A Brief History of Every Official World Cup Ball Since 1930 A Brief History of Every Official World Cup Ball Since 1930 Go to permalink Every year, the World Cup is played with a new ball. That makes it unique—after all, few other sports reinvent the wheel every four years. But this element of uncertainty is also exciting, and it means that soccer ball technology has come a long, long way since the 1930s—when World Cup balls were still inflated through tie-up laces. Advertisement After The New York Times published an awesome interactive on the history of soccer ball design this weekend, we decided to take a look at each ball in succession—drawing from World Cup Balls , an incredible encyclopedic website that the NYT sourced from. There, Peter Pesti collects and describes how ball technology has evolved over the generations. The difference between the leather bladders of the 1930s and the high-performance materials of today are pretty stunning. 1930 World Cup in Uruguay The very first World Cup used balls made in the country that was spreading the sport through the world: England.

There were two types of laced balls used in the games, and the one you see below, the "T-Model," got its name from the distinctive t-shaped panel on its sides. Image: World Cup Balls . The 1934 World Cup in Italy By 1934, soccer was booming all over the world, and plenty of manufacturers in other countries were making balls, too. According to Pesti, the fevered nationalism of Mussolini-era Italy "required" that the balls used in their World Cup be made in Italy. Hence the Federale 102: a 13-panel lace-up ball made in Italy. Image: World Cup Balls . 1938 World Cup in France French World Cup, French soccer ball: The Paris-manufactured Allen, a 13-panel ball with laces—which were how these early balls were inflated, before the era of valves. It seems that other models were used in the matches, too, though there's no way to say how many. Image: World Cup Balls .

1950 World Cup in Brazil In the 1930s, an Argentinean company called Tossolini had made a breakthrough: A ball with a hidden valve that could be pumped into shape, rather than manually blown up through laces. But it took two decades for FIFA to accept the new design, and it wasn't until the 1950 World Cup that it saw play. Image: World Cup Balls . 1954 World Cup in Switzerland This Swiss-made ball was unique for its zig-zag edges, which were sewn together by hand, of course. The ball, like all official balls in those days, was completely free of printing and branding. Image: World Cup Balls . 1958 World Cup in Sweden This was the first year that FIFA selected its ball based on a competition. The winner in the randomized trial of more than 100 balls was a Swedish company called Sydsvenska Laderoch Remfabriken, who supplied a ball called Top Star notable for its waterproof waxed surface. Image: World Cup Balls .

1962 World Cup in Chile This ball was known as "the Crack." It was unique in the sense that its surface was composed of 18 irregular polygonal shapes, which gave it a complicated look. Here's the iconic Pelé kicking it around: Image: World Cup Balls . 1966 World Cup in England This ball, made by a British company of course, represents the end of an era: After 1966, Adidas took over the job of designing and manufacturing World Cup Balls. This baby was made of 25 rectangular panels and, notably, still adhered to the rule that there should be no markings or branding on the ball. Oh, how things have changed. Image: World Cup Balls . 1970 World Cup in Mexico And so came the era of Adidas, now a booming manufacturer of soccer-related items like shoots and balls. According to World Cup Balls , this ball was called the Telstar—a declension of "television" and "star," but it also could have been named for the Telstar satellite, which broadcast the World Cup all over the planet that year.

It had 32 panels, like many contemporary balls, so it's easy to see it as the ur-ball for the present day sport. Image: World Cup Balls . 1974 World Cup in Germany For the 1974 World Cup, Adidas made small tweaks to its smash hit, the Telstar—including a more durable plastic coating that looks more like the super-slick soccer balls we know today. For night games, all-orange and all-white balls were made, too: Image: Memora Football . 1978 World Cup in Argentina This year, Adidas introduced a ball that World Cup Balls describes as "the most popular ball in the entire world:" The Tango. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, this ball will look familiar to you: Though it was composed of the same 32 panels as its predecessor, Adidas' designers printed it with a unique triangular design that looked extremely cool in motion—hence its namesake, a dance. Image: Balones Oficiales . 1982 World Cup in Spain Again, the Tango was a huge success—and Adidas knew it. So for Spain four years later, it kept the ball largely the same.

