The 1954 tournament turned out to be an even more surprising World Cup than 1950, because hot favourites Hungary were beaten 3-2 in the Berne final - since dubbed the "miracle of Berne" in Germany - by a West German side that they had thrashed 8-3 earlier in the tournament. Moreover, the Magical Magyars" were 2-0 up within eight minutes. But main man Ferenc Puskas was clearly unfit, and a largely German crowd encouraged Fritz Walter and company to pull off an unlikely comeback.
The Nationalmannschaft" had arrived on the world stage it was the first televised World Cup -albeit amid allegations of doping.
The 1958 World Cup, of course, will be remembered for the arrival of a precocious 17 year-old known as Pele. The mercurial teenager scored one of the most memorable goals of all time in the final against hosts Sweden, impudently flicking the ball over defender Orvar Bergmark then scoring with a precise volley.
The other great individual achievement in 1958 belonged to Just Fontaine, establishing a 12-goal tournament scoring record that will probably never be equalled let alone bettered.
Brazil retained their world crown in Chile in 1962, though the star then was the enigmatic Garrincha rather than Pele, who was injured in the first round.
Pele also suffered injury in England in 1966, and Brazil crashed out against a Portuguese side led by Eusebio. A workmanlike rather than brilliant England side enjoying home advantage they were the only winners to play all their matches in one place, Wembley controversially beat West Germany 4-2 in the final.
Many Germans insist to this day that Hursts second goal he afterwards went on to complete his hat-trick did not cross the goal line.
The 1970 tournament, staged by Mexico, saw what was probably the best ever football team Brazil, with Pele finally fit romp to the title on a flood of goals. As a reward for their third triumph, Pele and company were allowed to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy.
1974 was the year when Franz Beckenbauers Germans overcame the Total Football" of Johann Cruyff and his Dutchmen, thanks largely to the passing of Wolfgang Overath, to the hard running of Rainer Bonhof and to the goals of Gerd Muller.
Beckenbauer and Cruyff both declined to go to Argentina in 1978, partly out of distaste for the brutal regime of Jorge Videla, which was busy disappearing" up to 30,000 of its own citizens.
In a re-run of 1934, Videla pulled out all the stops to help the hosts. He even went into the Peruvian dressing-room just before the game that Argentina need to win by four goals in order to reach the final. They won 6-0, with young Mario Kempes scoring twice. Kempes scored two more in the final, in which Argentina beat 3-1 a Netherlands side sorely missing Cruyff.
In 1982 the World Cup, hosted by Spain, was extended from 16 to 24 teams, unfortunately adding more quantity than quality.
Italy came out of their shell after a horrible first round, thanks to the goals of a Paolo Rossi who had just finished a two-year ban for match-fixing. Rossi hit a hat-trick in the 3-2 thriller against Brazil, two against Poland in the semis and the first against a mediocre West Germany side in the final.
The Germans were just as mediocre in Mexico in 1986 and just as defiant. This time they were outclassed in the final by an Argentina side built around the imperious Diego Mardona.
Colombia had been awarded the 1986 finals but pulled out three years before, and Mexico became the first country to stage the World Cup twice.
Italy followed suit in 1990, staging a World Cup with more tension than quality. West Germany celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German impending unification by beating Argentina 1-0 in a bad-tempered final. Beckenbauer became the second man Brazilian Mario Zagallo had been the first to lead his country to the world crown as coach and player.
1994 was just as tense as 1990, and it was the first tournament to have the final decided on a penalty shootout. It was cruelly ironic that Italys best two players throughout the tournament Franco Baresi and Roberto Baggio would miss their penalties in the shootout against Brazil.
The 1994 World Cup was successfully staged by the USA, despite the midsummer heat, helping soccer" to finally capture the American imagination and affection.
Brazil also reached the 1998 final but were thrashed 3-0 by hosts France, who had built a clever multi-racial side around Zinedine Zidane, the finals two-goal hero.
In 2002 the World Cup finally went to Asia, to be shared by Japan and South Korea in the first experiment in co-hosting. Brazil triumphed for the fifth time, establishing a new record by winning all seven of their matches, on a flood of goals from Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
2002 also set a new record for complaints about refereeing decisions, after first Italy then Spain were controversially knocked out by the Korean hosts.
Referees also took centre-stage in 2006, when Zidane was sent off in his last match before retirement for the now infamous head-butt in the final against the provocative Marco Materazzi.
Without Zidane, France lost the penalty shootout against Marcello Lippis Italians, who probably deserved the world crown after their memorable 2-0 win in the semis against hosts Germany.
And so to South Africa in 2010.
