1.
Uruguay national football team
–
The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez, the Uruguayan team is commonly referred to as La Celeste. The Uruguayan team recently won the 2011 Copa América and they have won the Copa América 15 times, being the team that has won the tournament on most occasions. The team has won the FIFA World Cup twice, including the first World Cup in 1930 as hosts and they won their second title in 1950, upsetting host Brazil 2–1 in the final match, which received an attendance higher than any football match ever. They have won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928 recognized by FIFA as World Cup, Uruguay also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions. In total, Uruguay have won 20 official titles, a record for the most international titles held by any country. Another unique achievement of Uruguay is that it´s the only nation in football to organize multiple major international tournaments in own country. La Celeste won 7 Copa América tournaments,1 World Cup and Mundialito and their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population of around 3.4 million inhabitants. Uruguay is by far the smallest country in the world to have won a World Cup in terms of population,1.75 million inhabitants in 1930. The second-smallest country, by population, to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a population of nearly 28 million people in 1978, in 1901, Uruguay played against Argentina in their first ever match, a close contest won by Argentina 3–2. Prior to 1916, Uruguay played more than 30 matches, of which all, the inaugural Copa America provided Uruguay with more varied opposition. Victories over Chile and Brazil, along with a tie against Argentina, the following year Uruguay hosted the competition, and retained the title by winning every game. The 1919 Copa América saw Uruguays first defeat in the tournament, in 1924, the Uruguay team traveled to Paris to become the first South American team to compete in the Olympic Games. In contrast to the style of the European teams of the era, Uruguay played a style based around short passes. In the 1928 Summer Olympics, Uruguay went to Amsterdam to defend their title, FIFA assumed the responsibility of the organization of the Football Games to be played by FIFA rules and the tournaments would be recognized as World Championships. It only happened twice until the creation of its own FIFA World Championship, following the double Olympic triumph, Uruguay was chosen as the host nation for the first World Cup, held in 1930, the centenary of Uruguays first constitution. During the World Cup, Uruguay won all its matches, for the 1938 World Cup, France was chosen as host, contrary to a previous agreement to alternate the championships between South America and Europe, so Uruguay again refused to participate. Uruguay again won the World Cup in 1950, beating hosts Brazil in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the decisive match was at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil
2.
Brazil national football team
–
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international mens association football. Brazil is administered by the Brazilian Football Confederation, the body for football in Brazil. They have been a member of the FIFA since 1923 and member of the CONMEBOL since 1916, Brazil is the most successful national football team in the FIFA World Cup with five championships,1958,1962,1970,1994 and 2002. Brazil is the national team to have played in all World Cup editions without any absence nor need for playoffs. The seleção is also the most successful team in the FIFA Confederations Cup with four titles,1997,2005,2009 and 2013. They have also won their continental championship. Brazil is the national team to have won the World Cup on four different continents, once in Europe, once in South America, twice in North America. They also share with Spain a record of 35 consecutive international matches undefeated, a common quip about football is, Os ingleses o inventaram, os brasileiros o aperfeiçoaram. Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, though it is claimed that the match was a 3–3 draw, in contrast to its future success, the national teams early appearances were not brilliant. Other early matches played during that time include several friendly games against Argentina, Chile, however, led by the goalscoring abilities of Arthur Friedenreich, they were victorious at home in the South American Championships in 1919, repeating their victory, also at home, in 1922. In 1930, Brazil played in the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, the squad defeated Bolivia but lost to Yugoslavia, being eliminated from the competition. They lost in the first round to Spain in 1934 in Italy, Brazil were the only South American team to participate in this competition. After being victorious in a third South American Championship in 1949 Brazil first achieved prominence when it hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The team went into the last game of the round, against Uruguay at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio. Uruguay, however, won the match and the Cup in a known as the Maracanazo. The match led to a period of national mourning, Brazil reached the quarter-final, where they were beaten 4–2 by tournament favourites Hungary in one of the ugliest matches in football history, known as the Battle of Berne. For the 1958 World Cup, Brazil were drawn in a group with England and they beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. Before the match, coach Vicente Feola made three substitutions that were crucial for Brazil to defeat the Soviets, Zito, Garrincha and Pelé
3.
Sweden national football team
–
The Sweden national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for football in Sweden. Swedens home ground is Friends Arena in the Stockholm urban area, Sweden made their first World Cup appearance in 1934. Sweden has made eleven World Cup appearances and five appearances in the European Championships and they finished second in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and third in both 1950 and 1994. Swedens accomplishments also include a medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics. They reached the semi-finals in UEFA Euro 1992, Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 11 World Cup appearances and 3 medals in the Olympics. The Swedish team finished second in the 1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994. Sweden played its first international game against Norway on 12 July 1908, other matches in 1908 were played agaisnt England, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden lost all five matches. In the same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time, Sweden, however, lost a game in the Olympics against the Great Britain 1–12, the biggest loss in the Swedish national teams history. In 1916, Sweden defeated Denmark for the first time, Sweden played in the 1912 Olympics, the 1920 Olympics, and in the 1924 Olympics, where Sweden took the bronze and their first medal ever. The 1938 World Cup was Swedens second qualification for the World Cup, in the first round, they were scheduled to play against Austria, but after Germanys occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the match against Cuba. They beat Cuba 8–0 with both Harry Andersson and Gustav Wetterström scoring hat-tricks, in the semi-final match against Hungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Swedens next match was the match against Brazil. In that game the Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in fourth place for the first, in the first round, Sweden played against Austria. The Austrian team had qualified without their professional players, which was a surprise since the Austrian league had many players who were allowed to play in the tournament. The match was played at White Hart Lane in London and Sweden won 3–0, in the second game, Sweden played against Korea and won 12–0, one of the two largest margin wins Sweden has ever had. In the semi-final Sweden met their archrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2, the final was played at legendary Wembley Stadium in London. The attendance was around 40,000 people which was high for a game in those days
4.
