Carlos Alberto Torres Captain Carlos Alberto Torres holding the Jules Rimet trophy aloft after Brazil's triumph at the 1970 World Cup. (more) World Cup football tournament Ask the Chatbot a Question More Actions Print Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/sports/World-Cup-football Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

　　External Websites U.S. Soccer - Hispanic Heritage: Marcelo Balboa�s Pride and Passion for Representing the USMNT Official Site of FIFA Football History - The history of FIFA World Cup Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. World Cup - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) World Cup - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: FIFA World Cup Written by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Aug 26, 2025 • Article History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot Formally: FIFA World Cup (Show more) Key People: Sepp Blatter Zinedine Zidane Birgit Prinz (Show more) Related Topics: football Jules Rimet Trophy FIFA World Cup Trophy world championship (Show more) Notable Honorees: Lionel Messi Thierry Henry Jürgen Klinsmann Romário (Show more) See all related content { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " What is the World Cup? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The World Cup in football (soccer) is a quadrennial tournament of 32 menu2019s national teams that is organized by the Fu00E9du00E9ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It determines the sportu2019s menu2019s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " Why is the World Cup every four years? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The World Cup happens every four years in order to have enough time for the qualification tournaments and playoffs among national teams to take place. Additionally, four years provides the host country adequate time to plan the logistics of the tournament and how to best accommodate an influx of millions of fans." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " How does qualifying for the World Cup work? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Qualifying for the World Cup is a long process during the years between each quadrennial tournament. Each of the Fu00E9du00E9ration Internationale de Football Associationu2019s six confederations determines its own qualification system, which produces the menu2019s teams that represent each confederationu2019s region. The six confederations are Africa; Asia; Europe; North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; Oceania; and South America." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " Where does World Cup prize money come from? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "World Cup prize money comes from the earnings of the nonprofit Fu00E9du00E9ration Internationale de Football Association. FIFAu2019s revenue is generated by high bids for television, marketing, and licensing rights for major football events that FIFA organizes. FIFA does not incur expenses for the construction of World Cup infrastructure, as those fall on the host country." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " Who is the World Cupu2019s top scorer? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The menu2019s World Cup all-time top scorer is Miroslav Klose of the German national football (soccer) team. He scored a total of 16 goals across four World Cup tournaments, from 2002 through 2014. Marta, playing for the Brazilian womenu2019s national team, scored her 17th World Cup goal during the 2019 Womenu2019s World Cup, becoming the top scorer across the menu2019s and womenu2019s tournaments. She played in five World Cups, from 2003 through 2019." } } ] } Top Questions What is the World Cup? The World Cup in football (soccer) is a quadrennial tournament of 32 men’s national teams that is organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It determines the sport’s men’s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament.

　　Why is the World Cup every four years? The World Cup happens every four years in order to have enough time for the qualification tournaments and playoffs among national teams to take place. Additionally, four years provides the host country adequate time to plan the logistics of the tournament and how to best accommodate an influx of millions of fans.

　　How does qualifying for the World Cup work? Qualifying for the World Cup is a long process during the years between each quadrennial tournament. Each of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s six confederations determines its own qualification system, which produces the men’s teams that represent each confederation’s region. The six confederations are Africa; Asia; Europe; North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; Oceania; and South America.

　　Where does World Cup prize money come from? World Cup prize money comes from the earnings of the nonprofit Fédération Internationale de Football Association. FIFA’s revenue is generated by high bids for television, marketing, and licensing rights for major football events that FIFA organizes. FIFA does not incur expenses for the construction of World Cup infrastructure, as those fall on the host country.

　　Who is the World Cup’s top scorer? The men’s World Cup all-time top scorer is Miroslav Klose of the German national football (soccer) team. He scored a total of 16 goals across four World Cup tournaments, from 2002 through 2014. Marta, playing for the Brazilian women’s national team, scored her 17th World Cup goal during the 2019 Women’s World Cup, becoming the top scorer across the men’s and women’s tournaments. She played in five World Cups, from 2003 through 2019.

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　　FIFA World Cup trophyThe FIFA World Cup trophy.(more)World Cup, in football (soccer), quadrennial tournament of men’s national teams that determines the sport’s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament. Countries worldwide compete vigorously, many years in advance, to host the lucrative event, and accusations of bribery connected to the awarding of hosting rights have long shadowed the tournament. In fact, the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal implicated more than two dozen FIFA officials and their associates in a 24-year self-enrichment scheme that reached the highest levels of FIFA management. The equivalent tournament for women’s national football teams is the Women’s World Cup.

　　1 of 3The history behind the FIFA World CupWatch this video to learn more about the history of the FIFA World Cup.(more)See all videos for this article

　　2 of 31930 World CupUruguay scoring its first goal in the World Cup final against Argentina, in Montevideo, Uruguay, July 30, 1930.(more)

　　3 of 3Explore which countries won the most men's World Cup titles over timeLearn more about which countries have won the most men's World Cup titles since 1930.(more)See all videos for this articleThe first competition for the cup was organized in 1930 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and was won by Uruguay. Held every four years since that time, except during World War II, the competition consists of international sectional tournaments leading to a final elimination event made up of 32 national teams. Unlike Olympic football, World Cup teams are not limited to players of a certain age or amateur status, so the competition serves more nearly as a contest between the world’s best players. Referees are selected from lists that are submitted by all the national associations.

　　The trophy cup awarded from 1930 to 1970 was the Jules Rimet Trophy, named for the Frenchman who proposed the tournament. This cup was permanently awarded in 1970 to then three-time winner Brazil (1958, 1962, and 1970), and a new trophy called the FIFA World Cup was put up for competition. Many other sports have organized “World Cup” competitions.

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