by Matthew Adams

Created on: February 05, 2013

The FIFA World Cup has been played at various destinations in Europe, South America, North America etc. Most of the host nations have been selected for one World Cup finals, but there are a few that have hosted two finals. These are the hosts that have had a couple of World Cups.

Italy:

The Italians are big soccer fans, and they have put in a few bids to host the FIFA World Cup. Italy was selected as a venue for the 1934 World Cup finals. This World Cup was one of the few that did not include any group stage. Instead it had 16 teams which played in what was entirely a cup format.

With home advantage the Italians played their way into the final. They defeated Spain and Austria en route. In the final they came up against Czechoslovakia in Rome. A relatively small final attendance of 45,000 cheered on the Italians at the PNF stadium. But they went a goal down when Puc put the Czechs in front with little more than 15 minutes to play. Within the final 10 minutes of play the Italians equalized to take the game to extra-time. During that period the Italians scored again to make it 2 – 1, and held the lead to win their first World Cup.

The Italians were also selected to host the 1990 World Cup, otherwise Italia '90. Then the World Cup was a 24 team contest, with group stages. This was a somewhat dull cup with a number of low scoring games, and plenty of penalties.

The Italian team were among the favorites. They conceded no goals in any of their games up to the semi-finals. However, Argentina's equalizer took their semi-final match into extra-time. When the final whistle went the score remained 1 – 1, and Argentina emerged victorious in the penalty shoot-out that followed. But in the final it was West Germany that won the World Cup with a 1 – 0 victory.

Germany:

Germany was first selected as a venue for the FIFA World Cup in 1974. Then the FIFA World Cup was played out in West Germany. In this World Cup there were a couple of group stages, with the top two teams from the second playing in the final.

West Germany made it to the World Cup final in Munich, and in that game they played Holland. Holland took an early lead when they were given a penalty which they duly converted. But by the end of the half the Germans were leading 2 – 1. After halftime Holland could not score an equalizer, and so it was West Germany that lifted the trophy on home soil.

Germany were also selected to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Then the World Cup was played in both

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