There is no denying that the FIFA World Cup is considered the biggest sporting event globally when it comes to the size of attendance and supporters.
It is a special quadrennial event for the sport of association football participated by national teams from each of the seven football confederations of the world. Every four years, a country was selected to host the matches for the 32 qualified teams. The national team that emerged victorious from the finals will be granted the championship trophy.
The World Cup has a long history, and it’s been 92 years since it was first established. Here is the abridged version of World Cup history. You can make a bet in an Asia bookie for the next World Cup.
Offshoot tournaments of the World Cup
Before the World Cup became what we know of today, there were early iterations of the tournament that established the foundations of the international event.
The sport itself was born in Great Britain, and the earliest football match that was played internationally was in 1872 between England and Scotland. The need to create an international football event arose, and in May 1904, FIFA was established out of seven football associations from seven European nations.
Along with the rise of football’s popularity, it became a demo sport in the Summer Olympics between 1900 to 1906 before becoming an official tournament in 1908. However, the event was more of a show than an actual competition.
FIFA organized several attempts to create a football competition outside the Olympics, including one held in Turin, Italy, in 1908.
The first official World Cup game
The IOC did not include football in the Olympics in 1932 because of the low popularity of football in the US. This resulted in FIFA breaking away from the Olympics to create an official international tournament for football.
FIFA head Jules Rimet inaugurated the first World Cup in 1930, and it was held in Uruguay, making it its first host country. Thirteen nations participated in the first World Cup, with four from Europe, two from North America, and seven from South America.
1930 to 1938
The World Cup in 1934 was held in Italy, and it became the first version of the event that included a qualification stage. At this event, Egypt became the first African nation that participates in the World Cup, although they lost to Hungary.
In the 1938 World Cup, Uruguay and Argentina boycotted the event because it was held for the past few years in Europe and not in South America. The 1942 and 1946 editions were canceled because of World War 2.
1950 to 1978
The first televised World Cup was in 1954, and Switzerland hosted it. The 1958 edition was held in Sweden, and Brazil won the Cup, and it was the first time a team won outside their home continent.
The 1966 World Cup in England was the first edition that used marketing. It included a mascot and an official logo.
1982 to present
In the 1982 World Cup held in Spain, the tournament expanded the qualified teams into 24, divided into six groups. The first FIFA World Cup for women was established in 1991. In 1998, the qualified teams were expanded into 32 teams.
In the 2002 World Cup, the tournament was hosted in Asia for the first time, with Japan and South Korea serving as co-hosts of the event, and an Asian country will be the host again in 2022 with Qatar. Place a bet on Singaporepool odds on this event at your favorite Asia bookie.
Conclusion
The FIFA World Cup was marred with several controversies, including boycotts, under-the-table match manipulations, and political arrests throughout its almost a hundred-year run. However, despite all of this, the FIFA men’s World Cup is still the biggest sporting event globally.
