With the 2026 World Cup drawing to a close, we've taken a look at the teams to have reached the final on the most occasions since the tournament's inception.
In the inaugural staging of the event the hosts Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to be crowned champions, after both teams had claimed 6-1 wins at the semi-final stage.
Nearly a century has passed since that tournament and still only 13 countries have ever managed to reach the final of a World Cup.
Interesting, while Brazil are famously the only team to have won the World Cup five times, they do not hold the distinction as the team to have reached the final more than any other.
That honour instead belongs to Germany, who appeared in eight World Cup finals between 1954 and 2014.
In 1954 Germany upset Hungary 3-2 in Switzerland to win the tournament for the first time, and followed that up by also lifting the trophy in 1974, 1990 and 2014.
They have also been losing finalists on four occasions, losing to England in 1966 before also being beaten in 1982, 1986 and 2002.
But which other teams join them on this list? Read on to find out.
Countries to appear in the most World Cup finals
- Germany
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Italy
- France
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Hungary
- Czechoslovakia
- Croatia
