FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the football World Cup or the soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of member nations of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (the sport's global governing body). The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II. However, the event is often ongoing, as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds. Since 1991, FIFA has also held the Women's World Cup on a similar four-year schedule.

The tournament's final phase (often called the "World Cup Finals") involves thirty-two national teams competing at several venues (within the host nation or nations) over a period of about a month. It is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with 1.1 billion people watching the 2002 tournament final.2002 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage, FIFA official website. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

In eighteen tournaments held, only seven nations have won. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times. The current Cup holder, Italy, follows with four titles, while Germany holds three. The other former champions are Uruguay and Argentina with two titles each, and England and France with one title each. Of the ten World Cups staged in Europe, only one saw victory by a non-European team, that being Brazil in 1958. When held outside Europe, the competition has only been won by South American teams. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: the USA (in 1930) and South Korea (in 2002).

The most recent football World Cup Finals were held between June 9 and July 9, 2006 in Germany, where Italy were crowned champions after beating France 1-1 (5-3) in a penalty shoot-out.

History

Previous international competitions

The first international football match was played in 1872 between Scotland and England. England National Football Team Match No. 1 At this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain and Ireland. As football began to increase in popularity, it was held as a demonstration sport (with no medals awarded) at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, and at the 1906 Intercalated Games; football became an official competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Planned by The Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the event in both 1908 and 1912.

In 1906, there was an attempt made by FIFA to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in Switzerland. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.Where it all began FIFA official website. Retrieved on April 10 2006.

With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton produced the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. For this reason, it was not really a forerunner of the World Cup. Notwithstanding, the competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,'The First World Cup'. The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy. Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council. Retrieved on April 11 2006. and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an English amateur side from County Durham, that was invited after the Football Association refused to be associated with the competition. West Auckland returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt (who were knocked out in their first match) and thirteen European teams. The golden medals were won by Belgium.VII. Olympiad Antwerp 1920 Football Tournament rec.sport.soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved on June 10 2006. Uruguay won the tournaments in 1924 and 1928. In 1928 FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.

The first official World Cup

The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of football in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.The Football World Cup - An Introduction, h2g2. Retrieved on May 13, 2006. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus planned the inaugural World Cup tournament to be held in Uruguay in 1930. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition.Uruguay 1930 FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on January 9 2006. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total 10 nations took part — four from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who beat Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.FIFA World Cup Origin, FIFA Media Release. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

Growth

The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

The 1950 World Cup was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football,Scotland and the 1950 World Cup, BBC. Retrieved on May 13 2006. but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again.

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams qualified for each finals tournament, except in 1938 and 1950 where teams withdrew after qualifying. Most were from Europe and Latin America, with a very small minority from Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams (with the notable exception of North Korea, who reached the 1966 quarter-finals).

The finals were expanded to 24 teams in 1982, then 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, these comparatively new participants have enjoyed more success, including Morocco, reaching the knockout rounds in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Saudi Arabia, reaching the knockout rounds in 1994; Nigeria, reaching the knockout rounds in both 1994 and 1998; Japan reaching the knockout rounds; Senegal, quarter-finalists in 2002; United States, also quarter-finalists in 2002; South Korea, semi-finalists in 2002, and Australia and Ghana, both reaching the knockout rounds in 2006.

198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and all but three of the 207 FIFA member nations have previously entered the competition, with Comoros, East Timor and Bhutan the only current members not yet to have entered (Comoros and East Timor were not FIFA members at the time of the qualifying draw for the 2006 tournament, and so have not yet had an opportunity to take part).Bhutan - team profile, FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in China.

Trophy

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered.Jules Rimet Cup, FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. This is not awarded to the winning nation permanently, irrespective of how many World Cups they win. Argentina, Germany (as West Germany), Italy and Brazil have all won the second trophy twice. It will not be retired until the name plaque has been entirely filled with the names of winning nations in 2038. The FIFA World Cup Trophy, Official Site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

The new trophy is 36 cm high, made of solid (fully gold) 18-carat gold and weighs 10.97 kilogrammes. The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the Trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974.

