Number One Ranked Teams 1966-94

ENGLAND - 30 July 1966 to 1 June 1968 (673 days) - 1 successful defence (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (London) 30 July 1966 - England 4 West Germany 2ᴭᵀ West Germany 1 (London) 6 December 1967 - England 2 USSR 2 West Germany   England lost one match during the period, to: Scotland WEST GERMANY - 1 June 1968 to 17 June 1970 (747 days) - 1 successful defence (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   (Hanover) 1 June 1968 - West Germany 1 England 0 England 1 WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL (Leon) 14 June 1970 - England 2 West Germany 3ᴭᵀ N/A 2 WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL (Mexico City) 17 June 1970 - Italy 4 West Germany 3ᴭᵀ N/A   West Germany lost two other matches during the period, to: Chile and Spain BRAZIL - 21 June 1970 to 9 June 1973 - (1,085 days) - no successful defences (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (Mexico City) 21 June 1970 - Brazil 4 Italy 1 Italy   Brazil did not lose any matches during the period. ITALY - 9 June 1973 to 23 June 1974 - (380 days) - 2 successful defences (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   (Turin) 9 June 1973 - Italy 2 Brazil 0 Brazil 1 (Rome) 26 February 1974 - Italy 0 West Germany 0 Brazil 2 WORLD CUP (Stuttgart) 19 June 1974 - Argentina 1 Italy 1 Brazil N/A WORLD CUP (Stuttgart) 23 June 1974 - Italy 1 Poland 2 N/A   Italy did not lose any other matches during the period. WEST GERMANY - 7 July 1974 to 5 April 1978 - (1,369 days) - 5 successful defences (second time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (Munich) 7 July 1974 - Netherlands 1 West Germany 2 Netherlands 1 (Frankfurt) 17 May 1975 - West Germany 1 Netherlands 1 Netherlands 2 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL (Belgrade) 17 June 1976 - West Germany 4 Yugoslavia 2ᴭᵀ Yugoslavia (since 31 May 1975) 3 (Belgrade) 30 April 1977 - Yugoslavia 1 West Germany 2 Netherlands (since 19 June 1976) 4 (Rio de Janeiro) 12 June 1977 - Brazil 1 West Germany 1 Netherlands 5 (Mexico City) 14 June 1977 - Mexico 2 West Germany 2 Netherlands   West Germany lost two matches during the period, to: England and France (and also lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia) BRAZIL - 5 April 1978 to 21 June 1978 - (78 days) - 5 successful defences (second time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   (Hamburg) 5 April 1978 - West Germany 0 Brazil 1 West Germany 1 (Rio de Janeiro) 1 May 1978 - Brazil 3 Peru 0 Sweden (since 19 April 1978) 2 WORLD CUP (Mar del Plata) 3 June 1978 - Brazil 1 Sweden 1 Sweden 3 WORLD CUP (Mendoza) 14 June 1978 - Brazil 3 Peru 0 N/A 4 WORLD CUP (Rosario) 18 June 1978 - Argentina 0 Brazil 0 N/A 5 WORLD CUP (Mendoza) 21 June 1978 - Brazil 3 Poland 1 N/A   Brazil did not lose any matches during the period. ARGENTINA - 25 June 1978 to 2 August 1979 - (404 days) - 2 successful defences (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (Buenos Aires) 25 June 1978 - Argentina 3 Netherlands 1ᴭᵀ Netherlands 1 FIFA 75th ANNIVERSARY MATCH (Berne) 22 May 1979 - Argentina 0 Netherlands 0 Argentina won 8-7 on penalties. West Germany (since 20 December 1978) 2 (Rome) 26 May 1979 - Italy 2 Argentina 2 West Germany   Argentina lost one match during the period, to: Bolivia BRAZIL - 2 August 1979 to 5 July 1982 - (1,069 days) - 6 successful defences (third time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   COPA AMÉRICA (Rio de Janeiro) 