# World cup

A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is the FIFA World Cup for association football, which dates back to 1930. Since then there have been a number of sporting events labeled "world cup", such as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, Rugby League World Cup, and the Hockey World Cup.
A world cup is generally, though not always, considered the premier competition in its sport, with the victor attaining the highest honour in that sport and being able to lay claim to the title of their sport's best. However, in some sports the Olympic title carries at least as much prestige, while other sports such as diving and artistic gymnastics differentiate between their premier competitions, such as World Championships and Olympic Games, and their "World Cup", which is organized as a smaller scale but high-level showcase event with small elite fields.

## Differences between world cup and world championships

Some sports governing bodies prefer the title "world championship" or a related term; some even organize both a world cup and a world championship with different rules. Usually, such competitions take one of two forms: a short periodic competition or a year-long series of meetings, but more frequently many sports have both a World Cup (usually consisting of multiple events in a season), and a world championship (usually a single event). Some examples are in the following table.
| Sport | World Cup | World Championships |
| Alpine skiing | FIS Alpine Ski World Cup | FIS Alpine World Ski Championships |
| Archery | Archery World Cup | World Archery Championships |
| Artistic gymnastics | Artistic Gymnastics World Cup | World Artistic Gymnastics Championships |
| Biathlon | Biathlon World Cup | Biathlon World Championships |
| Athletics | Athletics World Cup | World Athletics Championships |
| Cross-country skiing | FIS Cross-Country World Cup | FIS Nordic World Ski Championships |
| Curling | Curling World Cup | World Curling Championships |
| Cricket | Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup | World Test Championship |
| Cycling | UCI Road World Cup | UCI World Championships |
| Diving | FINA Diving World Cup | FINA World Aquatics Championships |
| Fencing | Fencing World Cup | Fencing World Championships |
| Freestyle skiing | FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup | FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships |
| Luge | Luge World Cup | FIL World Luge Championships |
| Nordic combined | FIS Nordic Combined World Cup | FIS Nordic World Ski Championships |
| Rhythmic gymnastics | Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup | World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships |
| Ski jumping | FIS Ski Jumping World Cup | FIS Nordic World Ski Championships |
| Speed skating | ISU Speed Skating World Cup | World Speed Skating Championships |
| Volleyball | FIVB Volleyball World Cup | FIVB Volleyball World Championship |
A periodic world cup or world championship usually takes the form of a knockout tournament (possibly with an initial group stage). This is held over a number of days or weeks, with the entrants eventually being whittled down to two, and the tournament culminating in a world cup final. The winner(s) take the title of World Champion(s) and hold it until the next time the event is held (usually one, two, or four years later). This format is most common in team sports. In individual sports however, holding the title can vary in terms of duration, as it is dependent on the timing of the next scheduled individual contest between the defending champion and a challenger.

## Season-long format

A contrasting concept, popular in individual sports, is a year-long competition with several meetings over its course. In this format, victory at an individual meeting earns a number of points, and, usually, a number of positions below also score points inversely related to their position. Contestants accumulate a number of points over the course of the year (often "season") and their cumulative total after all meetings have been concluded determines the World Champion or, simply, World Cup winner. The winner is then considered the champion until the next World Cup.