FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, commonly known as the World Cup, is the premier international football tournament contested by the sen

men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. Organized by FIFA, the sport's governing body, the tournament has taken place every four years since its debut in 1930, except for 1942 and 1946 due to World War II. Argentina is the reigning champion, having secured their third title in the 2022 edition by defeating France.

Organising bodyFIFA
Founded1930; 95 years ago
RegionInternational
Number of teams32
(48 from 2026 onwards)
Related competitionsFIFA Women's World Cup
FIFA U-20 World Cup
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Current champions Argentina (3rd title)
Most successful team(s) Brazil (5 titles)
Websitefifa.com/worldcup
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

The competition begins with a qualification phase spanning three years, determining the teams that will advance to the tournament phase. A total of 32 teams currently compete in the final stage, which lasts about a month and is hosted by one or more nations. The host nation(s) automatically qualify for the group stage. From the 2026 edition, the tournament will expand to 48 teams.

As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 22 editions have been held since 1930, featuring participation from 80 national teams. The title has been claimed by eight nations: Brazil leads with five victories and is the only team to have played in every tournament. Germany and Italy have won four times each, Argentina has three titles, while France and Uruguay have won twice. England and Spain have each secured one championship.

The FIFA World Cup is considered the most prestigious football competition and the most-watched sporting event globally. The 2018 edition reached an estimated 3.57 billion viewers, nearly half the world’s population, while engagement with the 2022 tournament reached 5 billion people, with around 1.5 billion watching the final.

Seventeen nations have hosted the World Cup, with Qatar being the most recent in 2022. The 2026 tournament will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, marking Mexico as the first country to host matches in three different World Cups.

History

Early International Football Competitions

The first recorded international football match was played in 1872 in Glasgow between Scotland and England. This was followed by the first official international tournament, the British Home Championship, in 1884, featuring England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

As football gained popularity worldwide in the early 20th century, it was introduced at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport without medal recognition. The International Olympic Committee later granted these matches official status, including the 1906 Intercalated Games.

After FIFA was established in 1904, the organization attempted to organize an international football tournament outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. However, FIFA's records classify this attempt as unsuccessful due to the early developmental stage of international football.

Olympic Football and the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy

Football became an official Olympic sport at the 1908 London Olympics, organized by The Football Association (FA), England’s football governing body. The tournament was open only to amateur players and was viewed as more of an exhibition than a competition. Great Britain, represented by England’s amateur national team, secured the gold medal and successfully defended their title at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Due to the Olympic restriction on professional players, Sir Thomas Lipton organized the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in Turin in 1909. This tournament featured professional club teams representing their respective nations, including sides from Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. Despite being considered one of the earliest international football competitions, England’s FA declined participation. Instead, an amateur team from County Durham, West Auckland, represented England, winning the tournament in 1909 and defending their title in 1911.

Before the Lipton Trophy, international football competition mainly took place in unofficial "football world championship" matches between leading English and Scottish clubs. An example was the 1895 clash between Sunderland A.F.C. and Heart of Midlothian F.C., where Sunderland emerged victorious.

FIFA and the Evolution of Global Tournaments

In 1914, FIFA officially recognized the Olympic football tournament as the "world football championship for amateurs" and took charge of organizing the event. This led to the first intercontinental football competition at the 1920 Summer Olympics, where 13 European teams and Egypt competed, with Belgium emerging as the winner.

Uruguay dominated the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928, which were also the first open global football championships after FIFA introduced professional participation in 1924. This historical significance is why Uruguay is permitted to display four stars on their national team jersey.

Early World Cups Before World War II

Following the success of Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, under the leadership of President Jules Rimet, aimed to establish an international football competition outside the Olympic framework. On May 28, 1928, during the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam, the decision was made to create a world championship. Given Uruguay's achievements as two-time football world champions and the celebration of their centennial independence, FIFA selected Uruguay as the host nation for the first World Cup in 1930.

Several national football associations were invited to participate, but due to the Great Depression and the long journey across the Atlantic, European teams were hesitant to commit. Eventually, Rimet convinced Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to take part. In total, 13 nations competed: seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America.

The tournament commenced on July 13, 1930, with France defeating Mexico 4–1 and the United States winning 3–0 against Belgium. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first-ever goal in World Cup history. The final match, held at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, saw Uruguay claim victory over Argentina with a 4–2 scoreline in front of 93,000 spectators, making them the first World Cup champions.

