The FIFA World Cup is held every four years. It is an international soccer competition, with teams from all over the globe competing to win. Spain has the most recent trophy. They won the tournament in 2010.
Currently, there is a 32 team format. These teams compete in a nation that has been chosen to host. The location changes every four years. The host nations for the next three competitions have already been determined. It will be held in Brazil in 2014, in 2018 it will be held in Russia, and it will be in Qatar in 2022. During the time in between The World Cup, there is a three year qualification period. This period is used to decide which soccer teams will compete in the contest.
This is the most watched sporting event; in fact, approximately 715.1 million people viewed the final contest of the 2006 World Cup. The very first competition was held in 1930. Over the course of its 19 competitions, there have been eight teams to win. Italy has four titles, Germany has three, Argentina has two and Uruguay has two. France, Spain and England all have one title each. Brazil has won the tournament five times, and it is the only country to qualify to play in every single World Cup.
The tournament has evolved a lot throughout the years. Initially, 16 teams competed for the trophy. They expanded to include 24 teams in 1982, and they expanded once again in 1998 to include 32 teams. This expansion to 32 teams allowed for more participation from African, Asian and North American countries.
In the current competition format, the teams compete over the span of one month. Two stages take place during this month. First is the group stage, where the teams are divided into eight groups of four. Second is the knockout stage.
The teams in each group compete with one another, and the top two teams from each group advance to the second stage. The knockout stage is the single elimination portion of The FIFA World Cup. During this stage, teams play against one another, and the losing team is eliminated. Eventually they play to the final match, and the team who wins earns the trophy.