Spain national football team
–
The Spain national football team represents Spain in mens International association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Julen Lopetegui after Vicente del Bosque stepped down following Euro 2016, the Spanish side is commonly referred to as La Roja, La Furia Roja, La Furia Española or simply La Furia. Spain became a member of FIFA in 1904 even though the Spanish Football Federation was first established in 1909, Spains national team debuted in 1920. Since then, the Spanish national team has participated in a total of 14 of 20 FIFA World Cups and 9 of 14 UEFA European Championships. These three successive titles make them the national team so far with three consecutive wins of either the applicable continental championship or the World Cup. From 2008 to 2013, a span, the national team won FIFA Team of the Year. Between November 2006 and June 2009 Spain went undefeated for a record-equalling 35 consecutive matches before their loss to the United States. The teams achievements have led many commentators, experts and former players to consider the 2010 and 2012 Spanish sides among the best ever international sides in world football. The first Spain national football team was constituted in 1920, with the objective of finding a team that would represent Spain at the Summer Olympics held in Belgium in that same year. Spain made their debut at the tournament on 28 August 1920 against Denmark, the Spanish managed to win that match by a scoreline of 1–0, eventually finishing with the silver medal. Spain qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1934, defeating Brazil in their first game and losing in a replay to the hosts, the Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive matches between the 1934 World Cup and the 1950 editions qualifiers. At the 1950 finals in Brazil, they topped their group to progress to the final round, until 2010, this had been Spains highest finish in a FIFA World Cup finals, which had given them the name of the underachievers. Spain won its first major title when hosting the 1964 European Championship held in Spain. The victory would stand as Spains lone major title for 44 years, Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, reaching the second round, and four years later they reached the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to Belgium. Javier Clemente was appointed as Spains coach in 1992, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, had the official acknowledged the foul, Spain would have merited a penalty kick. In the 2002 World Cup, Spain won its three group matches, then defeated the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round. They faced co-hosts South Korea in the quarter-finals, losing in a shootout after having two goals called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time, at UEFA Euro 2008, Spain won all their games in Group D. Italy were the opponents in the match, which Spain won 4–2 on penalties
5.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
6.
1938 FIFA World Cup
–
The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final, France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in Berlin on August 13,1936. France defeated Argentina and Germany in the first round of voting, the decision caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents, instead, it was the second tournament in a row to be played in Europe. This was the last World Cup to be staged before the outbreak of the Second World War and it was the first time that the hosts and the title holders qualified automatically. Title holders were given an entry into the World Cup until 2006 when this was abolished. Of the 14 remaining places, eleven were allocated to Europe, as a result, only three non-European nations took part, Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the smallest ever number of teams from outside the host continent to compete at a FIFA World Cup, Austria qualified for the World Cup, but after qualification was complete, the Anschluss united Austria with Germany. Austria subsequently withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players joining the German squad and this tournament saw the first, and as of 2016 the only, participation in a World Cup tournament from Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. It also saw the World Cup debuts of Poland and Norway, Poland and the Netherlands would not reappear at a finals tournament until 1974, while Norway would not qualify for another World Cup finals until 1994. A unified Germany team would not appear again until 1994, the knockout format from 1934 was retained. If a match was tied after 90 minutes, then 30 minutes of time were played. If the score was tied after extra time, the match would be replayed. This was the last of the two World Cup tournaments that used a knockout format. Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, five of the seven first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock, two games still went to a replay. In one replay, Cuba advanced to the round at the expense of Romania. In the other replay, Germany, which had led 1–0 in the first game against Switzerland, led 2–0 and this remains, as of 2014, the only time in World Cup history in which Germany failed to advance to the final eight. Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals as a result of Austrias withdrawal, the hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy, and Switzerland were seen off by Hungary. Czechoslovakia took Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay and this was the last ever match to be replayed in a World Cup, with all winners of replay matches in 1938 having been eliminated in the next round
7.
1954 FIFA World Cup
–
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946, the tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated Hungary 3–2 in the final, Switzerland was awarded the tournament unopposed on 22 July 1946, the same day that Brazil was selected for the 1950 World Cup, in Luxembourg City. The hosts and the champions qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places,11 were allocated to Europe, scotland, Turkey and South Korea made their World Cup debuts at this tournament. Austria appeared for the first time since 1934, Turkey would not participate at a finals again until the 2002 competition, while South Koreas next appearance would be in 1986. The third and fourth teams from 1950, Sweden and Spain. In a shock result, Spain was eliminated by Turkey, after the two countries had tied a series, Turkey progressed by drawing of lots. German teams were allowed to qualify again, after having been banned from the 1950 FIFA World Cup, West Germany qualified against fellow Germans from the Saarland, while East Germany had not entered, cancelling international football games after the East German uprising of 1953. Argentina declined to participate for the third World Cup in succession, the 1954 tournament used a unique format. The sixteen qualifying teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting a team against an unseeded team. This contrasts with the usual round-robin in which team plays every other team. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw, the two teams with the most points from each group progressed to the knockout stage. If the first and second placed teams were level on points, lots were drawn to decide which team would top the group. However, if the second and third placed teams were level on points and it turned out that two of the four groups required play-offs, and the other two required drawing of lots between the two top teams. The play-offs were between Switzerland and Italy, and Turkey and West Germany, in matches the unseeded teams repeated earlier victories against the seeds to progress. In the other two groups, lots were drawn to determine the teams, resulting in Uruguay and Brazil finishing above Austria and Yugoslavia
8.
FIFA World Cup
–
The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
9.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
10.
1930 FIFA World Cup
–
The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930, all matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America, the teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while American goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first official clean sheet in the tournament. Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia each won their groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungary and Uruguay all lodged applications to host the event. Uruguays bid became the clear selection after all the other countries withdrew their bids, the first World Cup was the only one without qualification. Every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete, and given a deadline of 28 February 1930 to accept, plenty of interest was shown by nations in the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all entered. A total of seven South American teams participated, more than in any subsequent World Cup Finals. However, because of the long and costly trip by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, some refused to countenance travel to South America in any circumstances, and no European entries were received before the February deadline. This was rejected by the FA Committee on 18 November 1929, two months before the start of the tournament, no team from Europe had officially entered. FIFA president Jules Rimet intervened, and eventually four European teams made the trip by sea, Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The Romanians, managed by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide and he selected the squad personally, and negotiated with employers to ensure that the players would still have jobs upon their return. The French entered at the intervention of Rimet, but neither Frances star defender Manuel Anatol nor the teams regular coach Gaston Barreau could be persuaded to make the trip. The Belgians participated at the instigation of German-Belgian FIFA vice-president Rodolphe Seeldrayers, the Romanians boarded the SS Conte Verde at Genoa, the French were picked up at Villefranche-sur-Mer on 21 June 1930, and the Belgians embarked at Barcelona. The Conte Verde carried Rimet, the trophy and the three designated European referees, the Belgians Jean Langenus and Henri Christophe, along with Thomas Balway, a Parisian who may have been English. The Brazilian team were picked up when the boat docked in Rio de Janeiro on 29 June before arriving in Uruguay on 4 July, Yugoslavia travelled via the mail steamship Florida from Marseille. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia there were doubts about their participation at first, since the Croatians decided to boycott the national team, King Alexander I did not want to finance the whole idea, but in the end they found a solution
11.
