 Congratulations to the 2006 and four-time World Cup champion Italy! Italy is now alone as the 2nd place all-time leading World Cup team having won four world championships. This time the Italians defeated Germany and France in an earily similar fashion as when they won their last World Cup in 1982. Forza Italia! Campioni del mondo! Campioni del mondo! Campioni del mondo! Campioni del mondo! Italy 1982 - 2006 World Cup Championship Highlights: Italy 2006 World Cup Champions - Game by Game: Italy 2006 World Cup Champions - Fabio Caressa Commentary: A Tribute to Italy 2006 World Cup Champions - Goals and Celebrations: Italy 2002 World Cup 2nd Round (Brazil) Italy 1998 World Cup 5th Place (France) Italy 1994 World Cup Finalists (Brazil) Italy 1990 World Cup 3rd Place (Germany) Italy 1986 World Cup 2nd Round (Argentina) Italy 1982 World Cup Champions Italy 1978 World Cup 4th Place (Argentina) Italy 1974 World Cup First Round (Germany) Italy 1970 World Cup Finalist (Brazil) Italy 1966 World Cup First Round (England) Italy 1962 World Cup First Round (Brazil) Italy 1958 World Cup (Brazil) Italy 1954 World Cup First Round (Germany) Italy 1950 World Cup First Round (Uruguay) Italy 1938 World Cup Champions Italy 1934 World Cup Champions  Despite having reached the 1930 World Cup semi-final, the USA has long way to go before becoming a perennial contender. However, the team has improved dramatically after its return to the competition in 1990. In 2002 they stunned the world in playing some very exciting soccer beating Mexico and losing to Germany in the quarter-finals. USA USA USA! USA 2002 World Cup Highlights:  Brazil is the leading World Cup soccer nation in history. It is only a matter of time before they become six-time world champion. Brazilian players are consistently among the highest paid players in the world most of whom play in prominent European clubs. In each edition Brazil is always the team to beat. Vai Brasil! Brazil 2002 World Cup Champions: Brazil 1994 World Cup Champions: Brazil 1970 World Cup Champions: Who is the best player of all time? Pele is #1 and Maradona is very a close #2. Nobody else who has ever played the game comes remotely close to the talent these two men displayed on the field. I used to think Maradona was better than Pele until I had the chance to view the highlight film of Pele's career. Both of these players stand out. Nobody else comes even close. Pele was a more complete and consistent player than Maradona. However, Maradona when in top form had slightly better touch and ball control than Pele. Pele: The Best of all Time: Maradona: The 2nd Best of All Time Pele and Maradona Playing Together: Maradona Plays for Brazil: The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the football World Cup or the soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of member nations of the Fιdιration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global 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, the event is often ongoing, as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds. Since 1991, FIFA has also held the Women's World Cup on a similar four-year schedule. The tournament's final phase, often called the World Cup Finals, involves thirty-two national teams competing at several venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. It is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with 1.1 billion people watching the 2002 tournament final.[1] In the eighteen tournaments held, only seven nations have won. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times. The current Cup holder, Italy, follows with four titles, while Germany holds three. The other former champions are Uruguay and Argentina with two titles each, and England and France with one title each. The most recent World Cup Finals were held between June 9 and July 9, 2006 in Germany, where Italy were crowned champions after beating France in the final, winning the penalty shootout 5-3 after the match finished 1-1 after extra time. The next World Cup Finals will be held in 2010 in South Africa.
HistoryPrevious international competitionsThe first international football match was played in 1872 between Scotland and England. [2] At this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain and Ireland. As football began to increase in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the century, 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. Planned 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. After FIFA was founded in 1904, there was an attempt made by FIFA to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.[3] With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organized 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, the competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,[4] and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an English amateur side from County Durham. 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",[3] and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt (who were knocked out in their first match) and thirteen European teams. The gold medals were won by Belgium.[5] Uruguay then won the Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. In 1928 FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament outside of the Olympics. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country. First World Cup
The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of football in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.[6] FIFA president Jules Rimet thus planned the inaugural World Cup tournament to be held in Uruguay in 1930. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition.[7] Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total 13 nations took part seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who beat Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.[8] GrowthThe issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath. The 1950 World Cup was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football,[9] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again. In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed for each finals tournament, except in 1938 and 1950 when teams withdrew after qualifying, leaving them with 15 and 13 teams respectively. Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1978, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: United States, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970. The finals were expanded to 24 teams in 1982, then to 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. The one exception is Oceania, who have never had a guaranteed spot in the finals. In recent years, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, and those who have reached the knockout stage include: Mexico, quarterfinalists in 1986 and reaching the knockout rounds in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006; Morocco, reaching the knockout rounds in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Costa Rica, reaching the knockout rounds in 1990; Nigeria, reaching the knockout rounds in 1994 and 1998; Saudi Arabia, reaching the knockout rounds in 1994; United States, reaching the knockout rounds in 1994 and quarter-finalists in 2002; South Korea, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, quarter-finalists in 2002; Japan, reaching the knockout rounds in 2002; and Australia and Ghana, both reaching the knockout rounds in 2006. However, European and South American teams have remained the stronger forces. For example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America. 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and all but three of the 207 FIFA member nations have previously entered the competition, with Comoros, East Timor and Bhutan the only current members not yet to have entered (Comoros and East Timor were not FIFA members at the time of the qualifying draw for the 2006 tournament, and so have not yet had an opportunity to take part).[10] An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in the People's Republic of China. Trophy