Except for one exception: A new polyurethane coating, which made it far, far less likely to absorb water. Image: Balones Oficiales . 1986 World Cup in Mexico Given the fact that the ball design itself wasn't changing much, Adidas introduced a new novelty: A printed design based on the culture of the host country—in this case, Aztec symbology. 1990 World Cup in Italy Another host country, another regional makeover, this one for Italy—this ball was called the Etrusco Unico. Image: World Cup Balls . 1994 World Cup in the USA Here was where Adidas' tradition started to wear thin: The Adidas Questra, the ball used in the US's first World Cup, was decorated with stars and constellations. Adidas' reasoning? 1994 was the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Image: World Cup Balls . 1998 World Cup in France And then there was the Tricolore—another version of the classic 1978 Tango design, again decorated with the host country's national colors.

But there are a few notable technical changes here: This was the first World Cup ball to use multiple colors, whereas before, single colors were deemed easier to see on the pitch. It was also the first ball to be manufactured outside of Europe. Finally, it was the last Tango we'd see in the World Cup. After this, a new era of high-performance design was upon us. Image: World Cup Balls . 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan The Adidas Fevernova sported an Asia-inspired look, according to Adidas, as well as some major technical changes—including the addition of some high-performance interior materials like syntactic foam, a type of composite that is filled with hollow "balloons" to decrease weight. As a result, many critics said made it too light—some goalies even claimed it cost them goals. Image: World Cup Balls . The 2006 World Cup in Germany The Teamgeist, as this official ball was known, incorporated a brand-new 14-panel design and a major technological breakthrough: Its seams were heat sealed, rather than sewn. That means this ball is completely waterproof—a first for more than a century of balls. Image: World Cup Balls .

2010 World Cup in South Africa The Jabulani was one of the most-hated balls of all time . With eight panels and a patterned surface that was said to improve its aerodynamics, it was supposed to build on the success of its predecessor. Instead, players were bitingly critical, saying it was unpredictable, a "shameful" "disaster," comparing it to a cheap ball you'd find at a supermarket. Image: adifansnet . 2014 World Cup in Brazil So the heat was on for this year's ball, the Brazuca. This new ball has only six panels, and it's decorated with an interlocking swooping pattern that's completely unique. Gizmodo's Leslie Horn got a hands-on with the Brazuca at Adidas' HQ— check out her account here . Gear from Kinja Deals Planet World Cup - 1930 - Overview THE DREAM COMES TRUE 13 countries participated in the first ever World Cup in Uruguay. It was no qualification at that time, the hosts invited teams to the cup. Because of the distance, only four European countries decided to take part in the cup. Most countries rejected to spend several weeks on a ship to cross the Atlantic ocean.

In Montevideo the hosts had built a beautiful stadium that could hold 95.000. The work had been delayed because of heavy rain, so the stadium wasn't completed until 5 days into the tournament. It was appropriate, for several reasons, that Uruguay should be chosen to host the first tournament. They were the holders of the Olympic title, good enough credentials in its own right. Furthermore, in July 1930 the country was celebrating the centenary of its independence. It was certainly going to be carnival time in Montevideo during the two weeks of the World Cup, because the entire tournament would be held in the capital of Uruguay. Only four teams from Europe participated in this first World Cup, and none of them were expected to win the cup. Powerful nations like Italy, Germany, Holland, England and Spain stayed home. One of the entrants, Romania, even had their team picked by his Royal Highness King Carol himself! However, he would have little to celebrate for in this tournament. France and Mexico played in the first ever World Cup game, and the French won 4-1 with Lucien Laurent of France scoring the first ever World Cup goal.

But the two teams who dominated this tournament were Argentina and Uruguay. They both topped their groups easily. Stábile was this tournament's best player, originally a substitute, he came into the side and scored a hat-trick against Mexico. The semifinals saw Argentina trash the United States by 6-1, and Uruguay won by the same score versus Yugoslavia. There was no bronzematch at that time, so both USA and Yugoslavia shared the third place. In the final Argentina looked like the better side in the first half, but the hosts came back in the second half to win the title 4-2. Read more about this final by clicking on the "Final" link in the left column.

