The Fifa World Cup is a football competition that country's from all around the world battle it out to land the greatest prize in world football. In order to get to the world cup you have to go through the qualification round.Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe).

There is a total of 200 country's that try to qualify but Only 32 teams can actually get to the tournament. The very first world cup was held in Uruguay, who then went on to win it in 1930. They were the first ever team to land this famous trophy. The first of many. The world cup is always held in a different country and continent every four years. For example 2006, it was in Germany while this year its going to be held in south Africa.

The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath. The only team to win the world cup 5 times is Brazil. They have won it in 1958,1962,1970,1994 and 2002. The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, where an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final between Italy and France. The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven different nations have won this title. Brazil have won it a record 5 times and they are the only team to qualify for every tournament that has been held. Italy have won it 4 times while Germany are just behind with 3.Both Uruguay and Argentina have won it twice and England and France have only won it the once.

Each Fifa world cup since 1966 has had its own mascot or logo. World cup Willie was the mascot in England during the 1966 tournament. In this years World Cup in South Africa, Zakumi will be there mascot.

Former Brazilian star Pele is the only player to have won the world cup 3 times. 2O players behind Pele have got 2 world cup medals. The overall top scorer in the the world cup is Brazilian striker Ronaldo who has scored 15 goals in 3 tournaments. West Germany's Gerd Muller has scored 14 in only 2 tournaments while France's Just fontaine holds the record for the most goals in 1 tournament. He scored 13 in the 1958 world cup.

There is a number of awards that you can win at the world cup. There is the golden ball for the best player in the tournament that is voted by media members. There is also the golden boot for who ever is the top goal scorer. another award is called the yashin award. This is given to the goalkeeper that keeps the most clean sheets. The last award that you can get is the young player of the tournament award. You have to be 21 or under to receive this award.

Here is a list of all the Fifa world cup finals.

WORLD CUP WINNERS

1930	Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay 4-2 Argentina
1934	Italy	Italy	Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia
1938	France	Italy	Italy 4-2 Hungary
1942	not held
1946	not held
1950	Brazil	Uruguay	Uruguay 2-1 Brazil
1954	Switzerland	Germany	Germany 3-2 Hungary
1958	Sweden	Brazil	Brazil 5-2 Sweden
1962	Chile	Brazil	Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia
1966	England	England	England 4-2 Germany
1970	Mexico	Brazil	Brazil 4-1 Italy
1974	Germany	Germany	Germany 2-1 Holland
1978	Argentina	Argentina	Argentina 3-1 Holland
1982	Spain	Italy	Italy 3-1 Germany
1986	Mexico	Argentina	Argentina 3-2 Germany
1990	Italy	Germany	Germany 1-0 Argentina
1994	US	Brazil	Brazil 3-2 Italy
1998	France	France	France 3-0 Brazil
2002	Japan / S. Korea	Brazil	Brazil 2-0 Germany
2006	Germany	Italy	Italy 1-1 (5-3) France
2010	South Africa

Henry The Cheat

Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland on the 19th of November 2009 saw his French team make it to the Fifa World Cup and send Ireland out.A controversial extra-time equaliser from William Gallas, who headed in Henry's pass to make it 1-1, gave France a 2-1 aggregate win and broke Irish hearts in Paris. Many of people think Ireland should of had a replay with France but I disagree. Remember what happened to England in 1986 when Maradona did the hand of god. They did not get a replay so why should we of got one. I think the Referee should have stopped the game and talked to his assistant. I also believe that taking in new technology would be a huge help when more incidents like these happen.

Maradonas Handball

Upcoming Fifa World Cup

This years world cup games will be played in ten different stadiums in south Africa. This is including the new fantastic soccer city stadium which was just built for the final.