From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered.[11] After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. This is not awarded to the winning nation permanently, irrespective of how many World Cups they win. Argentina, Germany (as West Germany), Italy and Brazil have all won the second trophy twice. It will not be retired until the name plaque has been entirely filled with the names of winning nations in 2038. [12] The experts of the FIFA, coming from seven different countries, valued the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm high, made of solid (fully gold) 18-carat gold and weighs 10.97 kilogrammes. The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the Trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the artist was: "The lines rise from the base, raise bundling up itself in spiral and bloom to contain the world. From the amazing dynamic tension of the compact sculpture body, two athlete figure are delineated, represented in the exaltation of the victory." World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original. FormatQualificationSince the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations. The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the South American zone entered a play-off to decide which team would qualify for the 2006 World Cup.[13] From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations have received an automatic berth in the finals. This right also used to be granted to the defending champion, but from the 2006 finals onwards, this entitlement has been withdrawn, requiring the champions to qualify as well.[14] Final tournamentThe current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: a group stage followed by a knockout stage. In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. The finals draw, held six months before the tournament in the host nation, determines the groups. Eight teams are seeded (including the hosts, with the other teams selected using a formula based on both the FIFA World Rankings and performances in recent World Cups) and drawn to separate groups. The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among the teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners received two points rather than three). If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e. determining team positions at random).[15] The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the "round of 16" (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. Selection of hostsEarly World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was highly controversial, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.[16] The next two world cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.[17] After the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by Japan and Korea, was the first one held in Asia (and the only tournament with multiple hosts), and in 2010, South Africa will become the first African nation to host the World Cup. The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's executive committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The decision is currently made six years in advance of the tournament. For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the hosting of the final tournaments was rotated between its constituent confederations, and only countries from the chosen confederation may bid on the tournament. After the 2010 FIFA World Cup was allocated to Africa, the 2014 FIFA World Cup was allocated to South America in 2003, which will be the first held in South America since 1978. This allowed the ten member nations of CONMEBOL to bid as host, but in 2004, the CONMEBOL associations voted unanimously to adopt Brazil as their sole candidate, creating the odd situation where the 2014 World Cup host was unofficially determined. However, it is not yet certain that Brazil will be able to host the competition, given the current status of their stadiums. There has been discussion of a proposed bid by Chile and Argentina to co-host the tournament as did Korea/Japan in 2002, and Colombia has also recently suggested they will bid to host the 2014 World Cup.[18] Otherwise, the tournament may be moved to another continent. Recently, FIFA president Sepp Blatter indicated that "Brazil is likely to be the host", but also said that "I can't guarantee that Brazil will be the host, but the ball is on Brazil's court now.".[19]" The final decision is expected to be made in 2008. The 2018 FIFA World Cup has not been allocated to any continent; in fact, the policy of continental rotation may not continue beyond 2014. Countries which have expressed an interest in hosting the 2018 World Cup include Australia, England, Mexico and Spain. The Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) are planning a joint bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, after Belgium and the Netherlands successfully co-hosted the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship.[20] Media coverageThe World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games.[21] The cumulative audience of the 2002 World Cup - including all of the matches - is estimated to be 28.8 billion.[1] 1.1 billion individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a sixth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.[22] Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the 2006 World Cup are Goleo, a lion, and Pille, a football.
ResultsWorld Cup summaries
Successful national teams
In all, 207 teams have competed to qualify for the World Cup Finals, and 78 nations have qualified at least once. Of these, only eleven have made it to the final match, and only seven have won. The seven national teams that have won the World Cup have added stars to the crest, located on their shirt, each star representing a World Cup victory. With five titles, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup Finals tournament so far. Italy follows with four titles, including the most recent one in 2006. Brazil and Italy are also the only nations to have won consecutive titles, each winning their first two titles back-to-back (Italy: 1934 and 1938; Brazil: 1958 and 1962). In 1970 and 1994, Brazil and Italy were finalists, each having a chance to become the first team to win a third title (and allowing them to keep the Jules Rimet trophy permanently) and a fourth title respectively. Brazil won both matches, and added a record fifth title in 2002. Brazil and Germany are the only two teams ever to appear in three consecutive World Cup final matches (1994, 1998, 2002 and 1982, 1986, 1990, respectively). Brazil won two out of the three (1994, 2002), with Germany winning only one (1990; all three appearances as West Germany). Of the eighteen World Cup final matches, only twice have the same two teams contested the match. Brazil and Italy played in 1970 and 1994, and West Germany and Argentina in 1986 and 1990. Every final match has also featured one of Brazil, Italy, Germany, and Argentina. Below is a list of teams that have finished in the top four in a World Cup. Germany lead all nations with 11 top four finishes. Brazil and Germany are tied for most appearances in the final match with seven each.
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