The World Cup is a world soccer competition that happens every four years. The soccer teams from several countries compete for the championship in search of the title of World Football Champion.
Currently, teams from 32 countries participate in the Cup, which pass through the qualifiers. The knockout stage takes place on all continents and the winners are classified to participate in the next Cup.
Since the first edition, the event has been organized by FIFA (International Football Federation).
World Cup History
The first World Cup took place in 1930, but the event was created two years earlier, in 1928.
Since the first, 21 editions of the championship have been held and the Cup has not happened on two occasions: in 1942 and 1946. In those years, the competition was canceled due to the conflicts of World War II (1939-1945).
See which were the host countries and the champions:
| Year | Host country | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Uruguay | Uruguay |
| 1934 | Italy | Italy |
| 1938 | France | Italy |
| 1950 | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 1954 | Switzerland | ocidental Germany |
| 1958 | Sweden | Brazil |
| 1962 | Chile | Brazil |
| 1966 | England | England |
| 1970 | Mexico | Brazil |
| 1974 | ocidental Germany | ocidental Germany |
| 1978 | Argentina | Argentina |
| 1982 | Spain | Italy |
| 1986 | Mexico | Argentina |
| 1990 | Italy | ocidental Germany |
| 1994 | U.S | Brazil |
| 1998 | France | France |
| 2002 | Japan and South Korea | Brazil |
| 2006 | Germany | Italy |
| 2010 | South Africa | Spain |
| 2014 | Brazil | Germany |
| 2018 | Russia | France |
The countries that most participated in World Cups are Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Mexico. Brazil participated in all editions, Germany in 19, Italy in 18, Argentina in 17 and Mexico in 16.
How did it come about and who created the Cup?
The idea of holding a World Cup arose in 1928. The creator was Jules Rimet (1873-1956), FIFA president from 1921 to 1954.
It is said that Rimet had the idea of creating the championship to bring the participating countries closer together. The creation of the World Cup is also responsible for making football one of the most popular sports in the world.
World Cup champions
In all editions of the World Cup, 8 countries were champions. The winning selections were:
- Uruguay: two-time champion (1930 and 1950).
- Italy: four-time champion (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006).
- Germany: four-time champion (1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014).
- Brazil: five-time champion (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002).
- England: champion (1966).
- Argentina: two-time champion (1978 and 1986).
- France: two-time champion (1998 and 2018).
- Spain: champion (2010).
The top scorers of the Cups
Among all the selections, in the ranking of the top 5 top scorers of all the Cups are:
- marta (Brazilian team): 17 goals.
- Miroslav Klose (German team): 16 goals.
- Ronaldo (Brazilian team: 15 goals.
- Birgit Prinz and Gerd Müller (German selection), Abby Wambach (American team): 14 goals.
- Just Fontaine (French national team): 13 goals.
Brazil at the World Cup
Brazil is the biggest winner of World Cups, being the only country that five-time champion. Another interesting fact is that the Brazilian team is the only one that has participated in all the Cups held so far.
The country has also hosted the World Cup twice, in the 1950 and 2014 championships. In the first, Uruguay won the championship, in the second the title went to the German team.
In addition to winning the world title 5 times, Brazil won 73 games and scored 227 goals. The country's top scorers were Ronaldo, with 15 goals and Pelé with 12. The Brazilian Marta, from the women's team, is the top scorer of all the Cups with 17 goals scored by the team.
The 1950 World Cup
This year, for the first time, between the months of June and July, Brazil hosted a World Cup.
The championship games took place in six cities: Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Recife.
In 1950, the Cup had yet another format and had the participation of fewer countries. The 16 selections that participated were:
- Group 1 - Brazil, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and Mexico.
- Group 2 - Spain, England, Chile and the United States.
- Group 3 - Sweden, Italy and Paraguay.
- Group 4 - Uruguay and Bolivia.
Scotland, India and Turkey, which were also classified, withdrew from participating during the competition.
That year, the Brazilian team was not champion, but it reached the final stages and lost the title to the Uruguay team.
Selection in the 1950 World Cup.
The 2014 World Cup
The 2014 World Cup, the second in Brazil, took place between June and July. That year, 12 cities hosted games: Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.
The Cup already had the current format and a total of 32 teams participated, drawn into 8 groups.
- A group - Brazil, Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon.
- Group B - Netherlands, Chile, Spain and Australia.
- Group C - Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan.
- Group D - Costa Rica, Uruguay, Italy and England.
- Group E - France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras.
- Group F - Argentina, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran.
- Group G - Germany, United States, Portugal and Ghana.
- Group H - Belgium, Algeria, Russia and South Korea.
In the competition, Brazil reached the semifinals. He lost his place in the final in a dispute against the German national team. In the final, between Germany and Argentina, the victory of the championship went to the German team, which celebrated its four-time championship.
Selection in the 2014 World Cup.
Women's Soccer World Cup
The World Cup is also played by women's soccer teams. The event takes place since 1991. The competition also takes place every 4 years and teams from 24 countries participate.
In the 8 editions that have already taken place, 4 countries have been champions. Look:
| Year | Host country | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | China | U.S |
| 1995 | Sweden | Norway |
| 1999 | U.S | U.S |
| 2003 | U.S | Germany |
| 2007 | China | Germany |
| 2011 | Germany | Japan |
| 2015 | Canada | U.S |
| 2019 | France | U.S |
Upcoming World Cups
The venues for the next two World Cups have already been decided. In 2022 the competition will be on Qatar and the games will be played in 12 stadiums.
In 2026 the Cup will take place in three countries: United States, Canada and Mexico and the games will take place in 23 stadiums.
Changes in the next Cups
Starting with the 2026 competition, two changes in the competition format will be tested.
Several host countries
For the first time the event will be divided and will happen in three countries. Those chosen for headquarters were: United States, Canada and Mexico.
Number of participants
Another novelty is the number of participating selections, the number will rise to 48. This means that the new format will feature 16 more countries than the current format, which has the participation of teams from 32 countries.
The selections will be divided into 16 groups and the top two will advance to the knockout games.
