History Of The Fifa World Cup

The History of the FIFA World Cup started in 1928, when FIFA president Jules Rimet decided to stage an international football tournament. The first competition, in 1930, consisted of just the finaltournament of 13 invited teams. The competition has subsequently expanded to a 2 year qualifying process involving almost 200 teams from all over the world.
The first international football match wasplayed in 1872 between England and Scotland, although at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain. An expansion in international football led to FIFA being formed in May 1904,comprised of football associations from seven continental European countries. As football began to increase in popularity, it was held as a demonstration sport (with no medals awarded) at the 1900, 1904and 1906 Summer Olympics before football became an official competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regardedsuspiciously as a show rather than a competition. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912.
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only betweenamateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The competition is often described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigiousprofessional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The first tournament was won by West Auckland, an amateur side from north-east England that was invited after the Football Association refused to beassociated with the competition. West Auckland returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and was given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.
In 1914, FIFA agreedto recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for organising the event. This led the way for the world's first intercontinental...