FIFA World Cup
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
The FIFA World Cup is the most important competition in the sport of soccer football (association football, or football). The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) organizes the World Cup every four years. More people watch the World Cup finals than any other sporting event in the world -- even more people than watch the Olympic Games.
The finals tournament is held every four years, but the World Cup includes three years of qualifying tournaments (qualifiers). Over 160 national teams compete in the qualifiers; the successful teams win a place in the finals. The finals now include 32 teams (increased from 24 in 1998). FIFA selects the host nation for the finals many years before each tournament. The 32 teams in the finals then play for four weeks in the host nation to determine the champion (tournament winner).
[edit] List Champions
- 1930:Uruguay
- 1934:Italy
- 1938:Italy
- 1950:Uruguay
- 1954:West Germany
- 1958:Brazil
- 1962:Brazil
- 1966:England
- 1970:Brazil
- 1974:West Germany
- 1978:Argentina
- 1982:Italy
- 1986:Argentina
- 1990:West Germany
- 1994:Brazil
- 1998:France
- 2002:Brazil
- 2006:Italy
