The Guardian's World Cup newspaper coverage over the years

When the USA achieved a surprise 1-0 victory over England in 1950, it didn't get much of a mention in the paper. In fact, the headline didn't even refer to the opponents, instead stating that England had lost in Brazil (far right). Incidentally, England could have won the match - they had enough chances - but Stanley Matthews was not selected on the grounds that he had not played in the previous game and, consequently, England lacked incisiveness
Photograph: Guardian

Eight years on, when Brazil beat Sweden to win the World Cup, The Guardian afforded it a little more coverage. It was an epic match, ending 5-2 in Brazil's favour. Pele was just 17 at that time and scored twice in the final
Photograph: Guardian

England's finest hour - a 4-2 victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final - was celebrated by the paper in muted style. The headline seems archaic now, but the words 'Moore's majesty emblazons England triumph' summed up the way that Bobby had led the nation to it's greatest sporting victory. The accompanying images showed the team bounding around Wembley with the Jules Rimet trophy
Photograph: The Guardian

Italy's triumph over Germany to win the 1982 tournament was another action-packed final. The Italians won 3-1 despite an early penalty miss. Coverage of the final was printed on page 18 of the paper, in greater detail than ever before
Photograph: Guardian

Who can forget the 1998 quarter-final encounter between England and Argentina, when referee Kim Milton Nielsen sent David Beckham off for his petulant kick at Diego Simeone? By then, the increasing popularity of sport led to the use of this emotive image on the paper's front page
Photograph: Guardian

Following the Berliner redesign in 2003 and the subsequent separation of news and sports sections, Italy's 2006 triumph over France was afforded vast coverage and it's own sport front page. The celebrating Italians were shown above Kevin McCarra's report, while inside the coverage centred on Zinedine Zidane's outrageous head-butt
Photograph: Guardian

More recently, England's exit from this year's competition prompted a 'poster' front page in the sport section. Rooney's dejected face was headed by an excerpt from Paul Hayward's damning report
Photograph: Guardian