World Cup winners retain it until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original.

Format

Qualification

Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations. The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the South American zone entered a play-off to decide which team would qualify for the 2006 World Cup.Matches and Results, FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on May 13, 2006. From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations have received an automatic berth in the finals. This right also used to be granted to the defending champion, but from the 2006 finals onwards, this entitlement has been withdrawn, requiring the champions to qualify as well.Brazil's Juan warns against complacency, FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

Final tournament

The current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: a group stage followed by a knockout stage.

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded (based on both current FIFA World Rankings and recent World Cups) and assigned to separate groups. The other teams are drawn at random. Since 1998, constraints have applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is held simultaneously to preserve fairness.

The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners received two points rather than three). If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tie-breakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e. determining team positions at random).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination round in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner. It begins with the "round of 16" (or "last 16") in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The losing semi-finalists contest a third-place match.

Selection of hosts

Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was highly controversial, given the three week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.History of 1930 World Cup, BBC. Retrieved on May 13, 2006. The next two world cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.France 1938, FIFA World Cup site. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

After the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup (hosted jointly by Japan and Korea) was the first one held in Asia, and in 2010, South Africa will become the first African nation to host the World Cup.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was allocated to South America in 2003, allowing the ten member nations of CONMEBOL to bid in order to host. However, after a short period of time, every nation in the continent backed Brazil as the only viable host of the 2014 finals, creating the odd situation where the 2014 World Cup host was unofficially determined. However, it is not yet certain that Brazil will be able to host the competition; if the Brazilians pull out, there has been discussion of a proposed bid by Chile and Argentina to co-host the tournament as did Korea/Japan in 2002. Colombia is also considering a bid to host the World Cup. Otherwise, the tournament will be moved to another continent. Recently, FIFA president Sepp Blatter indicated that Brazil is "almost certain to be the hosts of the 2014 World Cup.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=373231&cc=5739"

The system evolved so that the host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's executive committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The decision is currently made six years in advance of the tournament.

Media coverage

The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. http://www.fifa.com/fifa/pub/newsletter/fifanews.6-97.html FIFA Newsletter] by Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA General Secretary, June 1997. Retrieved on May 13, 2006. The cumulative audience of the World Cup 2002 event - summing over all matches - is estimated to be 28.8 billion. 1.1 billion individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a sixth of the entire population of the planet). The draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, has been watched by 300 million viewers."Socceroos face major challenge: Hiddink", ABC Sport, December 10, 2005. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.

Each Football World Cup usually has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the World Cup 2006 are Goleo, a lion, and Pille, a football.

Results

World Cup summaries

Yugoslavia

Year	Host	Winner	Score	Runner-up	3rd Place	Score	4th Place
Year	Host	Final			Third Place Match
1930 Details	Uruguay	Uruguay	4–2	Argentina	USA	n/aThere was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930 and no official third place was awarded; USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals.
1934 Details	Italy	Italy	2–1 after extra time	Czechoslovakia	Germany	3–2	Austria
1938 Details	France	Italy	4–2	Hungary	Brazil	4–2	Sweden
1950 Details	Brazil	Uruguay	There was no official World Cup final match in 1950. The tournament winner was decided by a final group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). However, Uruguay's 2-1 victory over Brazil (match known as Maracanazo), was the decisive match (and also coincidentally one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensured that they finished top of the group as world champions. Sweden's 3-1 victory over Spain (played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil) likewise ensured that Sweden finished third.	Brazil	Sweden		Spain
1954 Details	Switzerland	West Germany	3–2	Hungary	Austria	3–1	Uruguay
1958 Details	Sweden	Brazil	5–2	Sweden	France	6–3	West Germany
1962 Details	Chile	Brazil	3–1	Czechoslovakia	Chile	1–0	Yugoslavia
1966 Details	England	England	4–2 after extra time	West Germany	Portugal	2–1	Soviet Union
1970 Details	Mexico	Brazil	4–1	Italy	West Germany	1–0	Uruguay
1974 Details	West Germany	West Germany	2–1	Netherlands	Poland	1–0	Brazil
1978 Details	Argentina	Argentina	3–1 after extra time	Netherlands	Brazil	2–1	Italy
1982 Details	Spain	Italy	3–1	West Germany	Poland	3–2	France
1986 Details	Mexico	Argentina	3–2	West Germany	France	4–2 after extra time	Belgium
1990 Details	Italy	West Germany	1–0	Argentina	Italy	2–1	England
1994 Details	USA	Brazil	0–0 (3–2) on penalties	Italy	Sweden	4–0	Bulgaria
1998 Details	France	France	3–0	Brazil	Croatia	2–1	Netherlands
2002 Details	South Korea & Japan	Brazil	2–0	Germany	Turkey	3–2	South Korea
2006 Details	Germany	Italy	1-1 (5-3) on penalties	France	Germany	3–1	Portugal
2010 Details	South Africa

