On Top of the World...

No, this not a post about the American singing duo, the Carpenters, and it is not about those who have conquered Mt. Everest.  Contrary to popular belief (and a none-too-distinguished record, to be honest), British teams have actually succeeded in lifting World Cup titles in various sports!

Just to confuse Americans (and you can refer back to an early post on here), this includes teams that have competed not only as Great Britain, but as the individual nations of the UK.  In some sports, notably speedway, both England and Great Britain have competed (though not at the same time!), but usually, it is just one or the other.  Incidentally, these are all-male events; I will be covering the distaff versions (where applicable) at a later date.

Here are a list of some of the successes :

Darts : Something of which the British are pretty proud, as success here is not just restricted to the English.  Though Scotland have never won, they did achieve the silver medal position in 2013.  The winning British teams of the biennial event are :

1977 - Wales
1979 - England
1981 - England
1983 - England
1985 - England
1987 - England
1989 - England
1991 - England
1993 - Wales
1995 - England
1997 - Wales
1999 - England
2001 - England
2003 - England
2011 - England
2013 - England

Cricket : England have appeared in three World Cup Finals, losing all three.

Football : The host nation beat West Germany 4-2 (thanks to a Geoff Hurst hat-trick, and one from Martin Peters) to win a memorable clash at Wembley.  Sadly, this remains the only time they have managed to reach the final.

1966 - England

Hockey : When the rest of the world talks about "hockey", they that wonderful sport field hockey, and not ice hockey.  First held in 1971, there has just been the one success for the British in the Hockey World Cup..

1986 - England

Rugby League : The format and regularity of this event has been anything but consistent since its inception in 1954.

1954 - United Kingdom
1960 - United Kingdom
1972 - United Kingdom

Rugby Union : A relatively new event, founded in 1987, there is a marked similarity between this and the football World Cup, with a solitary win.

2003 - England

Snooker : Another event that has changed formats - and names - over the years, as well as being staged very irregularly.  Three wins have been achieved by an "All Ireland" team, and although the teams did include players from Northern Ireland, I have to decided to concentrate on solely British teams.

1979 - Wales
1980 - Wales
1981 - England
1983 - England
1988 - England
1989 - England
1996 - Scotland

Speedway : Again, British teams have met with considerable success, though as you can see, not in recent years!  Originally known as the World Team Cup, it has been an annual event since its inception in 1960.

1968 - Great Britain
1971 - Great Britain
1972 - Great Britain
1973 - Great Britain
1974 - England
1975 - England
1977 - England
1980 - England
1989 - England