TOPSCORERS Guillermo Stï¿½bile (ARG) 8 goals Pedro Cea (URU) 5 goals Guillermo Subiabre (CHI) 4 goals Bert Patenaude (USA) 4 goals OTHER STATISTICS Number of games 18 Total Goals scored 70 Average per game 3,88 Expulsions 1 Own goals 1 Total attendance 434,500 Average attendance 24,139 WORLD CUP 1930 STANDINGS P W D L Goals Pts 1.Uruguay C 4 4 0 0 15- 3 8 2.Argentina F 5 4 0 1 18- 9 8 3.United States SF 3 2 0 1 7- 6 4 4.Yugoslavia SF 3 2 0 1 7- 7 4 5.Chile 1R 3 2 0 1 5- 3 4 6.Brazil 1R 2 1 0 1 5- 2 2 7.France 1

R 3 1 0 2 4- 3 2 8.Romania 1R 2 1 0 1 3- 5 2 9.Paraguay 1R 2 1 0 1 1- 3 2 10.Peru 1R 2 0 0 2 1- 4 0 11.Belgium 1R 2 0 0 2 0- 4 0 12.Bolivia 1R 2 0 0 2 0- 8 0 13.Mexico 1R 3 0 0 3 4-13 0 *The pointsystem used from 1930 to 1990 was 2 pts for a win and 1 pt for a draw.

FIFA.com - FIFA World Cup™ FIFA World Cup™ You're logging in with Facebook You're logging in with Twitter You're logging in with Google+ Connect Login Error The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. This Facebook account is already present Your Club account has been locked due to a breach of our Terms of Service. Please set up a new account in line with the Club rules. Review the Club Rules . Alternatively, you can email us by completing our contact form . Please enter a valid email address The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. Log-in unsuccessful FIFA World Cup™ © Foto-net The FIFA World Cup™ is the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world and is contested by the senior men's national teams from the 208 Member Associations of FIFA.

The competition has been played every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. It fulfils FIFA’s objectives to touch the world, develop the game, and build a better future through a variety of ways. Tournament format The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of one month – this phase is often called the Final Competition. A qualification phase, the Preliminary Competition which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s). The preliminary competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ sees a total of 204 entries across six continents competing for 31 available spots. For the last FIFA World Cup, 200 teams played a total of 853 matches as 31 teams qualified for South Africa.

Both the preliminary and final competitions act as a massive promotion for the game of football and for the host nation(s) and are therefore wonderful opportunities to help promote values of respect, fair play and discipline to the watching world. Understandably, the organisation of such an event is a huge task for FIFA and the Local Organising Committee and is therefore one of the main activities of FIFA over a four-year period. Facts and figures The 19 FIFA World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other winners are Italy, with four titles; Germany, with three wins; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each. The FIFA World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany and the 2010 event in South Africa was broadcast to 204 countries on 245 different channels.

Inside the stadiums, a total of 3,170,856 spectators attended the 64 matches an average of 49,670 per match and the third highest aggregate attendance behind USA 1994 and Germany 2006. There were also over six million people who attended public viewing events in 16 sites across the world: ten within South Africa and a further six across the globe in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. A total of 350,000 fans attended the International FIFA Fan Fest in Berlin for the semi-final match between Germany and Spain. 177,853 accreditations for the last FIFA World Cup were printed, while the hospitality programme attracted almost a quarter of a million guests. Over three quarters of a million litres of beer were sold in the stadiums and 390,600 hot dogs were sold in the public catering concessions; many to the half a million international visitors who descended on South Africa. The FIFA World Cup brings in much needed resources from partners and the TV rights which allows FIFA to invest in social activities related to the tournament.

For South Africa 2010, the 20 Centres for 2010 campaign was launched, aiming promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa. A FIFA World Cup also creates resources for many extra development programmes which proved to be beneficial for member associations of FIFA throughout the course of the four-year cycle. The next three World Cups will be hosted by Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022. First World Cup - Jul 13, 1930 - HISTORY.com First World Cup Publisher A+E Networks On July 13, 1930, France defeats Mexico 4-1 and the United States defeats Belgium 3-0 in the first-ever World Cup football matches, played simultaneously in host city Montevideo, Uruguay. The World Cup has since become the world’s most watched sporting event. After football (soccer, to Americans) was dropped from the program for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, FIFA President Jules Rimet helped to organize an international tournament in 1930.