After the tournament, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) clashed over amateur player regulations, leading to football being excluded from the 1932 Olympics. The sport returned to the Olympics in 1936 but was overshadowed by the growing prestige of the World Cup.

Intercontinental travel and political tensions posed challenges for early tournaments. In 1934, few South American teams traveled to Europe, while the 1938 World Cup was boycotted by most North and South American teams except Brazil and Cuba. The 1942 and 1946 tournaments, for which Germany and Brazil had expressed hosting interest, were ultimately canceled due to World War II.

World Cups After World War II

The 1950 World Cup in Brazil marked the return of British football associations—Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. They had withdrawn from FIFA in 1920, objecting to playing against nations they had been at war with and resisting foreign influence in football. They rejoined FIFA in 1946 following an invitation. This edition also saw Uruguay return to competition after boycotting the previous two tournaments. Uruguay won the title again, defeating host nation Brazil in a historic match known as "Maracanazo."

Between 1934 and 1978, most World Cups featured 16 teams, except in 1938 when Austria was annexed by Germany after qualifying, reducing the participants to 15. In 1950, withdrawals from India, Scotland, and Turkey left the competition with only 13 teams. European and South American teams dominated, with limited participation from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Until 1982, only four teams from outside Europe and South America advanced past the first round: the United States, who reached the semi-finals in 1930; Cuba, who made the quarter-finals in 1938; North Korea, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.

2015 FIFA Corruption Scandal

By May 2015, FIFA faced significant controversy due to the 2015 FIFA corruption case, involving allegations of bribery, fraud, and money laundering linked to media and marketing rights. FIFA officials were accused of accepting over $150 million in bribes over 24 years in exchange for influencing tournament bids.

On May 27, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a 47-count indictment, charging 14 individuals with crimes including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. Multiple FIFA officials were arrested, with major crackdowns occurring on May 29 and December 3. By the end of May, nine FIFA officials and five executives from sports and broadcasting industries had been formally charged with corruption. As a result, FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced his resignation, stating he would step down in February 2016.

On June 4, 2015, Chuck Blazer, while cooperating with the FBI and Swiss authorities, admitted that he and other FIFA Executive Committee members accepted bribes to influence the selection of hosts for the 1998 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. Swiss authorities seized computer data from Sepp Blatter’s office on June 10, and FIFA subsequently postponed the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup amid the corruption concerns surrounding the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Then-FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke commented that launching a new bidding process under these circumstances was impractical.

On October 28, 2015, Sepp Blatter and FIFA Vice President Michel Platini, who was a candidate for the FIFA presidency, were suspended for 90 days. Both denied any wrongdoing in public statements. On December 3, 2015, two FIFA vice presidents were arrested at a Zurich hotel—the same location where seven FIFA officials had been detained in May. The U.S. Department of Justice also announced an additional 16 indictments on that day.

Biennial World Cup Proposal

On May 21, 2021, during the 71st FIFA Congress, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation proposed a plan to hold the FIFA World Cup every two years instead of the traditional four-year cycle. This concept gained strong support from former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and several national football federations, particularly in Africa and Asia.

However, the proposal faced strong opposition from major football governing bodies, including UEFA and CONMEBOL, which rejected the idea. Despite this, the plan was backed by 166 of FIFA’s 210 member associations, indicating widespread interest in the potential restructuring of the tournament.

Hosts

FIFA World Cup Selection Process

In the early years, FIFA’s congress determined World Cup hosts, often leading to controversy. With South America and Europe being the dominant football regions, travel between them required up to three weeks by boat. When Uruguay was selected as the host of the first World Cup, only four European nations participated due to the long journey. The following two tournaments were held in Europe, which led to further disputes. South American nations believed hosting should alternate between continents, so Argentina and Uruguay boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France.

To prevent future boycotts, FIFA established a pattern of alternating hosts between Europe and the Americas, a system that continued from the 1958 FIFA World Cup until the 1998 edition. In 2002, South Korea and Japan co-hosted the first World Cup in Asia, also marking the first tournament with multiple hosts. In 2010, South Africa became the first African nation to hold the event. Brazil hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making it the first South American host since Argentina in 1978 and the first time consecutive tournaments were played outside Europe.