FIFA World Cup Trophy
–
The World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used, the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to the present-day, brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and never recovered, the subsequent trophy, called the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was introduced in 1974. Made of 18 karat gold with a base, it stands 36.8 centimeters high. The trophy was made by Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni company in Italy and it depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The current holder of the trophy is Germany, winner of the 2014 World Cup, the Jules Rimet Trophy was the original prize for winning the Football World Cup. It was designed by Abel Lafleur and made of gold-plated sterling silver on a marble base. In 1954 this base was replaced with a base made of lapis lazuli. It stood 35 centimetres high and weighed 3.8 kilograms and it comprised a decagonal cup, supported by a winged figure representing Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory. The Jules Rimet Trophy was taken to Uruguay for the first FIFA World Cup aboard the Conte Verde and this was the same ship that carried Jules Rimet and the footballers representing France, Romania and Belgium who were participating in the tournament that year. The first team to be awarded the trophy was Uruguay, the winners of the 1930 World Cup, during World War II, the trophy was held by 1938 winners Italy. The 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden marked the beginning of a tradition regarding the trophy, as Brazilian captain Hilderaldo Bellini heard photographer requests for a better view of the Jules Rimet Trophy, he lifted it up in the air. Every Cup-winning captain ever since has repeated the gesture, on 20 March 1966, four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England, the trophy was stolen during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall. The trophy was found just seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge on Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, South London, by a dog named Pickles. As a security measure, The Football Association secretly manufactured a replica of the trophy for use in exhibitions rather than the original and this replica was used on subsequent occasions up until 1970 when the original trophy had to be handed back to FIFA. Since FIFA had explicitly denied the FA permission to create a replica and this replica was eventually sold at an auction in 1997 for £254,500, when it was purchased by FIFA. The high auction price, ten times the price of £20, 000–£30,000, was led by speculation that the auctioned trophy was not the replica trophy. The Brazilian team won the tournament for the time in 1970, allowing them to keep the real trophy in perpetuity
12.
Jules Rimet
–
Jules Rimet was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFAs longest-serving president, in office for 33 years and he also served as the president of the French Football Federation from 1919 to 1942. On Rimets initiative, the first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930, the Jules Rimet Trophy was named in his honour. He also founded the French football club Red Star Saint-Ouen, Jules Rimet was born in 1873 in eastern France. His father was a grocer, and the moved to Paris in 1884 when Jules was eleven years old. He became a lawyer, and in 1897 he started a club called Red Star which, due to Rimets ideals. One of the played at the club was football, which was becoming popular. The First World War put Rimets and FIFAs plans on hold, Rimet served in the French Army as an officer and was decorated with a Croix de Guerre. Following the war in 1919, he became President of the French Football Federation, Rimet traveled to Uruguay for the World Cup on SS Conte Verde along with the competing European teams, all the while carrying the trophy in his bag. The following World Cup was held in Italy under the Fascist rule of Benito Mussolini, Rimets efforts in establishing the tournament earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1956. Rimet died in Suresnes, France in 1956, two days after his 83rd birthday, in 2004 he was posthumously made a member of the FIFA Order of Merit, which was collected by his grandson Yves Rimet. He is credited with being the inventor of the World Cup, the original World Cup trophy was named the Jules Rimet Trophy in his honor. It was stolen just prior to the 1966 World Cup in England, brazil won the tournament for the third time at the 1970 World Cup and was awarded the trophy permanently. It was stolen once more in Rio de Janeiro in 1983 and is believed to have melted down by the thieves. The Brazilian Football Confederation had a replica of the trophy made, rumours of the various disappearances of the trophy and its final resting place continue to the present day. A statue of Rimet stands in Theuley in the middle of a penalty box, Rimet was portrayed by Academy Award nominated French actor Gerard Depardieu in the 2014 biographical drama United Passions. Jean-Yves Guillain, La Coupe du monde de football, lœuvre de Jules Rimet, Éditions Amphora,1998 ( Biography portal Jules Rimet at Find a Grave
13.
FIFA World Cup hosts
–
Sixteen countries have been FIFA World Cup hosts in the competitions twenty tournaments since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. The organization was at first awarded to countries at meetings of FIFAs congress, the choice of location was controversial in the earliest tournaments, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football at the time. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, the next two World Cups were both held in Europe. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament, the first tournament following World War II, held in Brazil in 1950, had three teams withdrawing due to either financial problems or disagreements with the organization. To avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 2002 FIFA World Cup which took place in Asia, the system evolved so that the host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFAs Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system, the decision is currently made roughly seven years in advance of the tournament, though the hosts for the 2022 tournament were chosen at the same time as those for the 2018 tournament. Only Mexico, Italy, France, Germany and Brazil have hosted the event on two occasions, Mexico Citys Estadio Azteca and Rio de Janeiros Maracanã are the only venues ever to have hosted two FIFA World Cup finals. Only the 2002 FIFA World Cup had more than one host, the FIFA Congress met in Barcelona, Spain on 18 May 1929 to ratify the decision, and Uruguay was chosen without a vote. For that reason, the stadium built in Montevideo for the World Cup was named Estadio Centenario. Bids, Italy Sweden Sweden decided to withdraw before the vote, the decision was ratified by the FIFA Congress in Stockholm, Sweden and Zürich, Switzerland on 14 May 1932. The Italian Football Federation accepted the duties on 9 October 1932. Electing France took only one ballot, as France had more than half of the votes in the first round. Results, France,19 votes Argentina,4 votes Germany,0 votes Bids for 1942, Argentina Brazil Germany Cancelled election of the host due to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Bids for 1946, none Bid, Brazil Brazil, Argentina, and Germany had official bid for the 1942 World Cup, but the Cup was cancelled after the outbreak of World War II. Result, Brazil Bid, Switzerland The 1954 World Cup hosting duty was decided on 26 July 1946, on 27 July, the FIFA Congress pushed back the 5th World Cup finals for three years, deciding it should take place in 1954. Result, Switzerland Bid, Sweden Argentina, Chile, Mexico, swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals. Sweden was awarded the 1958 tournament unopposed in on 23 June 1950, result, Sweden Bids, Argentina Chile West Germany West Germany withdrew before the vote, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal on 10 June 1956, leaving two remaining bids. In one round of voting, Chile won over Argentina, again, there was only one round of voting, with England defeating West Germany for the hosting position
14.