Much to the dismay of European footballers, Uruguay, winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics and 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, was chosen to host the inaugural World Cup. Due to depression in Europe, many European players, afraid their day jobs would not exist when they returned, were either unable or unwilling to attend the tournament. As a result, some of the most accomplished European teams, including three-time Olympic gold medalist England and football enthusiasts Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland did not make an appearance at the first World Cup. However, when Uruguay agreed to help pay traveling expenses, Rimet was able to convince Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In Romania, King Carol selected the team members himself, gave them a three-month vacation from their jobs and guaranteed the players would be employed when they returned. Going into the tournament, Uruguay and Argentina were the overwhelming favorites, while France and the United States also fielded competitive sides. In the first round, France’s Lucien Laurent scored the first-ever World Cup goal. In its second game, France lost to Argentina 1-0 amid controversy over the referees ending the game six minutes early.

Once the problem was discovered, the referees had to bring the Argentine players back onto the field to play the final minutes. After beating Belgium, the United States beat Paraguay to set up a semi-final match with Argentina, which they lost 6-1. Still, the semi-final placement was the best U.S. World Cup finish to date. In the first World Cup final, held on July 30, 1930, 93,000 spectators looked on as Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in a rematch of the 1928 Olympic gold medal game. Uruguay went on to win its second World Cup in 1950 with a 2-1 win over Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. More on This Topic World Cup Host Countries: 1930-2010 | BootsnAll Home » Articles » World Cup Host Countries: 1930-2010 World Cup Host Countries: 1930-2010 By Jessica Spiegel | April 8th, 2010 | Comments (7) Get daily travel inspiration Featured Like this article? Please share!

The World Cup of football – that’s soccer to the Americans, Canadians, Irish, and Aussies – has been held every four years since 1930, with the exception of two years during World War II, and from relatively humble beginnings it has turned into the most-watched sporting event in the world. Because the World Cup is held only every four years, there have only been 18 tournaments since it began in 1930. It’s an exclusive club of countries that have competed in any World Cup, and an even more exclusive club of countries that have won it. Out of 18 tournaments, there have been only seven countries to claim four years’ worth of bragging rights. Only one country has won five times (Brazil), one has four titles (Italy), and one has three (Germany). Brazil has the added honor of being the only country to have participated in every single World Cup. This tournament has a history that’s ready-made for trivia lists – but rather than turn into a walking encyclopedia of soccer, we thought we’d focus on the “world” part of the World Cup. The 2010 tournament is a short two months away, and is being hosted in Africa for the first time in its history.

But what about the 15 countries that have hosted the World Cup in the past? Hosting the World Cup is a major source of national pride for any country, both because it has the history of giving the home team a bit of an advantage and because the influx of footy fans can mean a corresponding influx of money. So we thought we’d take a walk down World Cup memory lane and look at the countries that have played host to the World Cup, including memorable moments from games held in each country. If you’ll be going to South Africa for the World Cup this year, this will be a nice primer to get you even more excited about the 2010 tournament (and potentially make you that thoroughly annoying “trivia nut” at dinner parties and whatnot until then). If, like the rest of us, you won’t be in South Africa this summer, we hope this article will provide inspiration for visits to the former World Cup host countries listed below. Uruguay Years Hosting the World Cup: 1930 Memorable Moments from Uruguay: Uruguay hosted the first ever World Cup after all the other countries that had bid on the tournament withdrew.

The final game between Uruguay and Argentina ended 4-2 to the host country, so those withdrawals clearly paid off for Uruguay. The inaugural World Cup saw the US finish in third place – which remains the United States’ best World Cup performance to date. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1934, 1990 Memorable Moments from Italy: In the 1934 World Cup, Italy won the title after beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final. And there was one player on the Italy squad who was especially happy about the host team’s win – Luis Monti had played for the losing Argentina side in the 1930 World Cup, so was pleased to finally be hoisting the trophy in 1934. The 1990 tournament didn’t go as well for host country Italy, as West Germany took home the title after beating Argentina 1-0 in the final. 1990’s World Cup saw an African team advance further than any had done to that point – Cameroon got to the quarter-finals with 38-year-old striker Roger Milla, who’d been persuaded to “un-retire” when Cameroon’s president phoned him prior to the tournament.

