The FIFA World Cup

                Soccer is one of the most beloved sports worldwide. That’s why a lot of countries compete in the world soccer cup. Every four years, millions of fans get ready to watch their national heroes duke it out against each other in the FIFA World Cup. The winning team goes home as the champion of the world. It is an event that brings nations together, and the world for that matter in honorable competition. The tournament started in 1930 and it has been running ever since with the exceptions of 1942 and 1946 because there was another competition between nations going on: the Second World War.

                The world soccer cup is one of the most viewed televised events in the world. It started being televised in 1954. As far as sports events go, the World Cup has the biggest audience in the world, surpassing that of the Olympics. Over 700 million people tuned in to watch the final of the 2006 tournament. That’s about one ninth of the world’s population. The 2006 tournament had a cumulative audience for all of the matches of about 26 billion views. And the team draws has been followed by over 300 million viewers.

                Currently there are 32 teams competing in the world soccer cup. This is called the final phase of the cup, and it lasts for about a month. The preceding phase is called the qualification phase. These last for three years, and they determine who qualifies to the final phase. In 2010 there were 204 teams in the qualifiers. The current world champion is Spain, and the team with the most cups won is Brazil, winning the World Cup for 5 times, the runner up being Italy with four titles. There have been 19 World Cups so far, and they have been won by eight teams in total.