Successful national teams

In all, 207 teams have competed to qualify for the World Cup Finals, and 78 nations have qualified at least once. Of these, only eleven have made it to the final match, and only seven have won. This exclusivity inspires much enthusiasm and national pride amongst the tournament's fans.

With five victories out of its seven appearances in the final match, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup Finals tournament so far.

As of 2006 - and at the continental level - Europe has drawn even with South America at nine titles a piece. Brazil and Germany are tied for most appearances in the final match with seven (Brazil has won five; Germany has won three). Brazil and Italy were finalists each challenging for their third cup in 1970 and for their fourth cup in 1994. In both matches, Brazil won.

The seven national teams that have won the World Cup have added stars to the crest, located on their shirt, each star representing a World Cup victory.

Team	Titles	Winning years	Runner-up	Third-place	Fourth-place
	5	1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002	2 (1950*, 1998)	2 (1938, 1978)	1 (1974)
	4	1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006	2 (1970, 1994)	1 (1990*)	1 (1978)
	3	1954, 1974*, 1990	4 (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002)	3 (1934, 1970, 2006*)	1 (1958)
	2	1978*, 1986	2 (1930, 1990)	-	-
	2	1930*, 1950	-	-	2 (1954, 1970)
	1	1998*	1 (2006)	2 (1958,1986)	1 (1982)
	1	1966*	-	-	1 (1990)
	0	-	2 (1974, 1978)	-	1 (1998)
	0	-	2 (1938, 1954)	-	-
0	-	2 (1934, 1962)	-	-
	0	-	1 (1958*)	2 (1950, 1994)	1 (1938)
	0	-	-	2 (1974, 1982)	-
	0	-	-	1 (1954)	1 (1934)
	0	-	-	1 (1966)	1 (2006)
	0	-	-	1 (1962*)	-
	0	-	-	1 (1998)	-
	0	-	-	1 (2002)	-
Yugoslavia#	0	-	-	Semifinal (1930)	1 (1962)
	0	-	-	Semifinal (1930)	-
	0	-	-	-	1 (1950)
0	-	-	-	1 (1966)
	0	-	-	-	1 (1986)
	0	-	-	-	1 (1994)
	0	-	-	-	1 (2002*)

* = hosts

# = now compete as independent countries

Six of the seven champions have won at least one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exception being Brazil, who lost the deciding match (known as Maracanazo) when they hosted the 1950 tournament. England (1966 FIFA World Cup) and France (1998 FIFA World Cup) won their only Cups while playing as host nations. Uruguay, Italy and Argentina won their first Cups has host nations but have gone on to win again. The other successful hosts, West Germany, won their second cup on friendly soil. Other nations have also been successful during their spell as hosts. Sweden played the final in 1958 and South Korea made it to the semi-finals as a co-host in 2002 despite never previously passing the first round. Mexico has twice made it to the Quarterfinals, both times as the host nation. The success of the host in the Cup is a major reason why nations actively lobby to be selected as hosts, as they seek to gain the advantage of a supportive crowd. All World Cups won by European teams have taken place in Europe.

