History of the FIFA World Cup

The history of the FIFA World Cup was first written in 1928, when FIFA president Jules Rimet decided to stage an international football tournament. The inaugural edition, held in Uruguay in 1930, was contested as a final tournament of only 13 teams invited by the organization. Since then, the FIFA World Cup has experienced successive expansions and format remodeling to its current 32-team final tournament preceded by a two-year qualifying process, involving almost 200 teams from all over the world.

Previous international competitions

The first international football match was played in 1872 in Glasgow between Scotland and England, although at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain.

However by 1900 the sport had gained ground all around the world and national football associations were being founded. The first official international match outside of the British Isles was played between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo on July 1902. FIFA was founded in Paris on May 22, 1904 - comprising football associations from France, Belgium (the preceding two teams having played their first international against each other earlier in month), Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany pledging to join.

As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised......
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