Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in the final in Solna, Stockholm, to claim their first title, having beaten France in the semi-final and Wales in the quarter-final.

Defending champions West Germany were eliminated by runners-up Sweden and would lose to France in a third place match.

[1] Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals.

FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, something that had happened in several previous World Cups.

With Northern Ireland making its debut, and England and Scotland also qualifying, this World Cup was the only one to date to feature all four of the United Kingdom's Home Nations.

On 8 February 1958, in Solna, Lennart Hyland and Sven Jerring presented the results of the draw where the qualified teams were divided into four groups.

[4] This was overturned when the Swedish Football Association complained, stating that it was wrong to change the rules mid-tournament, but also because it wanted the extra revenue from playoff matches.

The official ball was the "Top-Star VM-bollen 1958" model made by Sydsvenska Läder & Remfabriks AB (aka "Remmen" or "Sydläder") in Ängelholm.

The English side had been weakened by the Munich air disaster earlier in the year, which killed three internationals on the books of Manchester United, including England's young star Duncan Edwards.

In a rather restrictive sense, from the 1954 team, only goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, defender Jozsef Bozsik and forward Nándor Hidegkuti remained.

West Germany's Helmut Rahn put them into the semi-finals with a single goal against Yugoslavia, while Sweden went through at the expense of USSR.

In the second half, Pelé outshone everyone, notching two goals, including the first one where he lobbed the ball over Bengt Gustavsson then followed it with a precise volley shot.

Conversely, Nils Liedholm became the oldest player to score in a World Cup Final at 35 years 263 days.

Additionally, the match marked the first time two nations from different continents (Europe and South America) met in a World Cup final.

[10] When doubts arose about whether funding would be forthcoming for rebuilding the Ullevi and Malmö Stadion, the organisers considered stadiums in Copenhagen and Oslo as contingency measures.

Europe South America There was no seeding for this World Cup; the teams were instead allocated geographically into four pots chosen by the FIFA Organising Committee.

[15] This tradition continued in 1958, with West Germany as defending champion and host nation Sweden both being allocated into the same Western European Pot, which kept them from meeting in the group stage.

The West Germans, surprise world champions four years before, were still very strong, and fielded an exciting young forward in Uwe Seeler.

Czechoslovakia was a fairly strong team with a rich football tradition, and was considered to be no walkover for the West Germans or the Argentinians.

In the end, the Northern Irish pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup Finals history by qualifying for the quarter-finals, beating Czechoslovakia in a play-off.

Arriving home, the Argentinian team met the wrath of several thousand angry football fans at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires.

France, even as hosts in 1938, did not secure notable achievements; Yugoslavia failed to match their 1930 semi-final run, and both Paraguay and Scotland entered the tournament as underdogs.

The Swedish hosts could count themselves lucky in ending up in a rather weak group, which they proceeded to win fairly easily with their powerful, workmanlike football.

The success of Wales was a surprise but they drew all their group games and beat the Hungarians in a play-off match to follow Sweden into the knock-out stage.

Wales played Brazil in the quarterfinals and became the recipient of young Pelé's first World Cup goal.

The Soviet Union, having clinched the Olympic gold in 1956, and Austria, securing the bronze medal at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, were also strong contenders.

England, despite being weakened by the tragic Munich air disaster that claimed several players, remained a team of considerable strength.

And when England and Brazil drew 0–0, it was the first time in World Cup history that a game ended goalless.

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.