Soccer

Today I will be talking about the Fifa World Cup! The FIFA world cup is a soccer tournament held every four years. It is the most prestigious soccer championship. The equivalent of the World Cup is ice hockey in the Olympics. Players play on their regular league teams, then during the Olympics or World Cup; players may be chosen to represent their country.

The World Cup has thirty-two teams. Teams all over the world compete in qualification matches. The thirty-two teams that qualify are randomly divided into eight divisions with four teams in each division. Each team will face every team in their division once, for a total of three games each. A team gets three points for a win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss. After the three games, the points are totaled up and the top two teams in each division moves on to round two. If there is a tie when the points are totaled up, the team with the most goals scored gets the extra tie-breaking point.

During round two there are sixteen teams left in the tournament. It is predetermined that the winner of a division will face the second place team of another division, starting a tournament bracket. There is only one match per team in this round. If the match is a tie, the two teams will go to a shootout and whoever scores the most goals in five shots, wins the game. The winner proceeds to round three.

Round three has eight teams remaining. This round is the same as the previous round except with fewer teams. Each team has one match and the winner continues to the next round. The same rules as in round two apply if there is a tie.

Round four has the final four teams. If a team wins they move on to the championship game. If they lose, they will go into the constellation match for third place.

Brazil has won a total of five world cups, which is the most of any country. Following behind Brazil is Italy and Germany with three apiece; Uruguay and Argentina with two each and France and England have captured the golden trophy once each. The only two continents to produce a World Cup champion are Europe and South America.

The World Cup is hosted by a different county each tournament. The most recent World Cup in North America was in the United States in 1994. The most recent World Cup was a special one. In 2002, it was the first time two countries have hosted the World Cup, in Korea and Japan. Brazil beat Germany in the finals by a score of two nothing. The next World Cup in 2006, will be in Germany.

Many great players have run the fields in the FIFA World Cup. Legends like Pele and Baggio and current superstars such as Ronaldo and Beckham. Pele is arguably the best player to ever play the game. The Wayne Greatzky and Michael Jordan of soccer. In 1958, at the age of 17 Pele was first introduced to the FIFA World Cup. He scored three goals in the semi-final game against France and two goals in the final game against Sweden. But that was not all he did.

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