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The History of the FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is one of the most exciting football competitions in the world. It is played every four years and is watched by millions of fans in the world. The competition is open to football teams of all the nations in the world, who can qualify for the finals through qualification rounds that are separated into different regions. These include the South American, African, European, Asian, Central and North American and Caribbean, and the Oceania football confederations.

History of the FIFA World Cup

The World Cup was first established in 1930. There were attempts to create an international competition between different European teams and in some cases between teams in regions, but none of these competitions lasted very long. In 1930, the FIFA committee decided to organise the first World Cup tournament. Uruguay was chosen as the country that should host the inaugural competition. Uruguay met Argentina in the final, which was watched by a crowd of 68,000 people in Montevideo, and they beat the Argentinians 4-2 to win the first edition of the World Cup.

Italy was chosen to host the next tournament in1934. The Italians advanced to the finals where they beat Czechoslovakia 2-1, in a game that went to extra time. Egypt also competed in this competition, making it the first African team to compete.

The following World Cup was held in 1938, in France. South American fans were outraged that the competition was held in a European country for the second time in a row, believing it should alternate between South American countries and European countries. The Italians won the competition, becoming the first and only European team to win back to back titles.

After the Second World War

After the outbreak of World War II, there were no competitions held until 1950, when the World Cup was launched again. The competition was held in Brazil, and it ended with a competitive final between Uruguay and Brazil. Uruguay beat the hosts 2-1, to claim their second World Cup title.

In 1954 the competition was returned to Europe and was held in Switzerland. West Germany faced Hungary in the finals, and although they had already lost 8-3 to Hungary in the group stage, they managed to cause a huge upset and beat the Hungarian team 3-2 in the finals.

The 1958 World Cup was held in Sweden, and was contested by 16 teams from 3 confederations. Here the hosts made the finals, where they faced Brazil. In 1958 Pele, who was only 17 years old, played in the Brazilian team and was vital to their efforts. In the final, Brazil beat Sweden by a huge 5-2, the highest scoring World Cup final to date, with Pele scoring two of Brazil's goals.

The 1962 World Cup returned to South America and it was hosted by Chile. The Brazilians made the final again, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1. With their win, they became the second team to ever win back to back World Cups.

In 1966 the World Cup was hosted in England. The final was played in Wembley and the hosts, England, played against West Germany. In a thrilling but controversial final, the English won their first World Cup, becoming the sixth nation to win the legendary title.

In 1970, the World Cup was hosted in Mexico. Brazil faced Italy in the finals, and Pele, now Brazil’s captain, helped guide his team to another high scoring final where they beat Italy 4-1.

In 1974, the tournament was held in Germany, and the hosts managed to make the final, where they played Netherlands. The Germans won in a close match that ended 2-1.

The 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina. The hosts made it to the final, where they beat the Netherlands 3-1 after the game went into extra time.

The World Cup of 1982 was held in Spain, and the Italians played West Germany in the final in Madrid. They won the game 3-1, to go level with Brazil with 3 titles each. In 1986, Mexico hosted the World Cup, becoming the first country to host multiple World Cups. The tournament was won by Argentina when they beat West Germany 3-2 in the final. The two nations met again in the following World Cup final, which was held in Italy. This time the Germans won 1-0.

In 1994, the World Cup was hosted by the United States. This World Cup saw a tough final between Brazil and Italy, with the game going into penalties after no team scored in regular time or extra time. Brazil won, and became the leading nation with the most World Cup titles.

In 1998 the World Cup was held in France, and the hosts managed to go all the way to the final where they beat Brazil 3-0. The following competition was held by Japan, making it the first time an Asian country hosted the event. Brazil beat Germany in the finals 1-0 to win their fifth World Cup.

In 2006, the World Cup was held in Germany, and after a tense match, the Italians beat France in a penalty shootout. In 2010, the World Cup was held in South Africa, the first time the competition was held in Africa. Spain beat the Netherlands 0-1 in the final to win their first title. In 2014, the World Cup returned to Brazil. It looked to be Brazil's year, but they were knocked out in a shocking semi-final against Germany. Germany went on to beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. The 2018 World Cup was held in Russia, and France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final to win their second title.