Milla’s goal celebrations involved dancing with the corner flag , which he got to do in the game vs. Colombia that ensured Cameroon’s place in the quarter-finals. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1938, 1998 Memorable Moments from France: Italy won the 1938 World Cup, defeating Hungary 4-2 in the final and making them back-to-back champions. The game of the tournament, however, was probably the first round game between Brazil and Poland – it was a highlight, that is, for anyone who likes goals. It finished 6-5 in favor of Brazil. The 1998 World Cup gave France its only win thus far (it’s an especially sweet victory when you’re the home team) when they beat soccer powerhouse Brazil 3-0 in the final. But it was another game entirely that produced one of the most memorable moments in 1998. During the match between England and Argentina, a 23-year-old English phenom called David Beckham ended his tournament early by retaliating for a foul by an opposing player with a swift kick to said player’s calf.

Beckham got a red card for the offense and his team didn’t get any further in the World Cup that year. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1950 Memorable Moments from Brazil: Although Brazil has the most World Cup wins of any country, they’ve only hosted the tournament once – in 1950. (That will change in 2014, when the World Cup returns to Brazil.) This was the first World Cup after the 12-year hiatus during World War II, and the structure of the tournament was different. There was no final match in 1950 to determine the winner – there was a series of games between four teams, and the last game between Uruguay and Brazil ended up being the one that decided the winner. Uruguay beat the host nation 2-1, winning their second World Cup – this despite how well Brazil had played that year. Uruguay’s game-winning goal silenced the Brazilian crowd . Years Hosting the World Cup: 1958 Memorable Moments from Sweden: Even people with very little connection to soccer have heard of the player whose name is almost synonymous with the 1958 World Cup – Pelé.

The Brazilian led his team to their first ever World Cup win in a 5-2 victory over host country Sweden in the final, but he did more than that. During the 1958 tournament, Pelé claimed the following milestones: youngest scorer of a World Cup goal, youngest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick (that’s three goals in one game), and the youngest scorer in a World Cup final . Just how young was he? The legendary Pelé was only 17 years old during the 1958 World Cup. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1962 Memorable Moments from Chile: The 1962 World Cup trophy went home in the hands of the Brazil team for the 2nd tournament in a row after they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final, but the tournament itself was something of a triumph for the host nation – even though the games themselves didn’t go their way. Chile had been devastated only two years before hosting the World Cup by the Valvilda earthquake, which measured 9.5 on the Richter scale.

The Chilean people rallied to make sure their country was ready to host the biggest sporting event on the world stage, but the “thanks” they got was an opening match against Italy known as “ The Battle of Santiago ” for the number of violent fouls committed during the game. On a lighter note, 1962 wa also the year that a stray dog wandered onto the field during a quarter-final match between England and Brazil. It was left to the players to corral the dog so they could get back to the game at hand – and luckily for us there’s video of the whole thing . Years Hosting the World Cup: 1966 Memorable Moments from England: England proved once again that there’s some advantage to being the home team when they beat West Germany 4-2 in the final to take home their first World Cup. Nevermind that one of the goals scored by England during that final game remains controversial to this day. Did the ball cross the line? Watch the video and judge for yourself .

The 1966 tournament is also reportedly when the refereeing system of yellow and red cards was invented, after an Argentina player refused to leave the field when he was sent off for “violence of the tongue” (creates an interesting mental image, no?). Years Hosting the World Cup: 1970, 1986 Memorable Moments from Mexico: The 1970 World Cup is recalled with great fondness by footy fans as perhaps the best World Cup tournament. Brazil took home the trophy – their third – after beating Italy 4-1 in the final, and although the entire tournament provided some amazing moments the final itself offered several. Among them – one of the most famous World Cup near-misses in history by the Brazilian Pelé, who was a whopping 29 by then. And lest you think that World Cup rivalries are all animosity, seeing two legends swapping shirts after a game is enough to remind you that it is – after all – just a game. The second World Cup hosted by Mexico in 1986 lived up to the reputation of the 1970 tournament.

