FIFA Men's World Cup

The first football world cup was played in Uruguay in 1930. In the first championship match between Argentina and Uruguay, the teams could not decide on a ball so they used Argentina's ball the first half and Uruguay's in the second. Many countries did not enter, but most of those that did came from the Americas. By 1950 however, European teams took interest, and the competition blossomed into the world's biggest footballing event.

The South American Copa América was first contested in 1916 and preceded the World Cup. Decades later, other continental championships emerged - the AFC Asian Cup(1956), the African Cup of Nations (1957), the European Championship (1960), North America's Gold Cup (1991) and Oceania's OFC Nations Cup (1996).

The Brazilian team, known as "Seleção", is the most successful team in the World Cup, having won five times. The runners-up are Italy, and Germany (three as West Germany) with four titles, having won their latest titles in 2006 and 2014 respectively.