About FIFA WORLD CUP

History
The first international football match was played in 1872 between Scotland and England, at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain. 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. Organised 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.
There was an attempt made by FIFA to organize an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in 1906 and this took place in Switzerland. These were very early days for international football and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised 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 that, the competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an amateur side from northeast England 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 organising the event. This led the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Uruguay won the tournament,before winning the gold medal again in 1928, with another South American team, Argentina, taking silver. In 1928 FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and due to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.




The FIFA World Cup is the most important competition in international football. The world's most representative team sport event, the World Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of member nations of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (the sport's largest 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, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds. In 1991, FIFA added a separate Women's World Cup. The men's final tournament phase involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each. The next World Cup finals will begin in Germany on June 9, and will continue until July 9, 2006
 

karma

Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
thts a closely guarded secret..... if i tell you i have to kill you then... hehehehehe
 
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