During the quarter-final game between Argentina and England, the young Diego Maradona scored what’s still called the “ Goal of the Century ” to help his side beat the English. That incredible goal, however, followed one of the more controversial goals in World Cup history – not least because Maradona has since admitted that he did, in fact, tip the ball into the net with his hand. The goal is known as the “Hand of God” goal , because Maradona claimed, “The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, a little by the head of Maradona.” Years Hosting the World Cup: 1974, 2006 Memorable Moments from Germany: The 1974 World Cup was held in what was then West Germany, and the home team beat the favored Netherlands squad in the final 2-1. The Dutch team was employing a strategy that they called “ Total Football ,” in which every player on the field could (and did) play effectively in just about any position. It was revolutionary at the time, and proved incredibly challenging for opposing teams to defeat – although obviously West Germany found a way.

In 2006 Germany hosted the World Cup, and the tournament’s final game between Italy and France is noted for two things. It was the only the second World Cup ever decided on penalty kicks, when the game ended tied 1-1 after added extra time – and the first time a final had come down to penalties, Italy had been on the losing end. Not so in 2006. But the lasting image from the 2006 World Cup doesn’t even involve anything taking place around the ball. No, it’s the infamous headbutt French superstar Zinedine Zidane gave Italy’s Marco Materazzi . Zidane was sent off, and the Italians went on to win their fourth World Cup title. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1978 Memorable Moments from Argentina: Argentina may have needed extra time in the 1978 World Cup final to beat the Total Football of the Netherlands, but the home team ended up winning 3-1 with the help of their hero from the 1986 tournament, Diego Maradona. This time he used his feet only to score goals.

The 1978 World Cup has the distinction of being the only one in history where a team wore something other than their official country’s jersey for a game. By 1978, the games were being televised regularly – but only in black and white. Before a game between France and Hungary it was determined that the two countries would have looked identical to TV viewers, so the French team borrowed the green and white striped jerseys of a local Argentinian club to play in for that one game. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1982 Memorable Moments from Spain: 1982 saw Italy beat West Germany 3-1 in the final to take home their third World Cup trophy, but it’s a different game involving West Germany that provided arguably the most memorable moment of the 1982 World Cup. Unfortunately for one of the players, it’s an unpleasant memory. During the semi-final game between West Germany and France, the West German goalkeeper leaped out of his goal to defend against an oncoming French player – and the French player ended up unconscious on the ground, missing a couple of teeth, and with damage to his vertebrae.

The foul is obvious to just about anyone watching the video – but, as you can see, the referee inexplicably gave the ball back to West Germany. To this day, the keeper has kept mostly quiet about that game, although when he does talk about it he maintains he was going for the ball. You can decide whether he’s fibbing or not when you watch the video yourself. Years Hosting the World Cup: 1994 Memorable Moments from the US: The 1994 World Cup was the first ever decided on penalty kicks – Brazil beat Italy after the legendary Italian Roberto Baggio, who could be counted on to score penalties, missed his shot. (Incidentally, he wasn’t the only person to miss a penalty kick during the tournament – Diana Ross missed a point-blank shot during the opening ceremonies .) Unfortunately, the 1994 World Cup is also remembered for likely having led to the death of a Colombian player. Andrés Escobar scored an own-goal in a game against the United States , which led to Colombia being knocked out of the tournament. 10 days after that game, Escobar was shot 12 times outside Medellin.

News reports at the time speculated that he was killed as punishment for the own-goal, and some eyewitnesses said the killer shouted, “Gol!” with each bullet fired. The man was convicted of murder and sentenced to more than 40 years, but was later released after only serving 11. Years Hosting the World Cup: 2002 Memorable Moments from South Korea & Japan: “Wait, what? What’s with listing two countries at once?” You’re asking. We know you are. The 2002 World Cup marked the first time the tournament was hosted jointly by two countries, as well as the first time it had been hosted in Asia. Both Japan and South Korea had submitted bids to host the World Cup that year, and in the end they agreed to co-host the tournament. There were, as you can imagine, problems that resulted from the various venues being so far apart, and in 2004 the World Cup’s governing body even amended its rules so that co-hosting bids are no longer allowed. But back to the tournament.

