Only 25 teams have achieved the feat of reaching the World Cup semifinals, including the four that finally made it in the United States to the two positions contending for the two tickets of the title match: France, Spain, England, and Argentina, the defending champions. The most frequent participant in the last four is Germany, which has contested this advanced stage 12 times, followed, in the current 23rd edition, by Brazil and France with eight each, then Italy with seven, and Argentina with six. The first to record their presence in this round were the teams of Argentina, former Yugoslavia, the United States, and Uruguay, the champion and host, during the first edition in 1930. While Uruguay beat Yugoslavia 6-1 to advance to the final, Argentina defeated the Americans by the same score. In the second edition, 1934, the number of goals in the semifinals decreased, and the Italians, hosts and champions, sufficed with a 1-0 win over Austria, while former Czechoslovakia beat Germany 3-1. Unlike the first and second editions, the host, France, was absent from the last four. In that tournament, Italy, which retained the title, beat Brazil 2-1, and Hungary crushed Sweden 5-1. Due to World War II, the tournament was absent in 1942 and 1946 before returning to Brazilian soil in 1950, but with a different system that eliminated the traditional semifinal, replacing it with a group of four teams that all competed for the title, which Uruguay won. Germany crushed Austria 6-1 in the semifinal of the 1954 Switzerland edition, and Hungary beat Uruguay 4-2 in the other match. In the final, the Germans lifted the trophy. Brazil won 5-2 over France during the last four of the 1958 edition in Sweden, whose team beat its German counterpart 3-1 in the other match of the round before losing the final to the samba dancers. Four years later in Chile, the champion retained its title. In the penultimate hurdle of its campaign, it defeated the host 4-2, while Czechoslovakia beat Yugoslavia 3-1. The 1966 tournament semifinal saw England, host and champion, beat Portugal 2-1, and the Germans decided their match against the former Soviet Union by the same score. On Mexican soil, Brazil, the champion, beat Uruguay 3-1 in the 1970 semifinal, and Italy beat Germany 4-3. The tournament introduced a new system in the 1974 Germany and 1978 Argentina editions, which required the two finalists to reach the final without a semifinal, but through an additional group stage of two groups. In both editions, the host won the cup. The last four returned in Spain 1982, and in that round, Italy, the champion, beat Poland 2-0, and Germany and France drew 3-3 before the German machine won on penalties. That was the first time penalties decided a match in this stage of the tournament. The 1986 semifinals in Mexico were characterized by a 2-0 scoreline, with which Argentina, the champion, beat Belgium, and Germany beat France. Germany took revenge on Argentina in the 1990 final in Italy, and before that, England advanced past the last four, benefiting from penalties after a 1-1 draw. The same scenario decided the other semifinal, which brought together the tango dancers and the host team. Brazil, champion of the 1994 America edition, qualified for the final by beating Sweden 1-0, and met the Italians, who reached the final after defeating Bulgaria 2-1. In 1998, the last four saw the host and champion, France, win 2-1 over Croatia, and Brazil beat the Netherlands on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Brazil advanced past the 2002 semifinal after a 1-0 win over Turkey, and met Germany, who had scored the same result against South Korea, co-host with Japan. Germany, host in 2006, lost 0-2 to Italy in the last four, which saw France beat Portugal 1-0. The Dutch reached the 2010 final in South Africa after a 3-2 win over Uruguay, and lost the final to Spain, who had qualified after a 1-0 win over Germany. Germany achieved the biggest result in a World Cup semifinal when they caused a resounding shock in 2014 against the host Brazil, crushing them 7-1. The other match of the same round ended goalless between the Netherlands and Argentina, who won on penalties before losing the final to the German machine. On the way to the 2018 Russia final, the French champion beat Belgium 1-0 in the last four, and Croatia overcame the English 2-1. The first Arab and African presence in this advanced stage of the tournament came through Morocco in 2022 on Qatari soil, but France beat them 2-0 before losing the final to Argentina, who had reached the title-deciding match after a 3-0 win over Croatia.