World Cup is the stepping stone for the teams to bring out their best game. The first edition of the cricket World Cup got held in 1975 in England. West Indies emerged victorious against Australia in the World Cup Final to become the first World Champions in cricket history. The following World Cup winners include West Indies (1979), India (1983), Australia (1987), Pakistan (1992), Sri Lanka (1996), Australia (1999), Australia (2003), Australia (2007), India (2011), Australia (2015), and England (2019). Australia has won the World Cup title a record five times. The following list shows the teams that finished as the runners-up in the first ten ODI World Cup finals.
1. Australia (1975)
In the first World Cup held in 1975, West Indies faced Australia in the World Cup Final. Australia was placed in Group-B and defeated Pakistan and Sri Lanka but lost against the West Indies. Those two wins were enough for the Aussies to qualify for the semi-final where they faced arch-rivals England. They defeated England by four wickets but lost the final by 17 runs.
2. England (1979)
England was the hosts of this edition of the World Cup and ended as runners-up. The English side defeated Australia, Canada, and Pakistan in the group stages and topped the group. They booked their place in the semi-final, where they met New Zealand and beat them by nine runs. England played West Indies in the final and lost by 92 runs.
3. West Indies (1983)
West Indies won the previous two editions of the World Cup in 1975 and 1979. The men in maroon looked like they were winning the World Cup for the record third time but got stopped by India in the final. West Indies were placed in Group-B and topped the group. They played six matches and won five, losing only one. The West Indies defeated Australia and Zimbabwe twice and India once, with one loss coming against India in their first game. West Indies beat Pakistan in the semi-final by eight wickets to book the final berth against India. India became the champions for the first time by defeating the men in maroon by 43 runs.
4. England (1987)
England reached the final of the 1987 World Cup, where they met their arch-rivals Australia. The English side was in Group-B and finished second, only behind Pakistan. All the teams played their opponents twice in the group stage. England won four matches out of six, with two wins each against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Both their losses came against Pakistan. They beat India in the semi-finals by 35 runs and played Australia in the final game, where they got defeated by seven runs.
5. England (1992)
England was the runners-up of the 1992 World Cup. In the round-robin stage, they won five matches, lost two, and one ended in no result. England beat India, West Indies, Australia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa and lost against New Zealand and Zimbabwe. They reached the semi-finals and won against South Africa by 19 runs in a game rain-affected match. But the English team lost the final against Imran Khan’s Pakistan by 22 runs.
6. Australia (1996)
Australia, led by Mark Taylor, reached the finals of the 1996 World Cup and faced Sri Lanka. The Aussies won three and lost two games during the group stages and defeated Kenya, India, and Zimbabwe, but lost against West Indies and Sri Lanka (by walkover). The Aussies defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the quarter-final and beat West Indies in the semi-final by five runs. In their final hurdle, they lost to Sri Lanka by seven wickets.
7. Pakistan (1999)
Pakistan made it to the final of the 1999 World Cup and faced Australia. Pakistan topped their group by defeating West Indies, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand on the way to the Super Six stage, but got beaten by Bangladesh, who won their first World Cup match. Pakistan also topped the Super Six stage by beating Zimbabwe but lost against India and South Africa. Pakistan beat the Kiwis by nine wickets in the semi-final due to Saeed Anwar’s brilliant 113 runs. Pakistan, captained by Wasim Akram, did not put up a good show and lost the final against Australia by eight wickets due to Warne’s four-wicket haul.
8. India (2003)
India reached the finals of the 2003 World Cup and faced an unbeaten Australia. The Indian team led by Saurav Ganguly beat every team in the group stage besides Australia. Those teams were Zimbabwe, England, Pakistan, Netherlands, and Namibia. In the super sixes stage, India defeated Kenya, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand and had done enough to qualify for the semi-final. They faced Kenya in the semi-final and beat them by 91 runs. However, India lost the final against Australia by 125 runs due to Ricky Ponting’s brilliant century.
9. Sri Lanka (2007)
The Sri Lankan team faced Australia in the final of the 2007 World Cup. These two sides met in a World Cup final after 11 years. There were four groups of four teams each, and Sri Lanka was in the second group-Group B. The islanders defeated all the three teams in their group- Bangladesh by 198 runs, India by 69 runs, and Bermuda by 243 runs and qualified for the super eight stages. In the Super Eight stage, Sri Lanka defeated West Indies, England, New Zealand, Ireland and lost to Australia and South Africa. They had done enough to book a place in the knockout stages. Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand in the semi-final by 81 runs but lost to Australia in the final by 53 runs.
10. Sri Lanka (2011)
The Sri Lankan team crossed paths with the Indian team in the final of the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka had defeated four teams in the group stage- New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Canada, and Kenya. Their game against Australia got called off, and their only loss came against Pakistan, where they lost the match by 11 runs. In the quarter-final, they defeated England by ten wickets, and in the semi-finals, they beat the Kiwis by five wickets. India beat Sri Lanka in the final of the 2011 World Cup to become the champions by six wickets after Dhoni hit the six to finish things off in style.
