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 them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.[82] The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup.[83]
Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the first tournament with multiple hosts.[84] South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since Argentina 1978,[85] and was the first occasion where consecutive World Cups were held outside Europe.[86]
The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. There have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar, with Qatar becoming the first Middle Eastern country to host the tournament.[87][88]
For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament was rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation did not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.[89] This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.[90]
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was chosen to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations.[91] The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held, with 48 teams playing 104 matches. Sixty matches will take place in the US, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.[91]
Summary by confederation
| Confederation | Times hosted | Hosts | Upcoming hosts |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA (Europe) | 11 | 1934, Italy; 1938, France, 1954, Switzerland; 1958, Sweden; 1966, England; 1974, West Germany; 1982, Spain; 1990, Italy; 1998, France; 2006, Germany; 2018, Russia | 2030, Spain & Portugal |
| CONMEBOL (South America) | 5 | 1930, Uruguay; 1950, Brazil; 1962, Chile; 1978, Argentina; 2014, Brazil | |
| CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) | 3 | 1970, Mexico; 1986, Mexico; 1994, United States | 2026, Canada, Mexico & United States |
| AFC (Asia) | 2 | 2002, South Korea & Japan; 2022, Qatar | 2034, Saudi Arabia |
| CAF (Africa) | 1 | 2010, South Africa | 2030, Morocco |
| OFC (Oceania) | 0 | none |
Performances
Six of the eight champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exceptions being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 and lost their semi-final against Germany in 2014, and Spain, which reached the second round on home soil in 1982. England (1966) won its only title while playing as a host nation. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), Argentina (1978), and France (1998) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.[92][93]
Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Switzerland (quarter-finals 1954), Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), South Korea (fourth place in 2002), Russia (quarter-finals 2018), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts.[93][94] So far, South Africa (2010) and Qatar (2022) failed to advance beyond the first round.[95][96]
Broadcasting and promotion
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.[2] 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of the tournament, almost a ninth of the entire population of the planet. The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.[97] The World Cup attracts major sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas. For these companies and many more, being a sponsor strongly impacts their global brands. Host countries typically experience a multimillion-dollar revenue increase from the month-long event.
The governing body of the sport, FIFA, generated $4.8 billion in revenue from the 2014 tournament,[98] and $6.1 billion from the 2018 tournament.[99]
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.[100] World Cups feature official match balls specially designed for each tournament. After Slazenger produced the ball for the 1966 World Cup Adidas became the official supplier to FIFA.[101] Each World Cup also has an official song, which have been performed by artists ranging from Shakira to Will Smith.[102][103] Other songs, such as "Nessun dorma", performed by The Three Tenors at four World Cup concerts, have also become identified with the tournament.[104]
Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first sticker album for the 1970 World Cup.[105] Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation.[106] FIFA has licensed World Cup video games since 1986, sponsored by Electronic Arts.[105]
Results
- Key
- a.e.t.: result/match won after extra time
- p: match won after penalty shoot-out
- Notes
- There was no third place match in 1930; the two losing semi-finalists are ranked according to their overall records in the tournament.[107]
- The final stage in 1950 was a round-robin group of four teams. Coincidentally, one of the last two matches pitted together the top two teams (and the only two who could win the title), and the other was between the bottom two teams. Uruguay v Brazil is often considered the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup.[108][109]
- Opening three games hosts:
Argentina
Paraguay
Uruguay
In all, 80 nations have played in at least one World Cup.[a] Of these, eight national teams have won the World Cup,[114] and they have added stars to their badges, with each star representing a World Cup victory. Uruguay, however, chose to display four stars on their badge, representing their two gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, which are recognized by FIFA as World Championships, and their two World Cup titles in 1930 and 1950.
With five titles, Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup (22) to date.[115] Brazil were also the first team to win the World Cup for the third (1970), fourth (1994) and fifth (2002) time. Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. West Germany (1982–1990) and Brazil (1994–2002) are the only nations to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals. Germany has made the most top-four finishes (13), medals (12), as well as the most finals (8).
Teams reaching the top four
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Top 4 total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil | 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) | 2 (1950 *, 1998) | 2 (1938, 1978) | 2 (1974, 2014 *) | 11 |
 Germany1 | 4 (1954, 1974 *, 1990, 2014) | 4 (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002) | 4 (1934, 1970, 2006 *, 2010) | 1 (1958) | 13 |
 Italy | 4 (1934 *, 1938, 1982, 2006) | 2 (1970, 1994) | 1 (1990 *) | 1 (1978) | 8 |
| Argentina | 3 (1978 *, 1986, 2022) | 3 (1930, 1990, 2014) | 6 | ||
 France | 2 (1998 *, 2018) | 2 (2006, 2022) | 2 (1958, 1986) | 1 (1982) | 7 |
| Uruguay | 2 (1930 *, 1950) | 3 (1954, 1970, 2010) | 5 | ||
 England | 1 (1966 *) | 2 (1990, 2018) | 3 | ||
 Spain | 1 (2010) | 1 (1950) | 2 | ||
 Netherlands | 3 (1974, 1978, 2010) | 1 (2014) | 1 (1998) | 5 | |
 Hungary | 2 (1938, 1954) | 2 | |||
 Czechia2 | 2 (1934, 1962) | 2 | |||
 Sweden | 1 (1958 *) | 2 (1950, 1994) | 1 (1938) | 4 | |
 Croatia | 1 (2018) | 2 (1998, 2022) | 3 | ||
 Poland | 2 (1974, 1982) | 2 | |||
 Austria | 1 (1954) | 1 (1934) | 2 | ||
 Portugal | 1 (1966) | 1 (2006) | 2 | ||
 Belgium | 1 (2018) | 1 (1986) | 2 | ||
 United States | 1 (1930) | 1 | |||
 Chile | 1 (1962 *) | 1 | |||
 Turkey | 1 (2002) | 1 | |||
 Serbia3 | 2 (1930, 1962) | 2 | |||
 Russia4 | 1 (1966) | 1 | |||
 Bulgaria | 1 (1994) | 1 | |||
 South Korea | 1 (2002 *) | 1 | |||
 Morocco | 1 (2022) | 1 |
- * hosts
- 1 includes results representing West Germany (1954–1990)
- 2 includes results representing Czechoslovakia (1934–1990)
- 3 includes results representing Yugoslavia (1930–1990) and FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro (1998–2006)
- 4 includes results representing the Soviet Union (1958–1990)
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