Main article: FIFA World Cup qualification Qualification The current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: a
group stage followed by a
knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. The finals draw, held six months before the tournament in the host nation, determines the groups. Eight teams are
seeded (including the hosts, with the other teams selected using a formula based on both the
FIFA World Rankings and performances in recent World Cups) and drawn to separate groups. The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since
1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.
Each group plays a
round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among the teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since
1994,
three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners received two points rather than three). If two or more teams end up with the same number of points,
tiebreakers are used: first is
goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e. determining team positions at random).
The knockout stage is a
single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with
extra time and
penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the "round of 16" (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the
third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
Below are the various formats used in previous tournaments:
1930: A group stage, followed by a knockout stage with 4 teams (group winners; note that no third-place match was played)
1934–1938: Single-elimination tournament; these are the only tournaments without a group stage
1950: A first group stage, followed by a final group stage with 4 teams (group winners); this is the only tournament without an official final match
1954–1970: A group stage, followed by a knockout stage with 8 teams (group winners and runners-up)
1974–1978: A first group stage, followed by a second group stage with 8 teams (first round group winners and runners-up), followed by the final (second round group winners; second round group runners-up played in the third-place match)
1982: A first group stage, followed by a second group stage with 12 teams (first round group winners and runners-up), followed by a knockout stage with 4 teams (second round group winners)
1986–1994: A group stage, followed by a knockout stage with 16 teams (group winners, runners-up and the four best third-placed teams)
1998–present: A group stage, followed by a knockout stage with 16 teams (group winners and runners-up)
Final tournament Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts Selection of hosts After the 2010 FIFA World Cup was allocated to Africa, the
2014 FIFA World Cup was allocated to South America in 2003, which will be the first held in South America since 1978.
Brazil and
Colombia had formally expressed interest in hosting the tournament,
Bidding for the 2014 FIFA World Cup The
2018 FIFA World Cup has not been allocated to any continent; in fact, the policy of continental rotation may not continue beyond 2014. Countries which have expressed an interest in hosting the 2018 World Cup include
Australia,
Nigeria,
England,
Russia,
Mexico,
Spain,
Portugal and the
United States, while the
Benelux countries (
Belgium, the
Netherlands and
Luxembourg) are planning a joint bid, after Belgium and the Netherlands successfully co-hosted the
2000 UEFA European Football Championship.
Bidding for the 2018 FIFA World Cup The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the
Olympic Games.
Each FIFA World Cup since
1966 has its own
mascot.
World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the
2006 World Cup were
Goleo, a
lion, and
Pille, a
football.
See also: FIFA World Cup mascots Media coverage World Cup summaries In all, 78 nations have qualified at least once for the World Cup Finals. Of these, only eleven have made it to the final match, and only seven have won. The seven national teams that have won the World Cup have added
stars to the crest, located on their shirt, with each star representing a World Cup victory.
With five titles, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have
participated in every World Cup Finals so far. Italy follows with four titles, including the most recent one in 2006. Brazil and Italy are also the only nations to have won consecutive titles, each winning their first two titles back-to-back (Italy: 1934 and 1938; Brazil: 1958 and 1962). In 1970 and 1994, Brazil and Italy were finalists, each having a chance to become the first team to win a third title (and allowing them to keep the Jules Rimet trophy permanently) and a fourth title respectively. Brazil won both matches, and added a record fifth title in 2002. They have won the World Cup in the four continents that the World Cup has been hosted at (Europe: 1958; South America: 1962; North America: 1970 & 1994; Asia: 2002). The only other team to win a World Cup outside its own continental zone is Argentina (1986 in North America).
Italy, Brazil, West Germany, Argentina, as well as non-champions Netherlands, are the only teams to have ever appeared in consecutive finals, while Brazil and West Germany are the only two teams ever to appear in three consecutive World Cup final matches (1994, 1998, 2002 and 1982, 1986, 1990, respectively). Brazil won two out of the three (1994, 2002) and West Germany won only one (1990). Of the eighteen World Cup final matches, only twice have the same two teams contested the match. Brazil and Italy played in 1970 and 1994, and West Germany and Argentina in 1986 and 1990 (West Germany and Argentina also became the only two teams to meet in consecutive finals). Every final match has also featured at least one out of Brazil, Italy, (West) Germany, and Argentina, the four teams with the most appearances in the final match.
Below is a list of the 24 teams that have finished in the top four in a World Cup. Germany lead all nations with 11 top four finishes. Brazil and Germany lead all nations with the most appearances in the final match with seven appearances each.
* = hosts ^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990 # = states that have since split into several independent nations Successful national teams Six of the seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exception being
Brazil, who lost the deciding match (known as
Maracanazo) when they hosted the
1950 tournament.
England (
1966) and
France (
1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations.
Uruguay (
1930),
Italy (
1934) and
Argentina (
1978) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while
Germany (
1974) won their second cup title on home soil.
Other nations have also been successful during their spell as hosts.
Sweden (runners-up in
1958),
Chile (third place in
1962),
South Korea (fourth place in
2002),
Mexico (quarterfinals in
1970 and
1986) and
Japan (second round in
2002) all have their best results when serving as hosts. In fact, all host nations have progressed at least beyond the first round.
Performances by host nations See also: National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup#Performance by confederation To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by
European and
South American teams. The two continents have won nine titles apiece. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: the USA (in 1930) and South Korea (in 2002). African teams have had some success of late but have never reached the semi-finals. Oceania have only been represented in the World Cup three times, and only once did a Oceanian team reached the second round.
Interestingly, all World Cups won by European teams have taken place in Europe. The only non-European team to win in Europe is Brazil in 1958. Only twice had consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent - when Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively.
Best performances by continental zones Main article: FIFA World Cup awards Awards
History
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