1934 FIFA World Cup
–
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934, the 1934 World Cup was the first for which teams had to qualify to take part. Thirty-two nations entered the competition, and after qualification,16 teams participated in the finals tournament, reigning champions Uruguay did not enter. Italy became the second World Cup champions, beating Czechoslovakia 2–1 in the final, after a lengthy decision-making process in which FIFAs executive committee met eight times, Italy was chosen as the host nation at a meeting in Stockholm on 9 October 1932. The decision was taken by the committee without a ballot of members. The Italian bid was chosen in preference to one from Sweden,36 countries applied to enter the tournament, so qualifying matches were required to thin the field to 16. Even so, there were notable absentees. As a result, the 1934 World Cup is the one in which the reigning champions did not participate. The British Home Nations, in a period of self-imposed exile from FIFA, despite their role as hosts, Italy were still required to qualify, the first and only time the host nation was not granted automatic qualification. The qualifying matches were arranged on a geographical basis, withdrawals by Chile and Peru meant Argentina and Brazil qualified without playing a single match. Twelve of the 16 places were allocated to Europe, three to the Americas, and one to Africa or Asia, only 10 of the 32 entrants, and four of the 16 qualified teams, were from outside Europe. The last place in the finals was contested between the United States and Mexico only three days before the start of the tournament in a match in Rome, which the United States won. The majority of the 16 teams were making their first World Cup appearance and these included nine of the 12 European teams together with Egypt. Egypt were the first team from Africa in the finals and would not qualify again until the time the competition was held in Italy. Like the Berlin Olympics two years later, the 1934 World Cup was an instance of a sporting event being used for overt political gain. Benito Mussolini was keen to use the tournament as a means of promoting fascism, the number of supporters travelling from other countries was higher than at any previous football tournament, including 7,000 from the Netherlands and 10,000 each from Austria and Switzerland. The group stage used in the first World Cup was discarded in favour of a knockout tournament. If a match was tied after ninety minutes, then thirty minutes of time were played
15.
1950 FIFA World Cup qualification
–
A total of 34 teams entered the qualification rounds of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Brazil, as the hosts, and Italy, as the champions, qualified automatically. The remaining 32 teams were divided into 10 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows, Groups 1 to 6 – Europe,7 places, Groups 7 to 9 – The Americas,6 places, contested by 10 teams. Group 10 – Asia,1 place, contested by 4 teams, however, due to the withdrawals of India, Scotland and Turkey after qualifying, only 13 teams actually competed in the final tournament. A total of 19 teams played at least one qualifying match, a total of 27 qualifying matches were played, and 130 goals were scored. Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds, the 10 groups had different rules, as follows, Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once, the group winner and runner-up would qualify. Groups 2,3 and 4 had 3 teams each, the strongest team of each group was seeded. There would be two rounds of play, Final Round, The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round on a home-and-away basis, the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, the group winner and runner-up would qualify. The group winner and runner-up would qualify, the teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify, Scotland also qualified, but declined to travel. Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played, Turkey advanced to the Final Round. Austria withdrew, so Turkey qualified automatically, but Turkey later also withdrew, and FIFA offered the place to Portugal, the runner-up of Group 6, but they declined. FIFA decided not to anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup two teams short. Yugoslavia advanced to the Final Round, France 2–2 Yugoslavia on aggregate, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. Yugoslavia qualified while France were also offered a place by FIFA, France initially accepted, but later declined. Switzerland advanced to the Final Round, belgium withdrew, so Switzerland qualified automatically
16.
Italy national football team
–
The Italian national football team represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is one of the most successful teams in the history of the World Cup, having won four titles. In 1938, they became the first team to defend their previous World Cup tournament victory and they have also won a European Championship, as well as appearing in two other finals, one Olympic football tournament and two Central European International Cups. Italys highest finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup was in 2013, the national football team is known as Gli Azzurri from the traditional colour of Italian national teams and athletes representing Italy. The primary training ground is at the FIGC headquarters in Coverciano, Florence, the teams first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910. Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2, with Italys first goal scored by Pietro Lana, some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, who were the best team in the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators as a prize. The Italian team played with a system and consisted of, De Simoni, Varisco, Calì, Trerè, Fossati, Capello, Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, first captain of the team was Francesco Calì. The first success in a tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, an 11–3 victory against Egypt secured third place in the competition. In the 1927–30 and 1933–35 Central European International Cup, Italy achieved the first place out of five Central European teams, other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Giuseppe Ruffino and Virginio Rosetta. The hosts, Azzurri, defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in extra time in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and they achieved their second title in a 4–2 defeat of Hungary, with two goals by Gino Colaussi and two goals by Silvio Piola in the World Cup that followed. In 1949,10 of the 11 players in the teams initial line-up were killed in the Superga air disaster that affected Torino, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, as they were weakened severely due to the air disaster. The team had travelled by boat rather than by plane, fearing another accident, in the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy failed to progress past the first round, and did not qualify for the 1958 World Cup. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 and their participation in the 1966 World Cup was ended by a 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Gianni Rivera, the Italian team was bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath. In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, the match holds the distinction of being the only European Championship or World Cup final to go to a replay. After extra time the final ended in a 1–1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, Italy won the replay 2–0 to take the trophy
17.
Superga air disaster
–
The Avio Linee Italiane Fiat G. 212CP was carrying the team home from Lisbon, where they had played a friendly match with S. L. Benfica in honour of the Portuguese captain, Francisco Ferreira, in the incident, the whole Torino team lost their lives. Club officials and carriers also perished in the accident, as well as the crew, the task of identifying the bodies was entrusted to the former manager of the Italy national team, Vittorio Pozzo, who had called up most of Torinos players to the Azzurri. The full-back, Sauro Tomà, did not take part in the due to an injured meniscus, nor did the reserve goalkeeper. Radio commentator Nicolò Carosio, Luigi Giuliano, and former manager of the Italy national team, Torinos president, Ferruccio Novo, did not take part in the trip due to influenza. Torino were proclaimed winners of the 1948–49 Serie A season on 6 May 1949, on the day of the funeral, nearly a million people took to the streets of Turin to give a final farewell to the players. The shock was such that the year, the Italy national team travelled to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil by ship. The three-engined Fiat G.212, with aircraft registration I-ELCE, of Avio Linee Italiane, the commander of the aircraft was Lieutenant Colonel Meroni. The flight landed at the airport in Barcelona at 13,00, while the aircraft was refuelled during the stopover, Torino met for lunch with Milan, who were directed to Madrid. At 14,50, I-ELCE set off for the Turin-Aeritalia Airport, the flights route was to take it over Cap de Creus, Toulon, Nice, Albenga, and Savona. Above Savona, the plane veered north, in the direction of the capital of Piedmont, at this point, the tower asked for the pilots position. After a few minutes of silence came the reply, Quota 2,000 meters, QDM on Pino, then we will cut at Superga. At Pino Torinese, which is located between Chieri and Baldissero Torinese, southeast of Turin, there was a VDF radio station, to provide a QDM on request. On approach, the lined up with the runway Aeritalia about 9 miles away, at 305 m above sea level. Just north of Pino Torinese was the Basilica of Superga, situated on a hill at 669 m above sea level. Recent investigations also suggested the possibility that the altimeter had malfunctioned and locked at 2000 m, which led the pilots to believe that they were at a higher altitude. At 17,03, the made a turn to the left, put in horizontal flight, and aligned to prepare for landing. The pilot, who believed that the Superga hill was off to his right, would have seen it suddenly emerge directly in front of him
18.
