History of FIFA World Cup

The first official 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.

As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, as well as at the 1906 Intercalated Games, before becoming an official FIFA-supervised Olympic competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

By the twentieth century, football had gained ground all around the world and national football associations were being founded. The first official international match outside the British Isles was played between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo in July 1902.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on 22 May 1904

In 1930, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the programme due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament.

The 1934 World Cup was hosted by Italy and was the first World Cup to include a qualification stage. Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament, a number which would be retained until the expansion of the finals tournament in 1982.

The FIFA World Cup was planned to take place in 1942. Germany officially applied to host the 1942 FIFA World Cup at the 23rd FIFA Congress on 13 August 1936 in Berlin. In June 1939, Brazil also applied to host the tournament. The beginning of European hostilities in September 1939 prompted further plans for the 1942 World Cup to be cancelled, before a host country was selected. The FIFA tournament did not take place.

Competitions resumed with the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, which was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football, but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. England's involvement, however, was not to be a success.

The 1954 World Cup, held in Switzerland, was the first to be televised.

The 1966 World Cup, hosted by England, was the first to embrace marketing, featuring a mascot and official logo for the first time. The trophy was stolen in the run-up to the tournament but was found a week later by a dog named "Pickles".

A new trophy was created for the 1974 edition, held in West Germany.

Spain hosted an expanded 1982 World Cup which featured 24 teams, the first expansion since 1934. The teams were divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where they split into four groups of three.

The 1998 World Cup was held in France, and had an expanded format featuring 32 teams.

The 2002 World Cup was the first to be held in Asia, and was hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan.

The 2010 World Cup was held in South Africa. It was the first cup hosted on African soil, and the cup was won by Spain.

The 2022 World Cup hosted by Qatar will be the first tournament to not be held in summer time in which it is usually held. It will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.