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Fifa World Cup

The FIFA World Cup occurs every four years a tournament between national teams affiliated to FIFA the world’s footballing governing body. Besides the host country will qualify through the continental preliminaries finally 31 national teams for the final round (or 30, if two host countries). Until the World Cup in 2002 the reigning world cup was also automatically inserted but ever since it has country team qualifiers play too qualified for the final round. The championship, including preliminaries, falls entirely under the supervision of the International Football Federation FIFA.

Initially the Olympics was the most important global football tournament. Football was an IOC -erkende sport in 1900 (in Paris ), 1904 (in St. Louis ) and 1906 (in Athens ), where three or four amateur clubs played a few games.

FIFA was established in 1904 as an attempt to organise an international football tournament between nations in 1906 that would be a standalone event and not part of the Olympic games. This tournament would consist of four groups of the best club teams in Europe . Switzerland would host the semifinals and finals. The difficulties piled up: several national associations strongly objected, and it turned out to be a failure.

From 1908 the Olympic tournament was larger, but were admitted to Olympic tradition, only amateur players. Partly for this reason were also tournaments for professional football teams organized in those years. In 1907 in Turin the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva was held, this was one of the earliest international football tournaments in 1909 and 1911 organized the Scot Thomas Lipton Trophy, also in Turin. All three tournaments was fought between four individual clubs , these teams were not national teams but each club did represent a country - the clubs in these three tournaments came from Italy , Switzerland, England and Germany .

Olympic tournament between national teams
In 1908 football became an official Olympic competition under the supervision of FIFA. The tournament was organized by the English Football Association , went between national teams and took the form of a knock-out, but was still only a demonstration sport. In 1908 (in London ) and 1912 (in Stockholm ) 8 and 11 European teams participated, and both times won the England national amateur football team .

In 1914, the Olympic football tournament became the "World Cup for amateurs", and Fifa took responsibility for organizing the event. This pathed the way to the world's first football inter-continental tournaments at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games (in Antwerp ). There were 14 national teams participating , of which one outside Europe, namely Egypt. This tournament was won by Belgium. For the next two Summer Olympics teams also crossed the Atlantic about to take part in the football tournament. In 1924 (in Paris ) were 22 teams , including four from outside Europe: Egypt, Turkey , Uruguay and the United States . In 1928 (in Amsterdam ) were 17 teams , including seven from outside Europe: in addition to the four who also participated in 1924, were also Argentina , Chile and Mexico . Both tournaments were won by Uruguay.

The first official World Cup
In the second half of the 1920s it was decided not to include football as part of the program of the Summer Olympics in 1932 in Los Angeles, because of the then low popularity of soccer in the United States and disagreements between FIFA and the IOC about the status of amateur players. In 1928, FIFA President Jules Rimet stated Fifa will organize its own international tournament, in which the strongest national football teams would compete for the title of World Champions. On Monday, May 28th 1928 in Amsterdam it was decided that Uruguay would be the host country would be the first official football World Cup, in 1930 , to celebrate the centennial of Uruguayan independence and because Uruguay was double Olympic champion and therefore one of the better football countries.

The first World Cup was also the only country which did not need to qualify: they were invited by FIFA to participate in the first World Cup. However, the spirit of Europe was zero: on February 28, 1930, the date of enrollment, had no European country signed because of the long journey and high travel costs. Eventually knew Rimet, with assistance from the Government of Uruguay, four teams get so far as to make the crossing: Belgium , Romania , Yugoslavia and France . With seven teams from South America and two from North America came to the number of participating countries to 13. Uruguay was the first official world champion.

Trophy
t. As a trophy for the winning team the "Victoire aux Ailes d'Or" was designed: a cup worn by the Greek goddess of victory. The trophy in 1946 in tribute was renamed Jules Rimet cup in tribute to the founder of the world cup, the former Fifa president. In 1970 this award finally went to Brazil : it was the third World Cup won by Brazil, and the rule was still that if one country three times world champion, it was allowed to keep the trophy. In 1983, the cup was stolen and never recovered, after the Brazilian Football association had to make a replica.

The current trophy, FIFA World Cup , consists of two figures on a pedestal holding up a globe, and is again a trophy. FIFA World Cup was first awarded in 1974 to the then West Germany .

Number of teams In the tournament until 1978 , 16 teams competed in each tournament, except as noted in 1930 (13 teams) and in 1938 (15 teams - Austria was after qualifying in connection with the Anschluss absorbed in Germany ) and 1950 (13 teams - India , Scotland and Turkey withdrew). Most of the participating countries from Europe and South America. The few teams from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams: the only ones who reached the second round until 1978 were the United States (semi-finals in 1930 ), Cuba (Quarterfinals in 1938), North Korea (quarterfinals in 1966 ) and Mexico (quarterfinals in 1970 ).

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 [8] and then to 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America could participate.