A History of World Cup Soccer

Although games bearing similarities to soccer have existed for thousands of years, soccer as we know it today was not created until the mid 19^th century in England. Soccer (or football as it is known internationally) soon became a popular sport in the United Kingdom. The first international soccer competition was held in 1872 between England and Scotland, almost 50 years before the first World Cup.

By 1900 soccer had become an Olympic sport, although only in demonstration games. Soccer would not become an official sport of the Olympics until the 1908 games. In the interim FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) was created in the year 1904.

Soccer's international popularity had begun to rise and by 1928 FIFA president Jules Rimet decided that it was time for an international soccer competition. The need was furthered by the fact that soccer would not be included in the 1932 Olympic Games. The Games that year were to be held in Los Angeles and because soccer was not very popular in the United States it was decided not to include them in the Games. Thus the World Cup was born.

1930: The First World Cup Soccer Tournament

The first ever World Cup soccer tournament was held in 1930. This first ever competition was held in the South American country of Uruguay. It would also be the Uruguay team that would be the first winners of the World Cup.

Unlike today there were no qualification rounds for the first World Cup. Participants would be chosen from member nations of FIFA and the tournament would be by invitation. Because of its location in South America many European countries decided not to participate considering how the expense and time of the trip. Rimet and the other World Cup organizers knew this would be disastrous for their inaugural World Cup tournament, and were able to convince four European nations to send teams: France, Belgium, Romania and Yugoslavia. In total 13 countries participated.