The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final. It was Italy's third World Cup win and first since 1938. The holders Argentina were eliminated in the second group round. The tournament's top scorer was Paolo Rossi of Italy with six goals, including a hat-trick in a second group game against Brazil and one in the final.

Spain was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London, England on 6 July 1966. Hosting rights for the 1974 and 1978 tournaments were awarded at the same time. West Germany agreed a deal with Spain by which Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament, and in return West Germany would allow Spain to bid for the 1982 World Cup unopposed.

For the first time, the World Cup finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams. This allowed more teams, especially from Africa and Asia, to participate.

Absent from the finals were 1974 and 1978 runners-up Netherlands (eliminated by Belgium and France) and 1974 and 1978 participant Sweden (eliminated by Scotland and Northern Ireland). Northern Ireland qualified for the first time since 1958. England, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and the Soviet Union were back in the Finals after a 12-year absence. England had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in 20 years - the English team had qualified automatically as hosts in 1966 and as defending champions in 1970, then failed to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 tournaments. Yugoslavia were also back after missing the 1978 tournament. Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand all participated in the World Cup for the first time.

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champions are Spain, who won the 2010 tournament.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month  this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

The 19 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Italy, with four titles; Germany, with three titles; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each.

A World Cup is a type of sporting competition.

World Cup commonly refers to:

World Cup can also refer to:

Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (born 15 July 1954 in Bell Ville, Córdoba) is a retired Argentine footballer. His father, Mario, also a footballer, inspired him to play from a young age. At the age of 7, he began playing with a junior team and at 14, he joined the Talleres reserves. He is most notable for playing for Valencia and being the focal point of Argentina's 1978 World Cup win.

Kempes was nicknamed El Toro and El Matador. During his first stint with Valencia, he won two consecutive Pichichis, scoring 24 and 28 goals in 1976–77 and 1977–78. His career started at local club Instituto, where he played alongside Osvaldo Ardiles before quickly moving on to Rosario Central, where he scored 85 goals in 105 matches and established himself as a notorious goalscorer, which prompted a move to Valencia, where he would go on to win the Copa del Rey, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs goalwards and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulty handling his attacking style.

Roger Milla (born Albert Roger Mooh Miller, 20 May 1952) is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 World Cup, the most memorable of which came in the match against Colombia when he dispossessed the showboating Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita 35 yards from goal, going on to score in the empty net with Higuita stranded. He helped the Cameroon team reach the quarter-finals.

He is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by the legendary Brazilian football player Pelé.