Germany national football team
–
The Germany national football team is the mens football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900, ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team, the official name and code Germany FR was shortened to Germany following the reunification in 1990. Germany is one of the most successful teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups. They have also been three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976, Germany is the only nation to have won both the mens and womens World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any football team in history. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas, the current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germanys first championship title was won in Switzerland. At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach, the first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this united German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and that early exit stands as Germanys worst World Cup result. During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950, the DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers. The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, with recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup. The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones and it sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded
19.
Allied-occupied Germany
–
The four powers divided Germany into four occupation zones for administrative purposes, into what is collectively known now as Allied-occupied Germany. This division was ratified at the Potsdam Conference, in Autumn 1944 the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had agreed on the zones by the London Protocol. The Final German Peace Treaty would result in the westward of Polands borders back to approximately as they were before 1722. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the boundaries for the future zones of occupation. The so-called line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border was temporary. After two months in which they had areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone. All territories annexed by Germany before the war from Austria and Czechoslovakia were returned to these countries, the Memel Territory, annexed by Germany from Lithuania before the war, was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and transferred to the Lithuanian SSR. All territories annexed by Germany during the war from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Poland, the American zone consisted of Bavaria and Hesse in Southern Germany, and the northern portions of the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. The ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven were also placed under American control because of the American request to have certain toeholds in Northern Germany, the headquarters of the American military government was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main. Beginning in May 1945, many of the American combat troops and airmen in, Army, the Army Air Forces, and the U. S. Navy upon their return home. The Canadian Army was tied down in surrounding the Netherlands until the Germans there surrendered on 5 May 1945 – just two days before the surrender of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe to U. S. Then in July 1945, the British Army withdrew from small slices of Germany that had previously agreed to be occupied by the Soviet Army. Within the British Zone of Occupation, the CCG/BE re-established the German state of Hamburg, also in 1947, the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen became an exclave of the American Zone of Occupation located within the British Zone. In 1946, the Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany had 4,000 soldiers in Hanover, despite its being one of the Allied Powers, the French Republic was at first not granted an occupation zone in Germany. This created a French zone of occupation in the westernmost part of Germany and it consisted of two barely contiguous areas of Germany along the French border that met at just a single point along the Rhine River. It included the Saargebiet, which was disentangled from it on 16 February 1946, by 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany. The French zone ceded further adjacent municipalities to the Saar, included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein, a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory. The Swiss government agreed to limited numbers of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law
20.
Japan national football team
–
The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan. The current head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić, the team has also finished second in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Their principal continental rivals are South Korea and, most recently, Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in 1999 and 2011. Although they initially accepted the invitation for the 2011 tournament, the JFA later withdrew following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, the Japanese team is commonly known by the fans and media as Sakkā Nippon Daihyō, Nippon Daihyō, or Daihyō as abbreviated expressions. Although the team does not have a nickname as such. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as Okada Japan. Recently the team has known or nicknamed as the Samurai Blue, while Japanese news media still refer it to by the managers last name, as Halilhodžić Japan. Japans first major achievement in football came in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. However Japan made its first appearance in the Asian Cup in 1988, where they were eliminated in the stage following a draw with Iran and losses to South Korea, United Arab Emirates. The following year Japan hosted and won the Asian Cup in their second appearance, the J. League was officially launched in 1993, causing interest in football and the national team to grow. Japans next tournament was a defense of their title at the 1996 Asian Cup. The team won all their games in the stage but were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 2–0 loss to Kuwait. The nations first ever FIFA World Cup appearance was in 1998, the first two fixtures went 1–0 in favor of Argentina and Croatia, despite playing well in both games. Their campaign ended with a 2–1 defeat to Jamaica, in the 2000 Asian Cup Japan managed to reclaim their title after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final, becoming Asian Champions for the second time. Two years later, Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea, after a 2–2 draw with Belgium in their opening game, the Japanese team advanced to the second round with a 1–0 win over Russia and a 2–0 victory against Tunisia. However, they exited the tournament during the Round of 16. On June 8,2005, Japan qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, its third consecutive World Cup, however, Japan failed to advance to the Round of 16, losing to Australia 1–3, drawing Croatia 0–0 and losing to Brazil 1–4. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the round of the Asian Qualifiers
21.
Occupation of Japan
–
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan and this foreign presence marked the only time in Japans history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a democracy that recalled New Deal priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt. Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14,1945, when the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. At Yalta, Stalin made sure Roosevelt was clear on the promise he had made that urged assistance from the USSR on intervening in the war in Japan with the U. S, (On the following day, Emperor Hirohito announced Japans unconditional surrender on the radio. The announcement was the emperors first ever planned radio broadcast and the first time most citizens of Japan ever heard their sovereigns voice. This date is known as Victory over Japan, or V-J Day, and marked the end of World War II, Japanese officials left for Manila, Philippines on August 19 to meet MacArthur and to be briefed on his plans for the occupation. On August 28,1945,150 US personnel flew to Atsugi and they were followed by USS Missouri, whose accompanying vessels landed the 4th Marine Division on the southern coast of Kanagawa. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on August 30, and immediately decreed several laws, No Allied personnel were to assault Japanese people. No Allied personnel were to eat the scarce Japanese food, flying the Hinomaru or Rising Sun flag was initially severely restricted. This restriction was lifted in 1948 and completely lifted the following year. On September 2,1945, Japan formally surrendered with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, on September 6, US President Truman approved a document titled US Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan. The document set two main objectives for the occupation, eliminating Japans war potential and turning Japan into a nation with pro-United Nations orientation. At the head of the Occupation administration was General MacArthur, who was supposed to defer to an advisory council set up by the Allied powers. Looking back to his work in Japan, MacArthur described the Japanese reactions as acting similar to a boy of twelve and were at odds of putting away their troubled past. On V-J Day, US President Harry Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, during the war, the Allied Powers had planned to divide Japan amongst themselves for the purposes of occupation, as was done for the occupation of Germany. The Soviet Union had some intentions of occupying Hokkaidō, had this occurred, there might have eventually been a communist state in the Soviet zone of occupation. However, unlike the Soviet occupations of East Germany and North Korea, even with these measures, millions of people were still on the brink of starvation for several years after the surrender
22.
