SpainHistory:The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (English: Royal Spanish Football Federation) was founded in 1909 and became affiliated with FIFA in 1913. However, the national team did not play a full international match until 1920 when they beat Denmark 1–0 in the Olympic Games. Their first appearance at a major finals was the 1934 World Cup, for which they qualified after 9–0 and 2–1 wins over Portugal. They beat Brazil 3–1 in the first round, before losing 1–0 in a replay to hosts, and eventual champions Italy in Florence. On 3 May 1936 Spain beat Switzerland 2–0 in Bern, in what would prove to be their last game until after the Spanish Civil War in 1941. They would then play only against similarly politically-aligned countries, or Switzerland, Republic of Ireland and Portugal, neutral during World War II until 1949 when they drew 1–1 withBelgium and re-entered FIFA competition.
2# Netherlands
Netherlands
Points:1661
History:The Netherlands played their first international match in Antwerp against Belgium on 30 April 1905. The players were selected by a five-member commission from the Dutch football association. After 90 minutes, the score was 1–1, but because the match was for a trophy (the "Coupe van den Abeele"), the game went into extra time, in which Eddy de Neve scored three times, making the score 1–4 for the Dutch side.The Netherlands made their first appearance at the World Cup final tournament in 1934, and after returning in 1938, the Dutch national team entered the wilderness of world football.
3# Germany
GermanyHistory:Between 1899 and 1901, prior to the formation of a national team, there were five unofficial international matches between different Germanand English selection teams, which all ended as large defeats for the German teams. Eight years after the establishment of the German Football Association (DFB), the first official match of the Germany national football team was played on 5 April 1908, against Switzerland in Basel, with the Swiss winning 5–3. Coincidentally, the first match after World War I in 1920, the first match afterWorld War II in 1950 when Germany was still banned from mostinternational competitions, and the first match in 1990 with former East German players were all against Switzerland as well. Germany's first championship title was even won in Switzerland.
During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games was suspended as most players had to join the armed forces. Many of the national team players were gathered together under coach Herberger as Rote Jäger through the efforts of a sympathetic air force officer trying to protect the footballers from the most dangerous wartime service.
4# England
EnglandHistory:The history of the England national football team dates back to thefirst ever international football match in 1870. They have won one World Cup, in 1966 on home soil. They have had thirteen entries in the tournament from 1950 onwards. England hosted Euro 96 but has never made the final of the European Championship.
5# Brazil
BrazilHistory:The first match of the Brazil national football team ever is generally believed to be a 1914 match between a Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo select team and the English club Exeter City, held in Fluminense's stadium.Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, others claim a 3–3 draw.In contrast to its future success, the national team's early appearances were far from brilliant, partly due to an internal strife within Brazilian football associations over professionalism, which rendered the Brazilian Football Confederation unable to field full-strength teams.
Brazil's first match at home against Exeter City in 1914.
Brazil hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup, which was the first tournament to be held after World War II. It is the only time Brazil has hosted this championship to date (excluding the upcoming 2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament was unique in not having one single final, but rather a final round-robin stage of four teams. However, for all intents and purposes, the deciding match between Brazil and Uruguay acted as that tournament's "final". The match was hosted at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, watched by 199,854 people, and Brazil only needed a draw to win, but lost the match 2–1 after being up 1–0. This match has since been known in South America as the "Maracanazo". In Brazil it is called the "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").
For the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, the Brazilian team was then almost completely renovated, so as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good players, including Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne.
6# Italy
ItalyHistory:The team's first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910, Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2.[4] Some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, the best team of the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received as a prize some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators.[5] The Italian team (2–3–5): De Simoni; Varisco, Calì; Trerè, Fossati, Capello; Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, Boiocchi. First captain of the team was Francesco Calì.
The tragic loss in 1949 of the players of Torino (the winners of the previous four Serie A titles) in the Superga air disaster saw the loss of ten out of the eleven constituting the initial line-up for the national team. The following year, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, partly due to the long and physically devastating boat trip to Brazil (air travel was discarded due to fear of another accident).