2002 gave Brazil their record-setting fifth World Cup win, after they beat Germany 2-0 in the final – and this after almost not qualifying for the tournament in the first place. This was the year that introduced the young Brazilian called Ronaldinho to the world stage, and any Ronaldinho highlight reel contains plenty of footage from the 2002 World Cup (including this amazing goal against England ). It was another Brazilian, however, who really stole the show in 2002. Ronaldo had played in the 1998 World Cup, and in the four year gap he had been sidelined with two serious injuries to his knee. Many players don’t come back from those kinds of injuries, but Ronaldo did – and he was fantastic. Ronaldo was the top goal scorer in 2002 , putting the ball in the back of the net eight times on the way to Brazil’s win in the final. My Football Facts & Stats | FIFA World Cup Football stats of the Semi Finals, Third Place Play-Off and Final match The current FIFA World Cup Competion was in Brazil from 12th June to 13th July 2014.

Here are the results of FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualification Competions from the AFC , CAF , UEFA , CONMEBOL , CONCACAF and OCEANIA . Check out the all-time FIFA World Cup Progress Stats and football results of all previous FIFA competions. The FIFA World Cup is organised by the sport's global governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and is open to every men's team from its 209 full members, which is a larger number than the United Nations (192) or the International Olympic Committee (205). The championship is played every four years and the first tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930 . There were no competitions in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II. There are two parts to each tournament, the qualification phase and the final phase (referred to as the World Cup Finals). The three year qualification phase is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. Since the 1998 Finals in France , the competition involves 32 teams at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month.

In the nineteen tournaments held, only eight nations have won the title. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times and will be the only nation to compete in all 20 Finals. Italy, follows with four titles, while Germany holds three. The other former champions are Uruguay (who won the inaugural tournament) and Argentina with two titles each, and England, France and Spain with one title each. The 2006 World Cup Finals were held in Germany , where Italy were crowned champion after beating France in the final. The 2010 World Cup Finals were held in South Africa . Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the Final . The 2014 World Cup is held in Brazil with Bosnia-Herzegovina becoming the 78th nation to participate in FIFA World Cup Finals since the first competition in 1930.

FIFA World Cup Finals Statistics 1930-2014 Brazil in the 1930 World Cup - Uruguay The line-up for the match against Yugoslavia: the man in suit is Pindaro de Carvalho (coach); Brilhante, Fausto, Hermï¿½genes, Itï¿½lia, Joel and Fernando; Poly, Nilo, Araken, Preguinho and Teï¿½philo. The team (line-up in the first match, against Yugoslavia): Joel; Brilhante and Itï¿½lia; Hermï¿½genes, Fausto and Fernando; Poly, Nilo, Araken, Preguinho (C) and Teï¿½philo. Substitutes: Velloso (G), Zï¿½ Luiz, Oscarino, Benevenuto, Ivan Mariz, Fortes, Pamplona, Benedito, Russinho, Carvalho Leite, Doca and Moderato. Coach: Pï¿½ndaro de Carvalho.

The Matches: » Brazil 1 x 2 Yugoslavia »Brazil 4 x 0 Bolivia There were only three countries in the Group; only the first of the Group (Yugoslavia) progressed to the next round (semi-final). Yugoslavia would be beaten by Uruguay in the semi-final, to finish the World Cup tied with United States in third place. The Preparation There was no qualifying for the first World Cup. FIFA invited as many countries as possible, but only thirteen of them accepted the invitation. There were no inter-continental flights at the time, a trip from Europe to America required a few weeks on a ship. 1930 Poster. All Brazilian players, except one (Araken), who went to the World Cup in Uruguay played in teams of Rio de Janeiro . This happened because the Brazilian Federation, which has always been located in Rio de Janeiro, refused to invite managers from the Sï¿½o Paulo Federation to compound the staff which would go to Uruguay, and, in response, the teams from Sï¿½o Paulo refused to relief their players to the Brazilian team (according to a provisional list, thirteen players from Sï¿½o Paulo would have served the Brazilian team).

