Who Invented the World Cup?

The FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events on the planet and it has become a huge honor to be the host of the soccer tournament.

The competition has been played in nearly every continent of the globe—except Australasia and Antarctica—and has over 200 nations vying for a place in the finals.

The tournament in Qatar is the 22nd to have been played and Brazil will be hoping to extend their record five wins, while a number of nations will be fancying their chances to grab a first World Cup win.

Who Invented the World Cup?

The World Cup was the dream of football administrator and former FIFA president Jules Rimet, who wanted to stage an international men's tournament.

Soccer had been included in the 1928 Olympics but the International Olympic Committee had decided to drop the sport from future games as they were not confident that amateur players would be involved since soccer had more professionals in the game.

Frenchman Rimet set about organizing the inaugural World Cup with Uruguay being the host.

This presented difficulties for European nations who either found travel across the Atlantic too financially prohibitive or flatly refused to play soccer in South America.

The 1930 World Cup is the only time countries were invited to compete and not have to qualify for the tournament

The teams invited to the first World Cup—to join hosts Uruguay—were Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, France, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Siam (now Thailand), the United States, and Yugoslavia.

Siam, Japan, and Egypt subsequently withdrew from the tournament before a ball was kicked.

The final was a repeat of the 1928 Olympic soccer final, with Uruguay facing their South American rival Argentina.

Host nation Uruguay ran out 4-2, winning over Argentina in front of over 96,000 spectators in Montevideo.

Uruguay won the World Cup for the second time in 1950 but has not been back to the final since then.

What Is the Most Famous World Cup?

There is much competition to be considered for the most famous World Cup finals, with 1970 often cited as the best when Pele's Brazil played scintillating soccer.

Despite this, the tournament that has been rated as the best ever is the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

There were worries that soccer wouldn't capture the nation's imagination at that time but there was an average of more than 70,000 spectators at every game and the tournament saw some of the game's biggest soccer legends playing on the field.

Cameroon's Roger Milla set the record as the oldest goalscorer when the 42-year-old scored a consolation goal in their 6-1 defeat to Russia.

It also saw the return of Diego Maradona after he had been serving a suspension for using weight-loss products.

Brazil won the final with star striker Ronaldo announcing his arrival on the world stage.

What Is the Most Controversial World Cup Moment?

There are many moments that could claim to be the most controversial but a goal scored by Argentina's Diego Maradona against their old foes England might be the winner.

Just four years after the Falklands War— when the U.K. and Argentina clashed over control of the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic—their respective football teams reignited memories of the conflict when they met in the World Cup quarter-final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

In the 51st minute, Maradona leaped to challenge England goalkeeper Peter Shilton for a high ball but instead of using his head, he reached out his arm and used his fist to punch the ball into the net.

The goal was awarded and when questioned as to whether it should have stood, Maradona said that it was scored with "the hand of God."

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