No other sporting event captures the world's imagination
like the FIFA World Cup™. Ever since the first tentative
competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA's flagship has constantly
grown in popularity and prestige.
A group of visionary French football administrators, led in
the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet, are credited with the
original idea of bringing the world's strongest national
football teams together to compete for the title of World
Champions. The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet's name and
was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War
put a 12-year stop to the competition.
When it resumed, the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its
undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the
modern world. Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the
Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive
Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as
co-hosts for the 2002 edition.
Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different
winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by
dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history - the
United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea's defeat
of Italy in 1966, Cameroon's emergence in the 1980s and their
opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990....
Today, the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public
under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people
watched the France 98 tournament, including approximately 1.3
billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked
to watch the 64 matches in the French stadia.
After all these years and so many changes, however, the main
focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same - the glistening
golden trophy, which is the embodiment of every footballer's
ambition.