Saarland national football team
–
The Saarland national football team was the association football team representing Saarland from 1950 to 1956 during the French occupation following World War II. As France opposed the inclusion of the Saarland in the Federal Republic of Germany until 1956, as the local population did not want to join France, separate organisations were founded. A National Olympic Committee was founded in 1950, leading to an appearance of Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics, due to post-war partition, Saarland was separate from both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The Saarländischer Fußballbund was founded on 25 July 1948 in Sulzbach, the clubs of the Saarland played in the local Ehrenliga for three seasons from 1948 to 1951, with the exception of the strong 1. FC Saarbrücken club, which played as guests in French Ligue 2 in 1948–49 and they easily finished top of the division that season. However, after French clubs voted unanimously against them joining the French Football Federation, by that time, however,1. FCS and other leading Saarland clubs had already rejoined the DFB league system, playing in the Oberliga Südwest on a mutual agreement. On 17 July 1949, the members of the SFB declined a proposal to apply for membership in the French Football Federation by a vote of 609–299, the Saarland team was made up largely of footballers from 1. The team played only 19 games,10 of these against B squads, prior to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, on June 5, they hosted a game against defending World Champion Uruguay, losing 1–7. Other A team opponents in friendlies were Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, the only match played outside of Europe was against Uruguay in Montevideo. Following a plebiscite in 1955, the Saarland became part of the Federal Republic of Germany with effect on 1 January 1957, the SFB ended its separate FIFA membership and became part of the DFB as the SFV. Coach Helmut Schön, who had managed the Saarland team since 1952, the only time that the Saarland entered the World Cup was for the 1954 event. They were drawn in Group 1 alongside West Germany and Norway, thus they still topped the group after West Germany drew their game in Oslo. Saarland were emphatically beaten 3–0 by West Germany in Stuttgart and could manage a 0–0 draw at home against Norway. Both German teams were placed joint first until West Germany beat Norway 5–1, the remaining inter-German match, to be played after a four-month winter hiatus, would decide which one of the German teams should advance to the tournament in Switzerland. Saarland, which had secured second in the group ahead of Norway, needed a win at home to finish first. Unbeaten West Germany topped the ranking, went to Switzerland. Sepp Herberger would have capped Kurt Clemens for West Germany, and this was the Saarlands only separate entry in the World Cup, its players, coaches and staff could join West Germany in time to assist in the defence of the World Cup in 1958. Details of all official matches RSSSF archive of results RSSSF record of international players
23.
German Football Association
–
The German Football Association is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the mens and womens national teams, the DFB headquarters are based in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League, organising the professional Bundesliga, Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members. From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany was according to rugby rules, later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels. The DFB was founded on 28 January 1900 in Leipzig by representatives of 86 clubs, the vote held to establish the association was 62,22 in favour. Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once, other delegates present did not carry their clubs authority to cast a ballot. The DFB consolidated the number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. The German national team played its first game in 1908, before 1914, the German Empire was much larger than todays Germany, comprising Alsace-Lorraine and the eastern provinces. The borders of the associations were drawn according to suitable railway connections. Also, teams based in Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary, were eligible, as they were German Football clubs, thus, a German team from Prague was runner-up in the German championship. On the other hand, clubs of the Danish minority in Northern Schleswig refused to join the DFB and this area after World War I voted to join Denmark. Due to border changes imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, the DFB had to adopt its structure, the Saarland, Danzig, and the Memelland were detached from Germany and East Prussia was cut off from the main part by the Polish Corridor. The role of DFB and its representatives like Felix Linnemann under Nazi Germany was documented in 100 Jahre DFB, on a short general meeting on 9 July 1933 in Berlin, the DFB did so, at least formally. Later, the Hitler salute was made compulsory, Marxists and Jews were expelled, on the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss in the 1936 Summer Olympics, with Adolf Hitler attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup, following the Anschluss in March 1938 that made Austria part of Germany, the Austrian Football Association became part of the German federation. Four Germans represented West Europe in a FIFA friendly on 20 June 1937 in Amsterdam, during the war, Germany played international games until 1942. In the aftermath of World War II, German organisations were disbanded by the allies, FIFA decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB from international competition, while the Austrian association was re-founded
24.
East Germany national football team
–
The East Germany national football team was from 1952 to 1990 the football team of East Germany, playing as one of three post-war German teams, along with Saarland and West Germany. In 1949, before the GDR was founded and while regular private clubs were banned under the Soviet occupation. Helmut Schön coached selections of Saxony and the Soviet occupation zone before moving to the West, on 6 February 1951, the GDR applied for FIFA membership, which was protested against by the German Football Association, which was already a full member. FIFA accepted the GDR association on 6 October 1951 as a provisional member, the first international game, not competitive but rather a display of good will, took place on 21 September 1952 against Poland in Warsaw, losing 3-0 in front of a crowd of 35,000. The first home game was on 14 June 1953 against Bulgaria, only three days later, the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany would have prevented the permitted assembly of that many Germans. On 8 May 1954 games resumed, with a 1-0 loss against Romania, the East Germans had not even considered to enter the World Cup which was won by the West Germans two months later. The GDR entered the qualification for the WC1958 and were hosts to Wales on 19 May 1957 at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig,500,000 tickets were requested, officially 100,000 were admitted, but 120,000 in the crowded house witnessed a 1-0 victory. East Germany was not as successful as its Western counterpart in World Cups or European Championships and it never qualified for the finals of the European Championship and only qualified for one World Cup, in 1974. However, they were serious contenders in qualifying throughout their history. That tournament was staged in West Germany, and both German teams were drawn in the group in the first round. With successful games against Chile and Australia, both German teams had qualified early for the round, with the inter-German game determining first. Despite this lack of pressure to succeed, the match on 22 June 1974 in Hamburg was politically and emotionally charged, East Germany beat West Germany 1-0, thanks to a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. This was rather a Pyhrric victory, as the DFV wound up in the possibly stronger second round Group A, the GDR lost to Brazil and the Netherlands, but secured 3rd place in a final game draw with Argentina. East Germany did however achieve significantly greater success in Olympic football than the teams fielded by the Western NOC of Germany. In 1956,1960, and 1964 both states had sent a United Team of Germany, for 1964, the East German side had beaten their Western counterparts in order to be selected. They went on to win Bronze for Germany, as GDR, they won Bronze in 1972 in Munich, Gold in 1976, and Silver medal in 1980 in Moscow, In absence of boycotting Western nations. East Germany nearly secured qualification for the 1990 World Cup, needing only a draw versus Austria in Vienna in their group match on 15 November 1989 to achieve a place in Italy. However, Toni Polster scored three times as Austria won 3-0 and advanced to the finals instead, millions of East Germans had moved to the West before the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, and some escaped in a successful Republikflucht attempts also afterwards
25.
