World Soccer Information

Soccer--or football, as it's known pretty much everywhere but in the United States--is the most popular sport on the planet. There were some 3 billion soccer in the world in 2010, according to Soccer-Fans-Info.com. A June 2010 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau put the world population at just under 7 million, meaning nearly half the people in the world watch, play or in some way support "the beautiful game," a phrase reportedly coined by Brazilian midfielder Valdir "Didi" Pereira, who played in three World Cups.

  1. History

    • In ancient China, a game known as Tsu' Cu involved kicking a ball filled with feathers and hair through a narrow opening and into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. An extremely rough and violent game featuring a ball and few, if any rules, was played in what is now Great Britain since the 8th century. But the modern game of association football, or soccer, began in England in 1863 with the forming of the Football Association, according to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body for the sport.

    Growth

    • After soccer became its own sport, it grew quickly. Less than a decade after the founding of the Football Association, it had 50 member clubs. Soccer spread worldwide with British influence. The English and Scots who went abroad to live and work brought the game with them. Football associations were formed between 1889 and 1907 in the Netherlands and Denmark, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Uruguay, Hungary and Finland. In 1912, there were 21 countries affiliated with FIFA. By 1930, the year of the first World Cup, there were 41.

    Organizations

    • FIFA is the largest sporting organization in the word, with 208 member associations as of June 2010.
      The organization was founded in Paris in May 1904, with a half-dozen European countries representing member associations. The world is now dotted with professional and national soccer associations and organizations. Under FIFA, there are six confederations representing geographical areas, including UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America), which govern professional and international competition .

    Rules

    • Soccer in its earliest forms was a rough, violent competition that frequently led to injury, according to FIFA. Before the development of the modern game in England, there were basically no rules. "Games took the form of a heated contest between whole villages--through streets and squares, across fields, hedges, fences and streams. Kicking was allowed, as in fact was almost everything else," according to FIFA's website.
      The official laws of the game were codified in 1938 and revised again in 1997. The laws are fairly clear-cut, but allow match officials some discretion. There are 17 official rules in the FIFA laws of the game, covering everything from the dimensions of the field to fouls and misconduct, and appropriate discipline in each case.

    World Cup Ideals

    • The World Cup is arguably the biggest and most-watched sporting event in the world, comparable only to the Olympics for sheer spectacle and international attention. It was created to promote similarly high-minded goals of peace, hope and brotherhood through sport. Jules Rimet, president of the World Football Federation is quoted by the FIFA'S website as having said that "soccer could reinforce the ideals of a permanent and real peace." The first World Cup took place in 1930 in Uruguay, which had several times won the Olympic soccer championship and because of Rimet's belief in the Olympic ideals. Uruguay won the first Cup, defeating Argentina 4-2. Since then, a handful of countries--notably Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Italy---have emerged as perennial favorites. But every four years, teams come from all around the globe, hoping to win it all.