1. ORIGINS FIFA formed as early as May 21, 1904 in Paris, but no national competition except for Olympics As the highest football authority, FIFA made its claim as the organizers of the competition 1920’s – French football administrators, including Jules Rimet, are credited with bringing together the world’s strongest national teams to compete for a world championship of football. Decided that 1930 would be the first international competition for the what was being called the “World Cup” and “La Coupe de Monde” Much debate as to who would host first World Cup –FIFA felt it necessary for the first host nation to pay for travel expenses of all referees and national teams; a clearly expensive proposition, but many European and South American nations showed interest; the likes of football powerhouses: Italy, Spain, Holland, Hungary, Sweden and Uruguay

2. URUGUAY 1930 Uruguay - First Host of World Cup™ In Uruguay’s 100 th Year of Independence the world of football sounded “Uruguay Here We Come” 13 original teams invited –4 European teams, 8 South American teams and a United States representative –Originally only 1 European team had signed up, but the efforts of Rimet helped move three more nations to the competition

3. URUGUAY 1930 Europeans arrived in early July, 1930 after a long and harsh crossing of the Atlantic by ship The world of football believed the European would not fare well vs. the South American clubs, but the European held their own and played at the highest levels leading to some victories and close defeats

4. First World Cup ™ Championship Centenario Stadium was the setting for the first championship to be played between South American teams Argentina and host Uruguay in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators

5. After a hard fought comeback from a 2-1 deficit in the first half of play, Uruguay topped Argentina 4-2 as the final whistle sounded to become the first world championships and first winners of the Jules Rimet trophy Celebrations in Montevideo continued for days and football’s international competition had been proclaimed “Jules Rimet Cup” 1930-1970

6. ITALIA 1934 Italy was chosen as the second host of the World Cup™ 32 teams competed, forcing a preliminary qualifying round to cut the field down to 16 Of these teams, only few were South American and defending world champions Uruguay chose to compete to defend their title

7. ITALIA 1934 Grueling play, day after day took a toll on teams 3 and maybe 4 games could be played on consecutive days None of the South American teams qualified for the round of 16 and a European champ was to be crowned The final was to be played between another host Italy and Czechoslovakia

8. Czechoslovakia struck first late in the game with only minutes remaining, but an equalizing goal was scored by the Italians moments following to tie the score and send the game into extra time In extra time, Italy regained the efforts of its injured impact player Meazza (pictured top left) who assisted on the go ahead goal to award the Italians their World Championship

9. FRANCE 1938 France chosen as third host Many nations kept away from competition due to consequences of upcoming World War; examples include Spain, Austria, Argentina and once again Uruguay For the first time the host nation was automatic qualifier, a privilege that has carried on up to present World Cup™ play

10. FRANCE 1938 Questionable coaching moves on the part of the Brazilians cost them their ticket to the final resulting in Italy’s return to the final game vs. Hungary who easily defeated Sweden in the other Semi-final game Brazil was only South American team to make journey to France and put on one of the most memorable performances Host France was first host nation not to win championship Semi-final game of Brazil vs. Italy was “the final before the event”

11. Final in France Italy defeated Hungary 4-2 in the final to make the Squadra Azurra the first two-time champions and make Italy’s mark as a powerhouse in the world of football After this World Cup™, the world would have to wait another 12 years for a new champion to be crowned due to the threat of World War

12. Brazil 1950 Throughout the Second World War the Italian Vice- President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the FIFA World Cup trophy in a shoe-box under his bed and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops. It was back in 1950 and hosted by Brazil.

13. The planets biggest stadium Football in Brazil had become so popular that it was decided to build a brand new stadium with a capacity of 220,000 in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro to host this world cup. Host Brazil qualified with three other teams, Spain, Uruguay and Sweden, not for the semi-finals, but for a final series of matches in round robin format, in which England and Italy were surprising absentees.

14. Uruguay crowned champions A mini-league format was used and Brazil, Sweden, Spain and Uruguay were the final contestants. Brazil needed only a draw in their clash with Uruguay to clinch the trophy, but lost 2-1 in front of a crowd of 174,000 in Rio's Maracana Stadium.

15. Switzerland 1954 The fifth world cup which was played in Europe in a more subdued atmosphere was known for it’s high scoring games.(In 24 matches an unbelievable 140 goals were scored making the avg. 5.38/game)

16. Beginning of an Era This world cup was the first time in history in which we could distinguish who a player was by the number they wore on their backs. With the formation of the AFC in 1954 the event became truly global b/c now several teams from Asia and Africa were now included. This allowed for the qualifying rounds featured a higher number of nations than ever before.

17. West Germans Surprise the World With a captivating come from behind upset of Hungary the West German’s proudly hoisted the trophy.

18. SWEDEN 1958 Memorable World Cup with loss of founding father Jules Rimet First World Cup to be televised for the world to view the brilliance of the best players in the game 55 Countries took part and the likes of Switzerland, Belgium, Uruguay, Spain and most notably Italy failed to qualify; many new nations emerged including the likes of Wales, N. Ireland and USSR

19. SWEDEN 1958 France was the team to beat after its performance in the first round; attacking trio of players mounted 11 goals in just the first round and including Fontaine’s (pictured left) incomparable performance of 13 goals single-handedly in the tournament which France was knocked out in the semis by Brazil and an emerging young talent that would capture the hearts of football fans for all times

20. A Star is Born: Pele Hits the World Stage 17 year-old Brazilian youngster Pele was a huge factor in Brazil’s victory over Sweden and 6 goals in the overall tournament en route to Brazil’s first World Championship of Football

21. Chile 1962 This World Cup is remembered because this is the occasion in which football became more physical.

22. A new record 56 teams took part in the qualifying rounds. This new format caused many of the powerhouse teams to be eliminated before the tournament. More teams…more upsets

23. Brazil does it Again Despite playing without Pele, Brazil wins it’s second cup. Brazil joined Uruguay and Italy as the only two countries to have have won the Jules Rimet trophy on two occasions.

