2014 FIFA World Cup

The World Cup is a quadrennial (happening every 4 years),
international soccer tournament. 32 nations from all over the
world compete in the tournament, which consists of an
opening round of group play and then 3 rounds of single
elimination “knockout” stages leading up to the World Cup
Final.
Countries that want to host a World Cup submit their bids
highlighting their strengths as a venue and then members of
the FIFA Executive Board vote for the winner.
The 2014 World Cup is in Brazil. Since host countries are usually chosen well in advance, the locations for the next two
World Cups have already been announced: Russia in 2018 and
Qatar in 2022
Each World Cup Tournament is
held in a “host country,” which is
awarded by the Fédération
Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA), the
governing body of international
soccer.
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
BosniaHerzegovina
Brazil
Cameroon
Côte d’Ivoire
(Ivory Coast)
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Ecuador
England
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Honduras
Iran
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Nigeria
Portugal
Russia
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
United States
Uruguay
Previous Winners
Brazil 1958
1962
1970
1994
Italy 1934
1938
1982
2006
Germany 1954
1974
1990
Argentina 1978
1986
Uruguay 1930
1950
France 1998
England 1966
Spain 2010
2002
The first World Cup was held in 1930. Uruguay was chosen as the
first host country because it was celebrating the 100th anniversary
of independence from Brazil and because Uruguay had won the
previous two Olympic soccer championships. Prior to 1930, FIFA
endorsed the winner of the Olympic tournament as “World
Champion,” but they wanted to hold their own soccer tournament
separate from the Olympics. The World Cup has been held every
four years since 1930, except for 1942 and 1946 due to World War
II.
Poster for the 1930 World Cup
Tournament
Fifa.com
In 1930, 13 teams competed. The competition
was expanded to 16 teams in 1934 and then to
24 teams in 1982. In 1998, the field was expanded again to the current total of 32 teams.
Sportige.com
Sportige.com
Sportige.com
The first World Cup had a little over 590,000 fans attend the matches. As overseas and long distance travel
has become cheaper and easier, more and more fans
are able to watch their team’s games in person. The
2010 Cup, held in South Africa, drew nearly 3.2 million fans. The highest attendance for a World Cup
was in 1994 when the United States hosted over 3.5
million spectators.
There are several awards handed out in addition to the World Cup trophy. Individual
players might be recognized with the “Golden Ball” (for best overall player), “Golden
Glove” (for best goalkeeper), or “Golden Boot” (most goals scored).
The “Golden Boot” is one of the most popular awards and one of the oldest (it has
been awarded since the first Cup in 1930). In 2010, German player Thomas Müller
won the boot having scored 5 goals.
The Golden Boot Award
A team that particularly captures the attention of
fans might win the “Most Entertaining Team
Award while the
team that exhibits
the best behavior
and sportsmanship receives the
“FIFA Fair Play
Trophy.”
The Telegraph
German National Player Thomas Müller
Brazil’s Ronaldo scored 15
goals in 4 World Cup appearances. As of the start of
World Cup 2014, this is the
most goals scored by a single
player in World Cup history.
Brazil’s Ronaldo
Right behind Ronaldo with
14 goals is Germany’s Miroslav Klose (which ties him
with fellow German Gerd
Müller for second place).
Ronaldo retired after the 2006
World Cup, but Klose will be
playing for Germany in 2014.
Will he break Ronaldo’s record in Ronaldo’s home country?
Germany’s Miroslav Klose
Ronaldo might be the greatest goal scorer in World Cup
history, but there is little argument that another Brazilian is the greatest player ever: Pelé. Pelé played in 4
World Cups, winning 3 and ranks 5th on the all-time
goal scoring list with 12. He became the face of soccer
around the world.
Pelé also helped increase interest in soccer in the
U.S. by playing 3 years in the North American Soccer
League.
Since retiring from playing, he has become a UN
Ambassador, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and
of course an ambassador for the game of soccer. He is
still loved by millions around the world.
FIFA.com—follow the 2014 World Cup
MyFootballFacts.com—a wealth of soccer knowledge
World Cup 100 (The Guardian UK) - a nice introduction to
some of the greatest players in World Cup History
Pelé—a brief biography from biography.com