FIFA World Cup: 5 Best Teams To Have Never Won The Trophy

#1 Hungary (1954)

England's misplaced superiority complex when it comes to football is pretty well documented. They christened themselves as the best team in the world without ever kicking a ball in the World Cup, and when they did turn up in the 1950 edition, they were beaten by the United States, a team comprising plumbers, mechanics and truck drivers.

However, because modern football was invented in England, beating them at their Wembley home in London was still the pinnacle every team aspired to reach. It was easier said than done, though, as England routinely dispatched teams with embarrassing scorelines. Until Hungary turned up.

The Hungarian team was a pretty powerful force in football in the pre-war years, having competed in the knockout stages of the World Cups they took part in. But, given the general English preoccupation with themselves, the Hungarians were invited for a friendly to London in 1953 with the locals widely expecting a hammering in favour of the home side. What a packed Wembley saw that day shocked them to their very core.

The Hungarians demolished England 3-6 in what turned out to be one of the greatest friendlies of all time. The notorious English press were infatuated by the Hungarians' ultra-attacking style, led by the legend Ferenc Puskas, and they give their vanquishers a name that still makes the England fan shudder - the Mighty Magyars were born.

Not that the Hungarians were surprised by the scoreline. They had already bagged the 1952 Olympic Gold and the 1953 Central European Championship with remarkable ease and were ranked as the best team in the world. The way in which the English were dismantled left the latter smarting, and a return match was organized in Budapest, with England keen to prove that their shocking collapse at Wembley was just an anomaly.

The message clearly failed to reach the Hungarians, who tore into England once again and this time, thumped them 7-1. By the time the 1954 World Cup came along, anything but a Hungarian victory would have been the surprise. And true to pre-tournament predictions, Hungary reached the final without breaking a sweat - their campaign included a 9-0 dismantling of Switzerland and an 8-3 shellacking of West Germany, who recovered in time to make it to the final themselves.

Hungary took a two-goal lead in no time and looked set to be worthy winners of the World Cup, but Germany turned a thrilling final on its head by scoring thrice to emerge 3-2 victors in the 'Miracle Of Bern'. The World title was snatched away from Hungary - a team that lost only once between 1950 and 1956 when the Hungarian Revolution brought down the curtains on this team. Hungarian football has never reached those dizzying heights ever again.