Their participation in the 1966 World Cup is always remembered for their 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Rivera and Bulgarelli, were eliminated in the first round by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-Ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath
7# Portugal
PortugalHistory:The Portuguese Football Federation was formed in 1914 with the name União Portuguesa de Futebol (by 1926, they changed to its current name) and the aim of creating national tournaments (since it only existedregional championships) and promoting games in which a Portuguese representative team would play against other teams from various parts of the globe, but unfortunately, due to the World War I, the dream was not made possible for the next seven years.
Portugal’s first game was on 18 December 1921 against Spain. The game ended in a defeat for the national team, 3–1. The following year, the inaugural edition of the Campeonato de Portugal (a knock-out tournament, precursor of the Taça de Portugal) was contested, the winner was defined as the "Portuguese Champion".
8# Croatia
CroatiaHistory:Football was introduced to Croatia by English expatriates in Rijekaand Županja in 1873; the official rulebook was recognized in 1896. By 1907 local clubs had been established in Croatia and a modern edition of the sport's laws was published. FIFA records document a Croatian national team playing a full-length fixture against domestic opposition in 1907. Before the nation's independence, Croatian footballers played for the national teams of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919–39) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–90), though during periods of political upheaval, ethnically Croatian sides sometimes formed to play unofficial matches. A hastily-arranged national side, managed by Hugo Kinert, played a few private domestic matches in 1918–19.
In 1940, Jozo Jakopić led an unofficial national team representing theBanovina of Croatia in four friendly matches: two against Switzerland and two against Hungary.Croatia made their debut as an independently sanctioned team by defeating the Swiss 4–0 in Zagreb on April 2, 1940.Following invasion by the Axis powers, the Croatian Football Federation became briefly active, joining FIFA on July 17, 1941 as the Independent State of Croatia. The national side, under the direction of Rudolf Hitrec, played fifteen friendly matches, fourteen as an official FIFA member.Croatia's first recorded result as a FIFA associate was a 1–1 tie with Slovakia on September 8 in Bratislava.
From 1950 to 1956 another unofficial Croatian team was briefly active; it won games against Indonesia and a Yugoslav team playing as "Serbia".The Yugoslavia squad at the 1956 Summer Olympics included Croatian footballers,as did Yugoslavia in World Cup and European Championship tournaments up to1990.
9# Mexico
MexicoHistory:Football in Mexico was organized in the early 20th century byEuropean immigrant groups, notably Cornish miners from Cornwall,England, and in later years Spanish exiles fleeing the Spanish Civil War. The original team played Guatemala, which the Mexican team won 3–2.
A series of international friendlies were played against the national representation of Guatemala on December 9, 12, and 16 of 1923. The match on December 9 was played in Parque España and was won by Mexico with a final score of 2–1. On December 12, the match ended in a 2–0 win for Mexico, and the final game of the series ended in a 3–3 draw.The manager for this team was Rafael Garza Gutiérrez "Récord", and the assistant coach was Adolfo Frías.
It would be another four years before the national team would be representedin international friendlies. In preparation for a friendly against Spain, the team played a friendly against their "B" squad on June 12, 1927, winning 4–2. OnJune 19, 1927, the Mexican squad faced a selection from Spain, drawing 3–3. During this series, the squad also played against the Uruguayan club Nacional de Montevideo, losing 1–3.
10# Argentina
ArgentinaHistory:La Selección (national team), also known as the Albicelestes (Light blue and whites), has appeared in four World Cup finals, including the first final in1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their next final in 1978, beating the Netherlands 3–1. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany. Their most recent World Cup final was in 1990, which they lost 1–0 to Germany by a much disputed penalty. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it fourteen times and also winning the 'extra' South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentine team (with only three players of over 23 years of age included in the squad) won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
Argentina also won six of the fourteen football competitions at the Pan American Games, winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995 and 2003.
In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time.
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