L'Équipe lists the number of World Cup runners-up: the Netherlands, the "uncrowned kings," three times; Croatia, two times.

According to L'Equipe, 20 countries have stood on the podium in World Cup history, but only 8 teams have won the championship. The Netherlands has finished as runners-up three times, making them the team with the most outstanding record among those who have never won the title.

Since the first World Cup in 1930, 20 countries have stood on the podium, but only eight teams have won the championship at least once. Some national teams have performed brilliantly multiple times, yet have never managed to win the ultimate honor.

Will the 2026 World Cup see Spain lift the trophy for the second time, or Argentina for the fourth? In any case, there will be no new champions. Only eight countries in World Cup history have won at least one title. Other teams, while coming close to the top and even reaching the top three multiple times, have never quite reached the championship. Which countries have most frequently missed out on victory?

The Netherlands tops the list, having lost to the final three times. The Oranje lost to West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978), and Spain (2010), but also defeated home favorites Brazil in 2014 to secure third place.

Sweden has reached the podium three times, but never at the highest level: they lost to Brazil in the 1958 final and finished third twice (1950 and 1994). Croatia has a similar record. Led by Modric, the team lost to France in the 2018 final, but four years later defeated Morocco in Qatar to win third place, just like their Croatian predecessors who beat the Netherlands in 1998.

Following these three teams, Hungary and Czechoslovakia (which dissolved in 1992) each lost two World Cup finals, both early in the tournament's history. Poland finished third twice, in 1974 and 1982. Six other teams have reached the podium once, all as third-place finishers: the United States (1930), Austria (1954), Chile (1962), Portugal (1966), Turkey (2002), and Belgium (2018).

It's worth noting that if we include countries that have won the championship, the country with the most podium finishes in history is not Brazil, the five-time champion, but Germany. The German team has four championships, four runner-up finishes, and four third-place finishes, for a total of 12 podium finishes (Brazil has nine).