The Background History of the FIFA Soccer World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition played between the men's national teams of the members of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing global body of the sport. The tournament officially began in 1930, and the championship has been awarded every four years, except 1942 and '46, due to WWII.

Whether you refer to the sport as soccer, footy, futbol, or football, it is an international phenomenon which attracts more viewers than any other worldly event. The tournament consists of two parts: qualification phase, final phase. And 32 teams participate for the World Cup championship (Final). In 2006, the World Cup attracted 715-million viewers, shattering numbers put up by other sporting events such as the Super Bowl.

FIFA was founded in 1904 as a way to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic network. At first, the attempts were utter failures, and FIFA was on the brink of disbanding multiple times.

While the Olympics continued to only showcase amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organized the Sir Thomas Trophy tournament in Turing in 1909. This tournament featured professional clubs from Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, and is thought to be the first "World Cup."

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognize the Olympic tournament as an amateur-only world football championship, and took over the +managing responsibilities of the event. This ultimately paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football contest which took place at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games.

This game consisted of 13 European teams and Egypt, with Belgium winning the gold medal. Uruguay won the Olympic football tournament in 1924 and again in 1928. It was in '28 that FIFA decided to stage its own football tournament outside of the Olympic structure.

Because of the low popularity of football (soccer) in the United States, the game wasn't included in the 1932 Summer Olympics which took place in Los Angeles, California. Due to this news on the upcoming games, FIFA president Jules Rimet took preemptive action and planned the inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament in Uruguay in 1930.

Because of the long distance to travel, European teams would not commit to playing in the tournament. But after much convincing, Belgium, Romania, France, and Yugoslavia made the trek. Seven teams from South America played in the event, along with four European, and two North American, for a total of thirteen. Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to become the first-ever World Cup champions.

The years to follow would be difficult in the growth and development of the World Cup. Travel was already a big concern, and World War II kept the tournament from happening at all in 1942 and 1946. Even after the war had ended, British teams withdrew from the World Cup, citing that they would not play against teams of nations with whom they were at war with years earlier.

In the years to come, Britain would put aside their grievances, means of travel became more convenient, and the World Cup began to grow exponentially. In 1982, the finals were expanded to include 24 teams, and then again to 32 in 1998. For the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup, 204 separate teams will attempt to qualify for the finals.

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