World Cup History

The FIFA World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the National teams of the members of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. The finals of the championship have been played every four years since the first tournament began in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, due to World War Two.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase, the World Cup Finals which in 2010 will be played in South Africa. The actual World Cup Finals format involves 32 teams competing for the title, at the World cup venues within the host nation over a period of 4 weeks. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715 million people having watched the 2006 Tournament in Gemany.

In the eighteen tournaments held so far, there has only ever been seven different nations that have won the title. Brazil, who are the only nation to play all 18 finals have won the the tournament five times and they usually start as favourites in the World Cup betting. The current World Champions, Italy are the next most successful with four titles, while Germany has three. The other former champions are Uruguay who won the inaugural tournament in 1930. Argentina have also won twice, with England and France winning one each.

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