All About FIFA: History, Rise in Popularity and World Cup Connection – NBC4 Washington

History, rise in popularity and World Cup connection of FIFA originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you think of soccer? FIFA and the World Cup, right?

Established over a century ago, FIFA is and has always been a universal sports phenomenon engrossed across television screens despite its crooked reputation.

The World Cup, which showcased its inaugural year back in 1930, averaged 517 million live audience viewers and 1.1 billion viewers throughout the 90-minute contest in 2018 when France took on Croatia. Just imagine the audience the 2022 competition will receive.

But before we consider the future, lets take a look back at the history of the football association when it was created, who is part of it and how it relates to the World Cup.

FIFA stands for Fdration Internationale de Football Association in French; or International Federation of Association Football in English.

The association was founded on May 21, 1904 in Paris, France and is made up of 211 members. FIFAs intent was to create a sports governance that would oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The headquarters lie in Zrich, Switzerland and have a council of 37 individuals.

At the start of the 20th century, demand for international soccer games skyrocketed. Soccer leaders in Europe decided to create and diversify an organized and collaborative system to expand competition.

FIFA is composed of 211 national associations. This year Russia has been suspended for the 2022 season, therefore 210 national associations will be involved. Thirty-wo of these national associations compete in the final competition the World Cup.

These national associations also have to belong to one of the six regional confederations that divide the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

French journalist Robert Guerin was the first president of FIFA from 1904 to 1906.

The longest running FIFA president was Jules Rimet, who served from 1921 to 1954. The World Cup trophy is actually named after Rimet.

The current president is Gianni Infantino, who was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2019.

FIFA introduced the World Cup in 1930 and invited every country to participate, but only 13 chose to make the journey to Uruguay. Now featuring 32 teams, the World Cup is known as the worlds largest sporting event, broadcasted in more than 200 countries and viewed by billions of fans across the globe. The event is quadrennial, meaning it occurs every four years, and it involves 32 teams total.

This will be the U.S. mens national teams first time competing in the World Cup since 2014. All eyes are on the screen and anticipating this fall faceoff.

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All About FIFA: History, Rise in Popularity and World Cup Connection - NBC4 Washington