National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup a group stage, with the final 16 progressing to knockout stages to decide the winner. As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 79 national teams have competed at the final tournaments. Brazil are the only team to have appeared in all 21 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 19, Italy in 18, Argentina in 17 and Mexico in 16. To date, eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are France. The most successful nation in the competition are currently Brazil, who have won the cup on five occasions. Five
2006 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee 2006 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee The 2006 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee (, OK) organized the World Cup in Germany. President of OK was Franz Beckenbauer, who also acted as the official representative and chairman of the German World Cup bid. First Vice President and Vice President of the World Cup Committee was Horst R. Schmidt, the general secretary of the German Football Association (German: "Deutscher Fußball-Bund", DFB). The responsibility of the Executive Vice President of the OK varied and included play and competitive technical matters, stadiums, ticket sales, transportation, safety, regulatory affairs, human resources, finances, planning and control,