How as the World Cup Evolved Through Time?

Every four years, the World Cup is arguably the most eagerly anticipated sporting event in the world. Thirty-two teams enter into the finals after a long qualifying stage in a bid to stake their claim as the best footballing nation in the world. The excitement around the 2022 edition of the tournament is no different with football betting having Brazil down as the current favourites the lift the coveted trophy, closely followed by France and England. Canarinho will be looking to win their sixth World Cup after topping their CONMEBOL qualifying group, winning 14 games and drawing three (result vs Argentina tbd).

There will be a slight change to proceedings this year though, with the event taking place in the winter rather than the summer due to the dangerously high temperature’s experienced in the host nation, Qatar. This is not the first time however that the format of the World Cup has experienced change, with the tournament having evolved majorly from its debut in 1930. 

The Originals and difficulties

The first iteration of the world cup was vastly different to what we enjoy now. Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, then FIFA president Jules Rimet decided to lead a bid in 1928 to stage an international tournament outside of the Olympics. It was decided that same year that Uruguay would be the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament. In total, 13 teams took part in the first World Cup. Now referred to as ‘the originals’, teams from Belgium, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the United States accepted invitations into the tournament with Uruguay winning the trophy.

The first few iterations of the World Cup were marred by difficulties of intercontinental travel and war with many European countries unwilling to travel to South America and vice-versa. All North and South American nations except Brazil and Cuba boycotted the 1938 tournament in France with the following two tournaments (42 and 46) cancelled amid the second world war.

After withdrawing from FIFA in 1920, British teams rejoined in 1946 following the end of the war and an invitation from FIFA. They then took part at the 1950 world cup. In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament with Nations such as North Korea, West Germany, Italy and Spain all entering the fray.

First Expansions

It was not until 1982 that the tournament as we know it started taking shape, with an expansion to 24 teams. This allowed a lot more teams from Europe into the tournament as well as African nations, with Cameroon entering their first tournament since gaining independence from France in ’82. We finally saw the tournament as we know it now take form in 1998 with the expansion to 32 teams. 

This finally allowed more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to qualify with these regions enjoying relative success in the tournaments since. Since then, the number of teams that have attempted to qualify for the tournament has markedly risen. For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a record 204 countries entered qualification.

Despite their being 21 overall tournaments being played since the first in 1930, there has been just eight winners with six multi-time winners. Brazil was a dominant force for much of the latter 20th century, winning at least once in each of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 90s and a further win in 2002. 

Germany on the other hand are the only team to have appeared in at least one final in six consecutive decades (50s-00s) and are the joint second most successful team alongside Italy with four wins. Argentina’s two wins in 1978 and 1986 are indicative of their incredible teams throughout the late 70s and 80s with legendary attacking midfielder Maradona setting the world on fire in 1986. 

France and Uruguay round out the list of nations with multiple wins with two each. Spain and England on the other hand have only won the competition once in 2010 and 1966 respectively, with both tournaments also being their sole appearance in a World Cup final.

Further Changed to Come

Besides the move to holding the tournament in the winter this year, it seems there is yet another change to the format to come in the following tournament in 2026. In October 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup in 2026. On 10 January 2017, FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup will have 48 finalist teams.

Most recently, there has been whispers that FIFA will move to make the tournament biennial instead of quadrennial, backed by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and national federations in Africa and Asia. However this has been met with backlash from football fans.

It is fair to say however, that whichever changes FIFA decide to make, the World Cup is always going to be the biggest attraction in football. Attracting billions round the world, the tournament transcends sport and engulfs entire nations into togetherness.