Araken was playing with Santos, a team from Sï¿½o Paulo , but he volunteered to go to the Cup anyways. Even though the Brazilian football had reached a good technical level in 1930, the directors sent to manage the team in Uruguay lacked experience and professionalism. The head of staff was Afrï¿½nio Costa, who had won the silver medal of target shooting in the Olympics of Antuerpia, in 1920, but who knew absolutely nothing about football. Many friends of the directors were sent as journalists. The coach, Pï¿½ndaro de Carvalho, arrived to Montevidï¿½u a few days before the Cup, a few days after the players had already arrived. The Brazilian team was more amateur than professional. The Matches A Historic photography: Brazil enters field for the first match in a World Cup. The first match of Brazil in a World Cup happened on June 14th 1930, against Yugoslavia, in the Parque Central stadium, Montevideo. Temperature was nearly zero celsius (32 F). The cold affected much more the Brazilians, coming from a tropical country, than the Yugoslavians, accustomed to rigorous winters.

Yugoslavia scored 2 x 0 in the first half. During the half time break, the Brazilians used blankets and drank hot tea to try to warm themselves. At 17 minutes of the second half, Preguinho included his name in the History of Brazilian football, by scoring the first goal of the Brazilian team in a World Cup. In fact, very few people in Brazil know who Preguinho is; born on February 8th 1905, Preguinho was the captain of the Brazilian team in 1930; he would score another two goals in the following match against Bolivia, to become the first Brazilian striker in World Cups; he was a player of Fluminense (considered an aristocratic team, at that epoch), and his name was Joï¿½o Coelho Netto (his nick, Preguinho, means "small nail" in Portuguese). Brazilian team lined up for the match against Bolivia. When Brazil and Bolivia started their match, they both knew they were already disqualified. Yugoslavians had won Bolivia three days earlier, and they were already qualified to the next stage. Brazil won by 4 x 0.

The coach substituted six players who had staged in the first match (substitutions during the match were not allowed until 1970). Preguinho scored two goals, and Moderato another two. Brazil finished its first World Cup in the sixth position, one winning, one loss, five goals pro, one goal against. Yugoslavia proceeded to the semi-final, but lost to Uruguay by 6 x 1. The other semi-final was between Argentina and the surprising USA; Argentina won also by 6 x 1, but the first half finished only 1 x 0. The first final of a World Cup was disputed by two South American countries, Argentina and Uruguay. Eighty thousand people (twenty thousand from Argentina) attended the match in the Centenario stadium. Argentina was winning the first half by 2 x 1, but Uruguay finished the match with a 4 x 2 victory; for several days and nights, Uruguayans celebrated the title in the first World Cup. World Cup 1930 - Other Info Brazil vs Yugoslavia. Brazil vs Bolivia. FIFA Archives of the 1930 World Cup.

This page shows some other historic photos of the matches of Brazil in the 1930 World Cup. None of the Brazilian players who went to Uruguay became famous in Brazil. The first Brazilian idol in World Cups was Leonidas da Silva, who played in 1934 and 1938 . In the first decades of the 1900s, the most famous Brazilian player was Arthur Friendereich. He was the first legend of Brazilian football, and many people claim that Friendereich was better than Pelï¿½ ; according to some statistics, he scored more goals than Pelï¿½ . Friendereich pereformed in the Brazilian teams which won the America Cup in 1919 and 1922 . Unfortunately, he played with Sï¿½o Paulo FC, and was one of the players not released by the Sï¿½o Paulo Federation to go to the Uruguay World Cup. On May 26th 1928, FIFA elected Uruguay as the host of the first World Cup.

Uruguay had won two gold medals in the Summer Olympic Games, which were hitherto the most important football tournament in the world; the Uruguayans had excellent reasons to believe they could celebrate the centenary of their Independence with a victory in the World Cup. FIFA had troubles to persuade the European teams to go the Cup. Teams would have to take a fifteen days trip by boat from Europe to Uruguay, stay twenty days at most, and another fifteen days back. For professional teams, that would be a waste of money; for amateur teams, that could mean losing their jobs. The most important countries ( Italy , Spain , Hungary and Germany ) declined straight away they the invitation. Only by personal request of FIFA's President, Jules Rimet, did four European countries accept to go to Uruguay: France , Yugoslavia, Romania and Belgium. All these four countries took the same ship; on their way, they stopped in Rio de Janeiro to pick up the Brazilian team, as well.

Question: Which is the only country to have played in every World Cup since it started in 1930?
Answer: Brazil