24. New record 70 nations competing Controversy over African regional champ having to play against Asia or Oceania zone to qualify Many African nations dropped out before qualifying rounds Qualifying: 10 teams from Europe, 4 from South America, 1 from each of Asia, North America and Central America ENGLAND 1966

25. New Nations Emerge, Old Fall Powerhouse Brazil failed to pass the first round as phenom Pel  was victim of physical play Portugal (Eusebio pictured bottom), N. Korea and host England were impressive in early rounds

26. Another Host Victory Host England defeats Germany 4-2 in extra-time to win its first World Cup™ and is presented the World Cup Trophy

27. Mexico 1970 World Cup became a television spectacle. This was the first year substitutes were allowed. Also, yellow and red cards were introduced at this time.

28. Participating nations up to 75 Many well respected teams such as Hungary, Portugal, France, Spain, and Argentina did not qualify, while less heralded teams like Morroco and Israel made their debut.

29. Pelé’s return pays off Although Péle vowed never to play in another FIFA world cup, he was there when Brazil walked away with it’s third trophy.( This would be Pelé’s final world cup) Brazil triumphed 4-1 against Italy

30. Germany 1974 Another host country triumph

31. On to the World Cup Trophy 1.The first round group system followed by knock-out in the second round was replaced by a group system in both rounds. 2.The second change was the replacing of the Jules Rimet trophy with a new solid gold statuette known as the world cup

32. West German’s Capture 2 nd Title Despite the number of qualifying teams being at 98 W. Germans claimed the first World Cup.

33. Argentina 1978 The World Cup was played in Argentina despite much controversy surroundin g General Videla’s totalitarian regime and it’s violation of human rights. Winning on your own soil is becomi ng a habit!

34. Mario Kempes rides high Kempes left this World Cup with the coveted title of leading goal scorer while leading Argentina to their first World Cup victory. They had not been in the final since 1930.

35. Spain 1982 Epic battles between Brazil & Italy and France vs. West Germany are two games that will be remembered in this world cup. Spain would host 24 teams whereas in the previous years countries only saw 16 teams.

36. Alterations to the organization of the tournament. With 24 teams now advancing instead of 16 they had to rearrange the structure. Three phases were now in place: A first round with six groups of four where two advanced from each, a second round with four groups of three where the top team advanced, then the semi-finals and the finals.

37. Dino Zoff leads Italy to the promise land Dino Zoff, Italy’s 40 year old captain was presented with the Fifa World Cup trophy as Italy became only the second country to win it’s third world cup.

38. Mexico 1986 – Once again Mexico was chosen as a replacement host because of financial difficulties in Colombia. Despite terrible earthquakes as a prelude to Fubol’s main event the games went on.

39. Controversial or not…Maradona is one of the greatest!!! This goal was accurately dubbed a “goal scored by the hand of God”. Maradona’s other goal against England is questionably the best goal ever.

40. Argentina wins in front of vastly growing crowds. Argentina beat defending world champion Italy as well as Brazil in route to winning the World Cup of 1986. They won in front of 115,000. 30 million people partied in the streets of Argentina!!!

41. ITALIA 1990 112 Nations battled for the 14 th World Cup 10 Stadiums reconstructed and 2 newly built for the event

42. Surprise Appearances and Old Faces Cameroon, led by the “Old Lion”, Roger Milla at age 38, and Egypt were the surprise teams to make it to the Quarterfinal round Strong performances by the host Italians, Argentineans and W. Germans demonstrated the invincibility of the powerhouse nations Schillaci and Goyochea were names that stood out through the tournament

43. Two Powerhouses Do Battle Argentina vs. W.Germany West Germans win third World Championship and find themselves among elite nations in football history Italy and Brazil

44. United States 1994 Much skepticism as to the USA’s response to “soccer” vs. its mainstream sports 147 Countries Entered Qualifying, of which 24 made it to America’s stage Record numbers of spectators, with numbers reaching over 3 million Commercial boom of world’s most played sport

45. Ups & Downs United States and rest of world had household names as a result of such widespread broadcast of the tournament: Hagi, Bebeto, Romario, Milla, Tafarel were all superstars The US team players Lalas, Kobi Jones, Pope and Tony Meola all gained international recognition With success also came tragedy as one of the most memorable of household names was Colombian national Andres Escobar who was shot dead at his home in Colombia after netting an own goal to eliminate Colombia from the tournament at the hands of the US

46. ITALIA vs. BRAZIL With no time left on the clock, the World Cup would go to penalty kicks for the first time ever in its 64 year history A championship lay on the shoulders and feet of stars such as Romario, Bebeto, Dino Baggio and most memorably Roberto Baggio, who sailed his penalty shot over the crossbar in an effort that greatly tarnished his great play in the tournament

47. Brazil emerged victorious and raised the World Cup Trophy once again making them the first four time champions of the world This day and throughout the tournament, Brazil’s “Rocking Bebeto Baby” would not be forgotten

48. FRANCE 1998 32 teams, 64 matches played 4 teams were placed in each of the eight groups, with good diversity in all but one of the groups with one American, one Asian or African and two European teams represented in each of the groups

49. EPIC PLAY BY STARS

50. FRANCE’S DREAMS COME TRUE The efforts of France’s Zidane, Barthez, Desalilly, Thuram bettered that of the Brazilian stars Ronaldo, Denilson, Roberto Carlos and Tafarel to lift France to its dream championship victory as host nation