The World Cup is a competition that has been held every four years for the past 88 years. There have been many winners and upsets during each tournament, and many teams have established rivalries as a result of this competition. This is part of the reason it has been the most watched sporting event on the planet.

The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay. Uruguay was also the first team to win the World Cup after beating Argentina that year in the final. There are always 32 teams per World Cup, and this past tournament included Russia, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, Iceland, Serbia, Iran, South Korea, Japan, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, Nigeria, Egypt, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Peru. The tournament first starts in group stages until the knockout rounds, where the number of teams is slimmed out. Also, while Uruguay won the original World Cup, France are the most recent champions after defeating Croatia 4-2 this past July. That was France’s second title as World Cup Champions after winning their first one in 1998. Personally, I was cheering for France and was excited when they won; Allez les bleus! However, Brazil holds the most trophies with five championships, and they are the only team to compete in every single World Cup since its inception.

Additionally, the players can receive big bonuses for doing well in the World Cup, but there is no set amount, so the money players receive is up to the team. Going along with pay, the prices of tickets for the viewers can also range anywhere from $105 to $1,100. Fans can only purchase tickets through the International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, and they release them fairly close to the first game as last year they released the tickets in September 2017 for the tournament that began summer 2018. FIFA is the organization in charge of overseeing the World Cup to make sure all teams and officials are abiding by the rules. Lastly, the next World Cup will take place in Qatar 2022, but instead of being in the summer, it will be in the winter as the summers in Qatar have temperatures usually in the 100s. The World Cup will take place between November 21st and December 18th. That makes it the shortest World Cup since 1978! When I found out this news, I, like many other World Cup fans, was annoyed and disappointed that they changed the timing instead of changing the country. The timing also interrupts many regular league and tournament schedules, causing many to choose between the tournament and cutting short the regular season.

The World Cup tournament can create friendships and rivalries, but it is still a great way for people to come together to watch the matches. Players can leave the tournament champions, or they can go home heartbroken after a devastating loss, but either way they played their game on the biggest tournament known to soccer. All in all, the World Cup has been a big part of the sports and entertainment industries for decades and will continue to be in the coming years.

References

Glum, Julia. “Here’s How Much Money World Cup 2018 Players Make.” Money, Time Inc., 18 June 2018, time.com/money/5314692/world-cup-2018-players-make/

Kolur, Nihal. “These Countries Have Qualified for the 2018 World Cup.” Sports Illustrated, Time Inc., 5 October 2017, www.si.com/soccer/2017/fifa-world-cup-russia-2018-qualified-teams-countries

“1930 FIFA World Cup Uruguay.” FIFA, FIFA, www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/uruguay1930/index.html