How To Know the History of the FIFA World Cup

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is an organization that grew from a seed and became a tree, which was nurtured only by time and a bunch of dedicated people. Born in the year 1904, it was founded not in England but in Paris, France. Time saw its near death experience in the early 1900’s when the British countries refused to join. And even when the governing body of the association was a long way from its current World Cup Organization, they had people who were stubborn enough who would not let go.

Their perseverance saw both the First and Second World War. Both wars yielded different results when they ended. After the WWII, the organization went into a more conservative approach before realizing that they had to commercialize. This resulted in radical changes in the sporting event. It increased the number of associations affiliated to the soccer association and the pace of its development is still moving at the same speed and direction to this day.

When the association was first established, it encountered managerial problems. Without the expertise of the first nations to organize football leagues, which were the British Nations, the union had amateur governing bodies. They were having difficulty drawing people into watching the matches if they could even organize one. Fortunately, England didn’t take long to give FIFA a try. From then on, the number of members of the association grew only to fall again.

World War I almost gave the Association a stab in the heart just after the death of its president, Daniel Burley Woolfall. Nations who were at war were in no mood to play against each other. Without their fearless leader, they managed to organize only a few matches. The tournaments were very special because the soccer news was first broadcasted on the radio.

When World War II ended, members of the association who left were beginning to return. After the celebration of its 50th anniversary, management decided to create more exposure for the game by commercializing it. They brought it to the world and the schedule became longer because more countries joined in. Tickets were becoming a lot easier to sell because there were too many people demanding them.

During the turn of the century, FIFA made more history by making two Asian nations co-host the tournaments. Japan and South Korea opened the 2002 FIFA Cup and the first one ever held outside of European and American continents. Even though soccer has been in Asia for years, this move of the Association drew the eyes of all Asian football fans to look their way.

Before the next FIFA tournament in 2010, at least 200 associations will be running and kicking a soccer ball to determine the team who deserves the most coveted trophy in football history.

It is now clear that FIFA World Cup is the most popular sports event that the world has ever seen. In addition, it makes you wonder if the people who built it, so long ago, could have foreseen its present status. Did they even have the slightest idea that their creation would dominate the world?