Best performances by continental zones

To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by European and South American teams.

Continent	Best performance
Europe	9 titles, won by Italy (4), Germany (3), England (1), and France (1)
South America	9 titles, won by Brazil (5), Argentina (2), and Uruguay (2)
North America	Semi-final (USA, 1930)
Asia	Fourth place (South Korea, 2002)
Africa	Quarterfinal (Cameroon, 1990; Senegal, 2002)
Oceania	Second Round (Australia, 2006)

Awards

At the end of each World Cup final tournament, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than final team position in the tournament. There are currently six awards:

The adidas Golden shoe (formerly called the Golden Shoe, or, sometimes, the Golden Boot, first awarded in 1930) for top goal scorer;
The adidas Golden Ball for best player (formerly called the Golden Ball, first awarded in 1982);
The Yashin Award for best goalkeeper (first awarded in 1994);
The FIFA Fair Play Award for the team with the best record of fair play (first awarded in 1978);
The Most Entertaining Team award for the team that has entertained the public the most during the World Cup final tournament, as determined by a poll of the general public, first awarded in 1994;
The Gillette Best Young Player award for best player under-21 years of age at the start of the calendar year, first awarded in 2006.

Records and statistics

Largest margin of victory: Hungary 9-0 South Korea, 1954; Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire, 1974; Hungary 10-1 El Salvador, 1982
Most goals scored in a World Cup qualifier: Australia 31-0 American Samoa, 2002 qualification.
Most World Cup tournaments, player: Antonio Carbajal (Mexico, 1950-1966) and Lothar Matthäus (West Germany and Germany, 1982-1998), 5
Most World Cup match appearances, player: Lothar Matthäus (Germany), 25
Most goals scored, player, career: Ronaldo (Brazil 1994-2006), 15
Most goals scored, player, tournament: Just Fontaine (France), 13, 1958
Most goals scored, player, match: Oleg Salenko, 5, Russia vs Cameroon, 1994.
Fastest goal from kickoff: Hakan Şükür, 10.8 seconds for Turkey vs South Korea, 2002
Fastest goal during qualification: Davide Gualtieri, 8 seconds for San Marino vs England, 1994 qualification on November 17 1993.
Most consecutive wins by a coach in World Cup finals: 12 Scolari with Brazil 2002 (7) and Portugal 2006 (5) though the last of these was in a penalty shoot-out.
Most consecutive wins by a team in World Cup finals: 11 Brazil - 2002(7)-2006(4)
Youngest player to appear at a FIFA World Cup: Norman Whiteside: 17 years and 41 days Northern Ireland vs Yugoslavia, 1982.
Youngest player to score a goal: Pelé, 17 years and 239 days, Brazil vs Wales, 1958
Oldest player to appear at a FIFA World Cup: Roger Milla, 42 years and 39 days, Cameroon vs Russia, 1994
Oldest player to score a goal: Roger Milla, 42 years and 39 days, Cameroon vs Russia, 1994
Most cards shown in a match (yellow and red): 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards, Portugal vs Netherlands, 2006 (referee: Valentin Ivanov). This was also the most red cards (4) given out in a game.
Most red cards at a World Cup finals tournament: 28 in 64 matches (Germany, 2006).

Most World Cup goals:

Rank	Player, Team	Goals Scored by Player	Games Played/ Tournaments
1	Ronaldo, Brazil	15	4 World Cups 1994 1998 2002 2006 (18 matches, did not play in 1994)
2	Gerd Müller, Germany	14	2 World Cups 1970 1974 (14 matches)
3	Just Fontaine, France	13	1 World Cup 1958 (6 matches)
4	Pelé, Brazil	12	4 World Cups 1958 1962 1966 1970 (14 matches)
=5	Sándor Kocsis, Hungary	11	1 World Cup 1954 (5 matches)
=5	Jürgen Klinsmann, Germany	11	3 World Cups 1990 1994 1998 (17 matches)

Notes and references

External links

FIFA World Cup | International national football competitions

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