Interesting Facts about Soccer World Cup History

Soccer is indeed one of the most popular games in the United States of America since the past 30 years, with more than 3 million young enthusiast playing the youth soccer games and leagues in the nation. Children in the age group of 5 to 10 are taking keen interest on playing the soccer games and have been actively participating in practices to make a mark for themselves. Soccer took off for the first time in England during the mid 1800s, and it was originally played by aristocrat English class in boarding schools of private clubs. As this game is usually inexpensive and quite easy to play, it quickly became a favorite sport of the masses.

Founded in the year 1863, the London Football Association is mainly responsible for the standardization of the game rules in Europe and its adjoining regions. Within a period of 20 years or less, professional teams and players were all ready to hit the field. Soccer started spreading throughout the European nations, with Germany, Italy, Spain and France taking up this game voluntarily during the early twentieth century. People started taking keen interest in this game all over the world, and that led to a formal competition. In the year 1990, soccer was played for the very first time at the world Olympics, with new medals introduced eight years after the initiation of this game. Professional players were exempted from this competition in Olympic Games though for a period of over 80 years.

The year 1904 saw the formation of The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). After the formation of FIFA, the first world Cup International soccer was held in the year 1930. It was basically a typical round-robin tournament that has teams pitting against individual nations, which has now grown to become a global affair, with more than 200 teams seeking admittance in these games. However, only 24 teams are allowed to compete in these games. Many small teams were formed and soccer is now played at the national level too, with teams like Chelsea Football Club and Team Bayern Munich being very popular.

Soccer World Cup History suggests that this game has a long way to go; although it has already taken the shape of an international phenomenal game. While it has taken a lot of years for the United States to enter into this soccer arena rapidly, the formation of USSF (U.S. Soccer Federation) in 1913 made things a lot easier and comfortable on the whole.

However, apart from soccer, America started taking keen interest on football, which is a bit different from soccer in many ways. It was only during the World Cup competition between men that was held in 1994 that the interest in soccer was further renewed among the young Americans. This led to the formation of the Major League Soccer in 1993, and the first season began in the year 1996. 10 teams participated in the game with 32 regular seasonal games being held.




Mohammed Salifu is the author of this article on Chelsea Football Club.
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