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Home / Key Football Organisations / F.I.F.A. / F.I.F.A. World Cup
The World Cup has had its problems in establishment, but is now considered to be the greatest single sports event of the modern world. During the 2nd World War, there was a 12-year stop to the competition. Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only 7 different winners. However, the World Cup tournament has seen many dramatic upsets that have helped make the competition even more exciting. These include the USA defeating England in 1950, North Korea’s defeat of Italy in 1966, and Cameroon’s defeat of the Argentinian cup-holders in 1990. The most interesting World Cup event to date is without doubt the 2002 World Cup staged in South Korea and Japan. The previous winners France did not even make the 2nd Round, and the usually outstanding Holland did not even make the qualifiers. Italy were knocked out by South Korea and England, who had a very bad start before the qualifiers, only went out in the quarter finals after a fantastic free kick from Ronaldinho. The final was between Germany, a team that no one expected to progress so far, and Brazil. Even though the outcome of Brazil as champions was predictable, the entire competition was very exciting and full of surprises. Today, the World Cup holds the entire global public
under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 Billion people watched
France ’98, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while 2.7
million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadium. This was
perhaps due to the fact that it was the first time there were 16 finalists, and
the largest number of participating member nations ever. |
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F.I.F.A. World Cup