History Soccer World Cup
Since 1930, the World Cup is staged in different countries every four years. The 2010 World Cup will be the 19th staging of the tournament which has been hosted on America, Europe and Asia, and for the first time, it will be held in Africa.
Each World Cup has been tied to world history. For instance, the 1942 and 1946 World Cup was cancelled due to the events of World War II. The 1974 World Cup which was hosted by West and East Germany. Last but not least, some European players decided not to take part in the Argentina 1978 World Cup due to the dictatorial regime which was ruling the country back then.
As regards numbers, the FIFA World Cup is certainly one of the most appealing competitions throughout the world. Korea-Japan 2002 was watched by 1.110 million people. Also, the number of national teams playing the World Cup increased from 13 (1930) to 32 in the latest World Cups. As for World Cup titles, Brazil holds the record with 5 titles, followed by Italy with 4, Germany with 3 and Uruguay and Argentina with two.
Uruguay 1930
The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the first FIFA World Cup, the world championship for international football teams. It was played in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July. The FIFA chose Uruguay since Europe was under siege during...
Italy 1934
The second FIFA World Cup was staged and hosted by Mussolini´s Italy in 1934. It was the first World Cup for which teams would have to qualify in order to take part...
France 1938
Close to the events of World War II, the third football Would Cup was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1936. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4-2 in the final, thus...
Brazil 1950
The FIFA World cup came back in 1950. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup, and the first staged in 12 years due to World War II. After twenty years of being celebrated in Uruguay, the competition made its return to South...
Switzerland 1954
The fifth FIFA Would Cup would be staged once again in Europe. It was held in Switzerland in 1954 from 16 June to 4 July. The Germans were handed the Jules Rimet...
Sweden 1958
Sweden was the country that staged the sixth FIFA World Cup on June 9-29, 1958. This particular World Cup saw the birth of –what is considered- the best football player of all times: Pelé, the star of...
Chile 1962
From 30 May to 17 June, 1962, Chile was the staging country for the seventh FIFA World cup. Chile was chosen as host by FIFA in June 1956, as the World Cup returned to the continent of South America after 12 years...
England 1966
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England won the final, beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley Stadium in the city of London, giving them their first...
Mexico 1970
México was the host country for the ninth staging of the 1970 FIFA World Cup. It was the first time Mexico was offered to hold the tournament, and since they had recently hosted the 1968 Olympics, their infrastructure...
Germany 1974
It seemed like a miracle to Germany, but on 1974, they hosted the tenth staging of the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA committee believed many years had passed since the totalitarian regime of Hitler and the ghosts of World War II...
Argentina 1978
After applying so many times (1938, 1942, 1962 and 1970) for hosting the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA committee in a congress gathered in London finally gave Argentina the OK to held the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup in 1978...
Spain 1982
The 12th staging of the FIFA World Cup would be held at Spain from June 13 to July 11, 1982. Some features characterized this World Cup in addition to the dove of peace in the middle of the Camp Nou...
Mexico 1986
Fort he second time, the 13th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June, 1986. In this World Cup, the “Mexican wave” was born...
Italy 1990
The 14th stage of the World Cup was held in Italy for the second time, from 8 June to 8 July in 1990 and brought along many surprises.Three teams qualified for the first time...
USA 1994
The 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. Since the country had no major records in football -they main sports had always been...
France 1998
The 16th staging of the FIFA World cup was held in France 10 June to 12 July 1998. It was the second time France hosted a World Cup, they had previously hosted the tournament back in 1938...
Korea-Japan 2002
The 17th staging of the World Cup was held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June 2002. It was also the first time a World Cup was held in Asia and the first time two...
Germany 2006
The 18th staging of the FIFA 2006 World Cup was held in Germany -which won the right to host the event in July 2000- from 9 June to 9 July in Germany. This was the second time Germany hosted the World Cup –though in 1974...
South Africa 2010
The 19th staging of the FIFA World Cup will be held in South Africa between 11 June and 11 July 2010. Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy...