A Brief History of the World Cup

Dark Days
The scheduled World Cups of 1942 and 1946 were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. But this 1938 World Cup group game in Paris sees the German team giving the Nazi salute before their 1-1 tie against Switzerland. The Germans failed to make much progress in a tournament that took place on European soil, thus causing outrage in South America, where Uruguay and Argentina believed it would take place. They didn't participate, and Italy became the first team to retain the trophy, defeating Hungary 4-2.

• A Team-by-Team Guide to the 2010 World Cup