2 August 1979 - Brazil 2 Argentina 1 Argentina 1 COPA AMÉRICA (Buenos Aires) 23 August 1979 - Argentina 2 Brazil 2 Argentina 2 COPA DE ORO DE CAMPEONES MUNDIALES (Montevideo) 4 January 1981 - Argentina 1 Brazil 1 Argentina (since 1 January 1981 - West Germany from 12 September 1979) 3 COPA DE ORO DE CAMPEONES MUNDIALES (Montevideo) 7 January 1981 - Brazil 4 West Germany 1 Argentina 4 (Stuttgart) 19 May 1981 - West Germany 1 Brazil 2 Argentina 5 (Rio de Janeiro) 21 March 1982 - Brazil 1 West Germany 0 Argentina 6 WORLD CUP (Barcelona) 2 July 1982 - Argentina 1 Brazil 3 N/A 7 WORLD CUP (Barcelona) 5 July 1982 - Brazil 2 Italy 3 N/A   Brazil lost three other matches during the period, to: Paraguay, USSR and Uruguay ITALY - 11 July 1982 to 22 May 1984 - (682 days) - no successful defences (second time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (Madrid) 11 July 1982 - Italy 3 West Germany 1 West Germany (France from 18 April 1984)   Italy lost five matches during the period, to: Switzerland, Romania, Sweden (twice) and Czechoslovakia WEST GERMANY - 22 May 1984 to 28 August 1985 - (464 days) - no successful defences (third time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   FIFA 80th ANNIVERSARY MATCH (Zurich) 22 May 1984 - Italy 0 West Germany 1 Italy   West Germany lost five matches during the period, to: Spain, Argentina, Hungary, England and Mexico USSR - 28 August 1985 to 15 June 1986 - (292 days) - 1 successful defence (first time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   (Moscow) 28 August 1985 - USSR 1 West Germany 0 West Germany 1 WORLD CUP (Leon) 5 June 1986 - France 1 USSR 1 West Germany N/A WORLD CUP SECOND ROUND (Leon) 15 June 1986 - Belgium 4 USSR 3ᴭᵀ N/A   USSR lost four other matches during the period, to: Spain, Mexico, England and Romania ARGENTINA - 29 June 1986 to 2 April 1988 - (644 days) - 1 successful defence (second time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   WORLD CUP FINAL (Mexico City) 29 June 1986 - Argentina 3 West Germany 2 West Germany 1 (Buenos Aires) 16 December 1987 - Argentina 1 West Germany 0 West Germany   Argentina lost five matches during the period, to: Italy, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia and USSR WEST GERMANY - 2 April 1988 to 25 March 1992 - (1,454 days) -  4 successful defences (fourth time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   VIER-LÄNDIER-TURNIER THIRD-PLACE MATCH (Berlin) 2 April 1988 - Argentina 0 West Germany 1 Argentina 1 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP (Dusseldorf) 10 June 1988 - Italy 1 West Germany 1 Argentina 2 (Dusseldorf) 21 September 1988 - West Germany 1 USSR 0 Argentina 3 WORLD CUP FINAL (Rome) 8 July 1990 - Argentina 0 West Germany 1 Argentina (Brazil from 12 July 1989) 4 (London) 11 September 1991 - England 0 Germany 1 Argentina   West Germany lost four matches during the period, to: Netherlands, France, Hungary and Wales (beat Germany) ITALY - 25 March 1992 to 23 March 1994 - (729 days) - 1 successful defence (third time at Number One) Defence Matches Second Place   (Turin) 25 March 1992 - Italy 1 Germany 0 Germany 1 US CUP (Boston) 10 June 1992 - Italy 2 Republic of Ireland 0 Germany (Brazil from 16 December 1992, Germany from 17 November 1993)   Italy lost two matches during the period, to: Switzerland and France FIFA announced its first World Rankings in December 1992 - Germany were first and Italy were second.

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