8 Different World Cup Winners, 8 Different Tactics

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Introduction

Since the first World Cup in 1930, there have only been 8 countries who have won football's ultimate prize (some more than once of course!).

I wanted a new challenge in FM 2013, not just another long term save with a club or a managerial career, so I came up with the idea of trying to win the 2014 World Cup with all 8 nations whilst attempting to emulate their winning tactics. Where a nation has won more than once, I chose just one of their wins.

Each nation and their tactics are posted in the first 8 replies below (please be patient while I build this!) in the following chronological order:

Uruguay 1950
England 1966
Brazil 1970
Argentina 1986
Germany 1990
France 1998
Italy 2006
Spain 2010


Game Setup

For each nation, I started a new save with only the relevant country selected with a large database size, and set myself as an ex-International player from the respective country with no favourite team. I also did not change any of the default staff and coaches, nor did I manage another club side during each international career.


General Team Management

There is no training and match prep as an International Manager, so none is included.

Make sure to set the set piece and penalty takers.

Team management is important, so regular constructive team talks are needed, especially when the squad gets together for each international.

OIs should always set by your Assistant Manager.


Team Talks

Pre-match should always be an assertive "I expect a win".

Losing or drawing at half-time / full-time is an aggressive "show me something else".

Poor showing (6.0 or less) from individuals at half-time is assertively "not happy". Substitute them if they don't improve by 60 mins (or sub them at half time if they are really bad).

Praise the team at the end of each match if they have won, otherwise follow the assistant's recommendation.


Disclaimers

1. None of these tactics are exact mirrors of the tactics actually used by the winning teams, that would be impossible. All of them are, however, based on the tactics, formations and player roles of the teams involved, and adapted to be playable in game. Where I have been unable to find much information concerning how each played, I have made my own assumptions which may or may not be accurate. I have, however, always tried to at least follow the spirit of each team.

2. Unless stated below, these tactics have only been used with the relevant teams - so I have no idea how each tactic may work with AC Milan or Bristol Rovers (for example!). Results are included below. If you want to know what type of player fits each role, look at the screen shots of the teams.

3. Some of the squad and team selections may seem surprising at first, however the formations are set in stone (eg., I can't start playing Aaron Lennon on England's right wing when the 1966 team didn't have any wingers), therefore I needed to pick players to fit the formations.


Enjoy!



 

World Cup Winners : Uruguay 1950
Host Nation : Brazil​

The Biggest Upset?

GK - Maspoli
SW - Gonzalez
RB - Andrade
CB - Tejera
LB - Gambetta
HB - Perez
HB - Varela
RW - Ghiggia
CF - Schiaffino
CF - Miguez
LW - Moran

This match is from a different era, and quite unfamiliar to the modern game.

It's an era of half backs, outside forwards and a World Cup without a knockout stage - just group winners going into a final round-robin group.

Brazil were the host nation, and red hot favourites to win. So much so that the press and general public had already proclaimed Brazil as champions days before the final match against Uruguay took place. Brazil merely needed a draw, Uruguay had to win - and in front of an estimated 210,000 people at the Maracana national stadium.

After a goalless first half, Brazil took the lead. However, Schiaffino equalised before Ghiggia silenced the crowd with the winner eleven minutes from time.

There was no presentation ceremony. Jules Rimet had prepared a speech in Portuguese to congratulate the expected Brazilian winners. The Brazilian FA had to dispose of 22 gold medals struck with the names of the Brazilian players imprinted on them.

Brazil also changed their team colours after the final as they were now considered to be a jinx. Out went the old home shirt of white with a blue neckline and white shorts. In came the now familiar yellow shirt with green neckline and blue shorts.


 
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World Cup Winners : England, 1966
​
Host Nation : England​


The "Wingless Wonders"

GK - Banks
RB - Cohen
CB - J. Charlton
CB - Moore
LB - Wilson
DM - Stiles
CM - Ball
CM - Peters
AM - R. Charlton
ST - Hurst
ST - Hunt


For this tactic, I went with a flat back four, narrow midfield diamond consisting of an Anchor Man, two centre midfielders and an attacking midfielder, sitting behind a target man and poacher.

Without knowing precisely how England played, I set up a rigid, attacking formation using a quick, more direct style. Don't expect to dominate possession, but you will score goals and defend well.

Andy Carroll proved to be brilliant as the Target Man, with either Defoe or Walcott as the poacher playing off him.

Moore was a far more cultured central defender than Charlton, and setting one as a Limited Defender reflects this.

Stiles, from all accounts, was quite prepared to kick the man if he couldn't get the ball, so an aggressive Anchor Man role is used.

And for Bobby Charlton's role, I used Rooney / Gerrard as an attacking midfielder who would take a few long shots.


Shouts

Unsurprisingly, "Pump ball into box" and "Get ball forward" can be used well.


Highlight

We played Spain in the final, and it proved to be an epic one! Spain were 2-0 up at half time and cruising. I gave the team an aggressive rocket, and Carroll scored twice - equalising in the 88th minute. I was praying for a Hurst-like hattrick, but Baines scored the winner in the 116th. Sweet.