Austria national football team
–
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. Austria has qualified for seven World Cups, most recently in 1998, the country played in the European Championship for the first time in 2008 when it co-hosted the event with Switzerland and most recently qualified in 2016. The Austrian Football Association was founded on 18 March 1904 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname Wunderteam. The teams star was Matthias Sindelar, on 16 May 1931, they were the first continental European side to defeat Scotland. In the 1934 FIFA World Cup, Austria finished fourth after losing 1–0 to Italy in the semi-finals and they were runners-up in the 1936 Olympics, again losing to Italy 2–1, despite having been beaten in quarter-finals by Peru, following the Peruvians withdrawal. However, according to an investigation, the victory by Peru was deliberately annulled by Adolf Hitler to favour the Austrians. The team then qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup finals, on 28 March, FIFA was notified that the Austrian FA had been abolished, resulting in the nations withdrawal from the World Cup. Instead the German team would represent the former Austrian territory, in a later rematch, the Germans took revenge, winning 9–1. As a result, five players from Austria Wien, Rapid Wien and Vienna Wien were part of the team only managed a 1–1 draw in Round 1 against Switzerland. With Rapid Wiens forward Pesser having been sent off, and not satisfied with two others, Herberger had to alter the line-up on six positions to fulfill the 6,5 quota again, after World War II, Austria was again separated from Germany. Austrias best result came in 1954 with a team starring midfielder Ernst Ocwirk and they lost in the semi-finals 6–1 to eventual champions Germany, but finished third after beating defending champions Uruguay 3–1. This remains their best result ever, and unfortunately the last time for decades that Austria reached the end round of a major tournament, over the years, a strong yet mainly lopsided rivalry with Germany developed. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the Austrian team was a disappointment, defeats to the eventual champions Brazil, the emerging Soviet Union and a draw against a weakened England prevented the team to reach the next round. Still holding to the popularity in the country, under new coach Decker again made an international sensation in the era. In front of a crowd of over 90,000 spectators, made possible by the expansion of the Prater Stadium. Due to lack of money, however, Austria decided not to participate at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and the team fell apart. Abrupt end of Austria’s success in the postwar period eventually formed the clear 0–6 loss against Czechoslovakia in 1962, of many players. After the end of Decker era, the team was unable for a time to connect to the old successes
26.
Finland national football team
–
The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland. Unfortunately, after a few years of bad performances, they dipped to a FIFA ranking of 101, Finland played its first international match on October 22,1911, losing to neighboring Sweden 2–5 in Helsinki. Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki saw the Finnish hosts lose to Austria in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial Nordic championship in 1964 and 1966, the results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for Euro 1980 by just a point, Finland was invited to take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after many Western countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group. By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high-profile European leagues, in 1996 Danish Euro 1992 winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen was hired to take Finland to the 1998 World Cup. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, high points of which were a draw, going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to Hungary to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1–0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to Euro 2000. In this campaign the Finns recorded a win away to Turkey. Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000, in the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group, but were the only team in that group not to lose at home. Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium, however, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia. These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3–0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group. In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, in August 2005, it was announced that Roy Hodgson would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and his replacement was a Scotsman, Stuart Baxter, who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign. With this squad Finland was closer to reach the tournament stage than ever before, Finland would only have needed three more points from the Euro 2008 qualifying to reach the Euro 2008 competition. Finland was placed in Group A together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, the team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3–1 away and earning a 1–1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0–0 with the former, on 15 November 2006, Finland beat Armenia 1–0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying
27.
Military history of Finland during World War II
–
Finland participated in three major conflicts during World War II. The first two––the defensive Winter War in 1939–1940, and the Continuation War alongside the Axis Powers in 1941–1944––were waged against the Soviet Union. The third one, the Lapland War in 1944–1945, followed the signing of an agreement with the Allied Powers. As a result of territorial loss, all Finnish Karelians were evacuated from their homes. In 1809, the Russian Empire conquered Finland from Sweden in the Finnish War, Finland entered a personal union with the Russian Empire as a grand duchy with extensive autonomy. During the period of Russian rule the country generally prospered, however, in the early 20th century Russia tightened its grip on Finland, causing widespread resentment. When revolution broke out in Russia in 1917, Finland declared independence, in 1918 the Finnish Civil War broke out between the generally right-wing government supporters and left-wing rebels. The war ended with the victory of the government forces, supported by Germany, during the inter-war period, the relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union was tense. Some elements in Finland maintained the dream of Greater Finland which included the Soviet-controlled part of Karelia, the proximity of the Finnish border to Leningrad caused worry in the Soviet leadership. On 23 August 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret clause of this agreement marked Finland as part of the Soviet sphere of influence. On 12 October the Soviet Union started negotiations with Finland concerning parts of Finnish territory, the Karelian Isthmus, the Gulf of Finland islands, on 26 November the Soviet Union accused the Finnish army of shelling the village of Mainila. It was subsequently found that the Soviets had in fact shelled their own village to create an excuse to withdraw from their pact with Finland. On 30 November the Soviet Union attacked Finland, the attack was denounced by the League of Nations and, as a result, the Soviet Union was expelled from that body on 14 December. The Winter War, fought between Finland and the Soviet Union, was an invasion by the Soviet Union, the aim of the invasion was to annex Finland whole into the Soviet Union. The very first attack on November 30,1939 was a bombardment of the city of Helsinki. This put the Finnish people on the defensive without having to make any decision, the Soviet invasion was intended to be a liberation of the Red Finns, with the eventual annexation of Finland into the USSR. To this end, a government, the Finnish Democratic Republic was established in Terijoki under the leadership of the exiled O. W. Kuusinen. Strategic goals of the Red Army included cutting Finland in half and capturing Petsamo in the north, the Soviets had been building their forces up on the border for several months during the previous negotiations
28.
