Under the Oak

(This is the first of a series of posts to help give some background for the upcoming FIFA World Cup taking place in June 2010. I’m not exactly an expert on soccer, but I’ve been getting into it in recent years and have found myself pretty pumped up about this World Cup. I’m hoping that by giving some of the background for the World Cup and maybe some basics of the game itself, I can drum up some interest among the three or four people who still read this blog)

2010 World Cup Series:

1. A History Lesson
2. How it all works

The History of the Game

The game of soccer (like the game of chess) has its earliest beginnings thousands of years ago. There is evidence of a game similar to modern soccer being played in China and Japan as early as 1004 BC (around the time of King David). We know for certain that such a game was played in Japan by AD 611. It is something of a mystery how the game spread from East to West, but it did so and found great popularity in Europe. Specifically, it was wildly popular in England. So popular, in fact, that the Church and Crown viewed it as a threat to their culture. Kings Edward (1307-1327), Henry IV (1399-1413), Henry VII (1509-1547), and Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) all passed laws prohibiting the sport as noisy and vulgar. Nonetheless, the game continued to be played and advanced to the point that by the 1800s clubs had formed and in 1863, in a London tavern, several of these clubs joined together to form the Football Association and wrote the Laws of the Game (Note: it is thought that the word “soccer” came from a shortening of “Association” to “Assoc.”).  Since then, the sport has spread all across the world. There is no other sport which comes close to being as popular worldwide as soccer (estimated 3.5 billion fans worldwide). An estimated 715.1 million people watched the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany (that means that 1 of every 9 people on Earth was watching the World Cup. Incredible!).

What is “FIFA”?

As the 1800’s came to a close, national leagues and associations had begun to take shape across Europe and elsewhere. On May 21, 1904, representatives from France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland joined to form the first international soccer federation – Federation Internacional de Football Association (FIFA for short). Since then, FIFA has established itself as the governing body of soccer around the world. It helps maintain the Laws of the Game, certifies referees at the international level, and oversees international competitions including the biggest and most successful – the World Cup.

The History of the World Cup

The first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay.  The idea sprung from soccer’s inclusion in the summer Olympics starting in 1908, so it should come as little surprise that the World Cup is organized much like the Olympics (see future post). With the exception of 1942 and 1946 (WWII), there has been a FIFA World Cup held every four years since 1930.

The only nation to have played in every World Cup is Brazil who also has the most titles (5). Second is the current defending champion Italy with 4 titles, and third is Germany with 3 titles.

USA! USA! USA!

Soccer has a very long history in the United States. However, just as the sport was solidifying and formalizing in Europe, soccer in the United States was challenged by American Football’s rising popularity (a padded and more tame offshoot of rugby which has somehow remained popular in the US. You may have heard of it.). As a result, soccer has struggled to maintain its place among American sports, but in recent years this has been changing thanks to the efforts of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the influx of soccer loving immigrants into North America (also because nobody cares about baseball anymore).

Despite these difficulties, the USA has a long record of competition in the FIFA World Cup. USA got off to a good start in the 1930 World Cup defeating their first opponent – Belgium – 3-0 and going on to reach the semi-finals and finish 3rd overall. However, since then, the United States has lacked the developmental foundation needed to consistently compete with nations like England, Italy, or Brazil which have extensive and very popular professional and youth leagues (not that being the underdog has always been a bad thing! In 1950, the United States pulled off a huge upset against England which burns in the minds of English fans even to this day!). This lack of developmental foundation has begun to change with the recent rise in popularity of youth soccer, but we still have a way to go.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the United States will first play a tough rivalry game against England on June 12, 2010. This will be followed by games against Slovenia (June 18) and Algeria (June 23). The top 2 teams from this group of four will advance to the next round. More on how the World Cup is organized in the next post in this series.

Tags: FIFA World Cup, History of Soccer, Soccer, United States Men's National Team