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- The Football World Cup is the most important competition for international football
- It is also the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world
- It is organised by FIFA, the main governing body for football
- The World Cup is held every four years, and there is a three-year qualifying process for the teams
- The qualifying process involves tournaments that are held within the six FIFA continental zones
- FIFA gives a certain number of places to each zone
- Teams in these zones take part in qualifying matches against each other to decide which of them will have these places to compete in the World Cup
- The host country's team are automatically given a place in the World Cup
- The qualifying teams then compete in the World Cup tournament in the host country
- Usually 32 teams in the world qualify and compete in the World Cup
- The host country usually uses more than one stadium to host the event
- The World Cup winners are awarded the FIFA World Cup trophy and are recognised as world champions in football
- The Football World Cup will be held in Germany in 2006. In 2010 it will be held in South Africa
Did you know?
- The World Cup was held in France in 1998 and over 37 million people watched it including about 1.3 million for the final alone
- Over 2.7 million people went to watch the 64 matches in the French stadium
- The World Cup began in 1930 and only seven countries have won -
- Brazil has won it five times
- Germany has won it three times
- Italy has won it three times
- Uruguay has won it twice
- Argentina has won it twice
- France has won it once
- England has won it once
- England won the World Cup in 1966 in the final against West Germany at Wembley Stadium. The Queen and Prince Phillip attended the game, amongst 93,000 spectators. FIFA President Jules Rimet who in 1929 passed a vote to initiate the competition
- The Jules Rimet trophy was the original world cup trophy which was named after the French FIFA President Jules Rimet, who passed a vote in 1929 to bring the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions
- Shortly before the 1966 World Cup Final in England, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall. It was found just seven days later, wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a garden hedge in South London, by a dog named "Pickles"
- The Jules Rimet cup was given to Brazil to keep in 1970, after they won the trophy for the third time in 1970 and FIFA thought they should be rewarded
- Over the years, the World Cup's qualification has evolved, from having no qualification at all in 1930, to a three-year process in 2006 Related Topics: Football, Golf, Sports Gambling, Sports Medicine, Europe for Visitors.