Currently, the FIFA Council selects the host country through an exhaustive ballot voting system. A country wishing to bid must submit a "Hosting Agreement," detailing the expectations and requirements. FIFA then sends inspectors to evaluate the country's ability to meet hosting criteria. The final decision is made approximately six or seven years before the tournament. In some instances, multiple tournaments have been awarded at the same time, such as the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, which were given to Russia and Qatar, respectively. Qatar also became the first Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup.

For the 2010 and 2014 tournaments, FIFA implemented a rotation policy, allowing only countries from a specific confederation—Africa for 2010 and South America for 2014—to bid. This policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's selection over South Africa to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, after 2014, the rotation policy was discontinued. Now, any country can submit a bid, except those from confederations that hosted the previous two tournaments. This change aimed to prevent situations like the 2014 bidding process, where Brazil was the sole candidate.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, marking the first time three nations will share hosting duties. It will also be the largest World Cup in history, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches. The United States will host 60 games, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will each host 10 games.

Records and statistics

Six players hold the record for the most FIFA World Cup appearances, each playing in five tournaments. These players are Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966), Rafael Márquez (2002–2018), and Andrés Guardado (2006–2022); Germany’s Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998); Argentina's Lionel Messi (2006–2022); and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (2006–2022). Ronaldo is also the first and only player to score in five different World Cups. Messi holds the record for the most World Cup matches played, with 26 appearances.

Three players have been selected for the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team on three occasions: Brazil’s Djalma Santos (1954–1962), West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer (1966–1974), and Germany’s Philipp Lahm (2006–2014).

Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002–2014) is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, netting 16 goals. He surpassed Brazil’s Ronaldo, who scored 15 goals between 1998 and 2006, breaking the record during the 2014 semi-final against Brazil. West Germany’s Gerd Müller (1970–1974) follows in third place with 14 goals. France’s Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals in a single World Cup tournament, scoring 13 goals in 1958.

Brazil’s Pelé remains the only player to win the FIFA World Cup three times (1958, 1962, and 1970), though he did not participate in the 1962 final due to injury. In 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 would be retroactively awarded winners' medals. In total, 20 players have won two World Cup winners’ medals.

Seven players have won all three types of World Cup medals (champions, runners-up, and third-place medals). Five of them were members of West Germany’s squad between 1966 and 1974: Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Grabowski, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Sepp Maier, and Wolfgang Overath. Italy’s Franco Baresi (1982, 1990, 1994) and Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002–2014) also achieved this feat, with Klose earning four consecutive medals.

Three individuals have won the FIFA World Cup both as a player and as a head coach. Brazil’s Mário Zagallo won as a player in 1958 and 1962, and as head coach in 1970. West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer won the 1974 World Cup as team captain and later led Germany to victory as head coach in 1990. France’s Didier Deschamps accomplished the same in 2018, after winning as captain in 1998. Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only coach to win two FIFA World Cups, leading Italy to victory in 1934 and 1938. Notably, all World Cup-winning head coaches have been from the nation they coached to victory.

Among national teams, Brazil holds the record for the most FIFA World Cup matches played  and has participated in the most tournaments . Brazil also has the most victories (76) and the highest number of goals scored . Meanwhile, Germany has played in the most finals , semi-finals , and quarter-finals . Brazil and Germany have faced each other twice in the tournament’s history—once in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final and again in the 2014 semi-final.

Top Goal Scorers in FIFA World Cup History

Top Goal Scorers in FIFA World Cup History

RankPlayerCountryGoalsMatchesGoals per Game
1Miroslav KloseGermany16240.67
2RonaldoBrazil15190.84
3Gerd MüllerWest Germany14131.08
4Just FontaineFrance1362.17
4Lionel MessiArgentina13260.50
6Kylian MbappéFrance12140.86
6PeléBrazil12140.86
8Sándor KocsisHungary1152.20
8Jürgen KlinsmannGermany11170.65
10Helmut RahnGermany10101.00
10Gabriel BatistutaArgentina10120.83
10Gary LinekerEngland10120.83
10Teófilo CubillasPeru10130.77
10Thomas MüllerGermany10190.53
10Grzegorz LatoPoland10200.50

 

References:

 

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