Previous international competitions
The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England. … See more

Selection process
Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between … See more

Key
• aet: result/match won after extra time
• p: match won after penalty shoot-out
• TBD: to be determined
Notes See more

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winning team. It was originally simply known as the World … See more

Qualification
Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the … See more

The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and as of 2006 is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final … See more

Six players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966). Rafael Márquez (2002–2018), and Andrés Guardado (2006–2022); See more