 
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World Cup Winners : Brazil, 1970
Host Nation : Mexico​


One of the Best Teams Ever

GK - Felix
RB - Carlos Alberto
CB - Brito
CB - Piazza
LB - Everaldo
CM - Clodoaldo
CM - Gerson
RW - Jairzinho
LW - Rivelino
ST - Pele
ST - Tostao

A team of legend, and the team that every Brazilian team since have been compared to.

Involved in: the best ever final (4-1 vs Italy); the best goal (Carlos Alberto scoring the 4th); the best tackle (Bobby Moore on Jairzinho); and the best save (Gordon Banks from Pele). Also features 2 of my al time favourite players - Rivelino and Jairzinho.

It's also a lesser known fact that no winning team before or since have conceded more goals!


Tactic(s!)

This was relatively straight forward to pull together, as I already had it - I just tweaked it a little from the original found here http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...17428-arrigo-sacchis-4-4-2-tweaks-thread.html. The tweak is attached below.

No shouts were needed, and as for players, I found that Neymar was absolutely rubbish - Leandro Damiao up front with Ganso in the Pele role were excellent. Paulinho was also a brilliant revelation, and has quickly become one of my favourite players in game, along with Ganso.

I've actually created 2 tactics here, one with a much slower tempo (and slightly different formation) if you prefer that style of play - the heat of the Mexican summer would probably force you to play with that philosophy anyway. Both tactics play well, and I mixed them up between matches or even during matches for some variety.

The "Brazil 1970" is the slower tempo, "Brazil 1970A" is the faster tempo.





 
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World Cup Winners : Argentina, 1986
Host Nation : Mexico​


Big Nose's Revolution

GK - Pumpido
CB - Cucioffo
CB/SW - Brown
CB - Ruggeri
RM - Giusti
CM - Burruchaga
CM/DM - Batista
CM - Enrique
LM - Olarticoechea
10 - Maradona
ST - Valdano

2 (3 if you are English) of the best and most memorable goals of all time, both scored by Maradona, during these finals.

The tactic is a 3-5-2, with the Maradona role set as a Trequartista in the AMCR position, with lots of runs from deep and running with the ball.

As things turned out, this proved to be a very entertaining tactic along the lines of "you score 2, I'll score 3", as my 5-3 results against Canada and Belgium (in the final) and 3-2 against Greece show. In all we scored 21 goals in 7 matches, conceding 8.

In all honesty, I'm not sure how much was down to my tactic and how much was down to the genius of Messi (he scored 10 goals and won the Golden Boot by a mile), but to paraphrase Enrique: "my tactic was so good, it would be difficult for Messi not to score" ;).


Tactic and Shouts

Being Argentina, I went for an initial Fluid/Control philosophy, with a fairly slow tempo, hard tackling and lots of time wasting. If there had been a slider for faking injury, that would have been on high as well ;).

Messi is set as both the Playmaker and Target Man as I just want to get the ball to him really.

Aguero up front, with a central attacking midfielder running hard in support and Messi at number 10 was hard to resist in attack. Pastore was my favoured attacking midfielder, however he got injured and Tevez proved excellent here with his high work rate.

Because of the dynamism of this tactic, I found myself altering the style and shouts fairly often.

I used everything from "Contain" when nearing the end of a half (although on 2 occasions my team promptly went up the other end and scored), to "Very Fluid" and "Attacking" if we needed to break down a stubborn defence.

Good shouts proved to be "Retain Possession" and "Work Ball Into Box".


​


 
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World Cup Winners : (West) Germany, 1990
Host Nation : Italy


​
German Revenge

GK - Illgner
SW - Augenthaler
CB - Buchwald
CB - Kohler
RWB - Berthold
LWB - Brehme
CM - Häßler
CM - Matthaus
CM - Littbarski
ST - Voeller
ST - Klinsmann

Germany got revenge for the 1986 final loss against Argentina by beating them 1-0 in 1990, in what is generally accepted as the worst ever final, thanks to Argentina's negative tactics and a clearly unfit Maradona.

Quite suitably in this save, we played Argentina in the Final, winning 2-1.

However, I chose this German tactic over their other final successes (54 and 74) for some variety and the use of a Libero and attacking wing backs. Building a tactic around the all action Matthaus role (I used Schweinsteiger) was also hard to resist.

As things turned out, this 5-3-2 tactic is probably my favourite out of all 8 posted here.


Tactic

I very rarely use a Box to Box midfielder in tactics, but it was essential here to try to get the Matthaus role right, and was central to the philosophy.

2 attacking wingbacks, an attacking Libero and an attacking advanced playmaker in midfield provide great support, with a Poacher and Complete Forward up front.

Set as Very Fluid to enchance the all action feel of German teams turned out well, with a Standard strategy set from the start of matches but altered during games as things developed.

I used no Shouts.



