four World Cup titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), reaching two more finals (1970, 1994), and finishing third place in 1990 and fourth in 1978. Italy also won two European Championships (1968, 2020), and appeared in two other finals of the tournament (2000, 2012). Italy's team also finished as runners-up in the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022, and in third place at both the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and at the UEFA Nations League in 2021 and 2023.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament (the first was in 1938), defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Spanning 32 days, it was the longest World Cup tournament ever held and with the most teams (32 teams in the competition finals) until 2026 (when the World Cup was expanded to 48 teams).

Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997. For the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums in 10 host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the newly built Stade de France in the Parisian commune of Saint-Denis.

The Hungary national football team (Hungarian: magyar labdarúgó-válogatott, pronounced [ˈmɒɟɒr ˈlɒbdɒruːɡoː ˈvaːloɡɒtotː]) represents Hungary in men's international football, and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made nine appearances in the FIFA World Cup, and five in the UEFA European Championship. Hungary plays their home matches at the Puskás Aréna, in Budapest, which opened in November 2019.

Hungary has a respectable football history, having won three Olympic gold medals, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 World Cup, and third place in the 1964 European Championship. Hungary revolutionized the sport in the 1950s, laying the tactical fundamentals of Total Football and dominating international football with the remarkable Golden Team which included legend Ferenc Puskás, one of the top goalscorers of the 20th century, to whom FIFA dedicated the Puskás Award, given annually to the player who scored the "most beautiful" goal of the calendar year. The side of that era has the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2230 in 1954, and one of the longest undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning over four years including the much heralded Match of the Century.

Vittorio Pozzo (Italian pronunciation: [vitˈtɔːrjo ˈpottso]; 2 March 1886 – 21 December 1968) was an Italian football player, manager and journalist.

The creator of the Metodo tactical formation, Pozzo is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and is the only manager to guide a national team to two FIFA World Cup titles as coach, leading the Italy national team to victory in the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups. Nicknamed Il Vecchio Maestro ("The Old Master"), he also led Italy to a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic football tournament, becoming the only manager to win both Olympic Games and World Cup, and managed the Italian championship squads of the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup.

Football (Italian: calcio [ˈkaltʃo] ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Brazil (with five), runners-up in two finals both against Brazil, (1970, 1994) and reaching a third place (1990) and a fourth place (1978). They have also won two European Championships (1968 and 2020), also appeared in two finals (2000, 2012), finished third at the Confederations Cup (2013) and the Nations League (2021 and 2023), won one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two Central European International Cups (1927–30 and 1933–35).

Italy's top domestic league, the Serie A, is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world because it is often depicted as the most tactical national football league, and is among the top five European football leagues. Italy's club sides have won 48 major European trophies, making them the second most successful nation in European football. Serie A hosts three of the world's most famous clubs as Juventus, Milan, and Inter, all founding members of the G-14, a group which represented the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A was the only league to produce three founding members.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in the final held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was Italy's third World Cup title, but their first since 1938. The defending champions, Argentina, were eliminated in the second round (finishing third and last in their group). Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand made their first appearances in the finals.

The tournament featured the first penalty shootout in World Cup competition. This was the third and last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages. It was also the third time (after 1934 and 1966) that all four semi-finalists were European.

Eighteen countries have been FIFA World Cup host in the competition's twenty-two tournaments since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. The organisation at first awarded hosting to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was controversial in the earliest tournaments, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centers of strength in football at the time.

The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the South American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament. The first tournament following World War II, held in Brazil in 1950, had three teams withdraw for either financial problems or disagreements with the organisation.