 
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World Cup Winners : France, 1998
Host Nation : France
​


Les Bleus Innovate

The innovation was a return to a two tier midfield, separating defensive from attacking midfielders, which helped usher in the modern game. Starting with this 4-3-2-1 system (which quickly evolved into today's 4-2-3-1), and inspired by the great Zidane, Les Bleus surprised many by winning the World Cup on home soil.

Of course, Ronaldo not really turning up for the Final probably helped a bit as well...


Tactic

The tactic attached uses 3 defensive midfielders with 2 attacking midfielders ahead and a lone Target Man up front. 3 x DMs is probably not entirely true to the original tactic, however this style proved to be the best fit into the ME to bring success.

With 2 x CMs and 1 DM instead, I struggled through qualification, just managing to beat Belgium in a qualification play off. The formation was just too narrow and defensively weak. Dropping all 3 into the DM position proved very successful however, beating a strong Argentina side in the Final.

DMR and DML are set to "Run from Deep - Sometimes" to help with support play, while the DMC is on defend duty as the Deschamps holding player.

I found myself frequently substituting Giroud from the Target Man position (coincidentally just like Guivarc'h), so that position would need some more work were it to be carried on further.

Overall, I think there is even more potential to be unlocked in this tactic, and one I'll probably look into further.


 
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World Cup Winners : Italy, 2006
Host Nation : Germany​


Azzurri's 4th Win

GK - Buffon
RB - Zambrotta
CB - Cannavaro
CB - Materazzi
LB - Grosso
RW - Camoranesi
CM - Gattuso
CM - Pirlo
LW - Perotta
10 - Totti
ST - Toni

Possibly more famous for Zidane's sending off in his final game for France when he clashed with Materazzi, than the game itself. Italy claimed their 4th World Cup with a penalty shoot out win, and showed that a 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 if you prefer) can still reign supreme.


Tactic

All credit for this goes to seanhrfc and his brilliant tactic found here http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...ure-attacking-tactic-top-teams-underdogs.html. I made a couple of small tweaks to reflect the Italian 2006 squad (it is Lippi not Sacchi after all !) and include the tactic below.

Essentially a 4-4-2, the 2 centre midfielders are dropped into the DM positions, with one marked as a DLP to better reflect the Pirlo role. Up front, one forward is dropped to the AMCR position as a Trequartista to provide a link with the midfield. A DLF support would probably be ok too.

Plenty of goals with a strong defence. If you are looking for a 4-4-2 / 4-4-1-1 then look no further.




 
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World Cup Winners : Spain, 2010
Host Nation : South Africa​


Spain at last, Netherlands fail again

GK - Casillas
RB - Ramos
CB - Pique
CB - Puyol
LB - Capdevila
DM - Busquets
DM - Alonso
CM - Xavi
RW - Iniesta
LW - Pedro
ST - Villa
Sub - Fabregas

The first time Spain and The Netherlands had ever faced each other in the tournament stages of either a World Cup or European Championship, and the first since 1978 when neither finalists were previous World Cup winners. This was also the first time a European team had won the World Cup outside of Europe.


Tactics

I have included two tactics here - the first ("Spain 2010, see below) represents Spain's initial lineup with 2 defensive midfielders. The second ("Spain 2010A") reflects Spain's more attacking formation following the second half substitution of Fabregas for Alonso.

Both tactics provide good amounts of possession with much pressing of the opposition. Up front on the wings, I have set the AML as an Inside Forward (support) for Iniesta, who scored goals for fun from here, and finished up with the Golden Boot award. AMR is a winger attack for some variety.

No Shouts were needed, although changing the style to "Contain" for the final 10 mins of a match when leading works well.

 
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cheers ! looks very interesting... I waited for france 1998 which is my favorite team ever..
 
ggle19 said:
cheers ! looks very interesting... I waited for france 1998 which is my favorite team ever..
Click to expand...

One of my favourites as well - but proving to be one of the teams that is giving me the most trouble, as the current players are nowhere near the team of 98.
 
alicwkd said:
Nice idea, good luck with Uruguay!
Click to expand...

Totally :). There is scant information for the 1950 team, plus their actual formation of a Sweeper sitting behind a single central defender is completely impractical for the ME - put a Sweeper behind a CB and they end up occupying the same space! I've resorted to a back 4 with one CB set as cover.
 
Brazil 1970 now up.

Others will follow today as I get time to post (matches already played).
 
This is a fantastic idea for a thread. I am being tempted to or would like to throw out the idea to another tactical genius to come up with a 5 Different English Premier League Winners. Perhaps Blackburn 1994-1995, Manchester United 1998-1999, Arsenal 2003-2004, Chelsea 2004-2005 & Manchester City 2011-2012.
 
ShaunWolf90 said:
This is a fantastic idea for a thread. I am being tempted to or would like to throw out the idea to another tactical genius to come up with a 5 Different English Premier League Winners. Perhaps Blackburn 1994-1995, Manchester United 1998-1999, Arsenal 2003-2004, Chelsea 2004-2005 & Manchester City 2011-2012.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I need a break first though :).
 
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