Countries of the United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
29.
England national football team
–
The England national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England are one of the two oldest national teams in football, alongside Scotland, whom played in the worlds first international football match in 1872. Englands home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and the current manager is Gareth Southgate, England contest the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, which alternate biennially. In contesting for the World Cup seventeen times over the past sixty four years, England won the 1966 World Cup, when they hosted the finals, the England national football team is the joint-oldest in the world, it was formed at the same time as Scotland. A representative match between England and Scotland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by the Football Association, a return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three Home Nations—Scotland, Wales and Ireland—in the British Home Championship, to begin with, England had no permanent home stadium. They joined FIFA in 1906 and played their first ever games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908, Wembley Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground. The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928 and their first ever defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 0–2 loss to the Republic of Ireland, on 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park. A 6–3 loss in 1953 to Hungary, was their defeat by a foreign team at Wembley. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7–1 and this still stands as Englands worst ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered Syd Owen said, it was like playing men from outer space, in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, England reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning champions Uruguay. Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as Englands first ever manager in 1946. In UEFA Euro 1968, the reached the semi-finals for the first time. England qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions, and reached the quarter-finals, England had been 2–0 up, but were eventually beaten 3–2 after extra time. They failed in qualification for the 1974, leading to Ramseys dismissal, under Ron Greenwood, they managed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, despite not losing a game, they were eliminated in the second group stage. Despite losing to Italy in the third place play-off, the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians’, the England team of 1990 were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets, for a spectacular open-top bus parade. However, the team did not win any matches in UEFA Euro 1992, drawing with tournament winners Denmark, the 1990s saw four England managers, each in the role for a relatively brief period. Graham Taylor was Robsons successor, but resigned after England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, at UEFA Euro 1996, held in England, Terry Venables led England, equalling their best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-finals as they did in 1968
30.
Scotland national football team
–
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the two professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a constituent country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee, the majority of Scotlands home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park. Scotland is the joint oldest national team in the world, alongside England. Scotland has a rivalry with England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989. The teams have met six times since then, most recently in November 2016. Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions and the UEFA European Championship twice, the team have achieved some noteworthy results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored what has been described as one of the greatest World Cup goals ever in a 3–2 win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands, in their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France 1–0 in both fixtures. Scotland supporters are known as the Tartan Army. The Scottish Football Association operates a roll of honour for every player who has more than 50 appearances for Scotland. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986, Dalglish scored 30 goals for Scotland and shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law. Scotland and England are the oldest national teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872, the two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw, all eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queens Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home Nations—England, Wales and Ireland, the British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The encounters against England were particularly fierce and a rivalry quickly developed, Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches. It was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to an other than England. This run of success meant that Scotland would have topped the Elo ratings
31.
Iron Curtain
–
The Iron Curtain was the name for the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. A term symbolizing the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West, on the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union. The most notable border was marked by the Berlin Wall and its Checkpoint Charlie, the events that demolished the Iron Curtain started in discontent in Poland, and continued in Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Romania became the only communist state in Europe to overthrow its government with violence. The use of the iron curtain as a metaphor for strict separation goes back at least as far as the early 19th century. It originally referred to fireproof curtains in theaters, various usages of the term iron curtain pre-date Churchills use of the phrase. The term iron curtain has since been used metaphorically in two different senses - firstly to denote the end of an era and secondly to denote a closed geopolitical border. The source of these metaphors can refer to either the safety curtain deployed in theatres or to roller shutters used to secure commercial premises. The first metaphorical usage of iron curtain, in the sense of an end of an era, perhaps should be attributed to British author Arthur Machen, who used the term in his 1895 novel The Three Impostors. The door clanged behind me with the noise of thunder, and I felt that an iron curtain had fallen on the passage of my life. Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians used the term Iron Curtain in the context of World War I to describe the situation between Belgium and Germany in 1914. The passage runs, With clanging, creaking, and squeaking, time to put on your fur coats and go home. We looked around, but the fur coats and homes were missing, chesterton used the phrase in a 1924 essay in The Illustrated London News. Chesterton, while defending Distributism, refers to that iron curtain of industrialism that has cut us off not only from our neighbours condition, how, a moment before the iron curtain was wrung down on it, did the German political stage appear. All German theatres had to install an iron curtain as a precaution to prevent the possibility of fire spreading from the stage to the rest of the theatre. Such fires were common because the decor often was very flammable. In case of fire, a wall would separate the stage from the theatre. Douglas Reed used this metaphor in his book Disgrace Abounding, The bitter strife had only hidden by the iron safety-curtain of the Kings dictatorship
32.
Soviet Union national football team
–
The Soviet Union national football team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. After the breakup of the Union the team was transformed into the CIS national football team, the Soviet Union failed to qualify for the World Cup only twice, in 1974 and 1978, and attended seven finals tournaments in total. Their best finish was fourth in 1966, when they lost to West Germany in the semifinals, the Soviet Union qualified for five European Championships, winning the inaugural competition in 1960 when they beat Yugoslavia in the final, 2–1. They finished second three times, and fourth once, when, having drawn with Italy in the semi-final, the Soviet Union national team also participated in number of Olympic tournaments earning the gold medal in the 1956 and 1988. The Soviet team continued to field its national team players in Olympic tournaments despite the prohibition of FIFA in 1958 to field any national team players in Olympics, however, in 1960 and in 1964 the Soviets were fielding its second national team. The first international played by a Soviet team came in August 1923, nine months after the establishment of the Soviet Union. The first formally recognised match played by the Soviet Union took place a year later, the 1952 Olympics was the first competitive tournament entered by the Soviet Union. In the preliminary round, Bulgaria were defeated 2–1, earning a first round tie against Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia led 5–1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5–5 draw. The match was replayed, Yugoslavia winning 3–1, the Soviet Union entered the World Cup for the first time at the 1958 tournament, following a qualification playoff against Poland. Drawn in a group with Brazil, England and Austria, they collected three points in total, one from England and two from Austria, Soviet Union and England went to a playoff game, in which Anatoli Ilyin scored in the 67th minute to knock England out. The Soviet Union were then eliminated by the hosts of the tournament, Sweden, the inaugural European Championships in 1960 marked the pinnacle of Soviet footballing achievement. Easily progressing to the quarter-finals, the team were scheduled to face Spain, in the semi-final, the Soviet team defeated Czechoslovakia 3–0 and reached the final, where they faced Yugoslavia. In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, after 90 minutes the score was 1–1, and Viktor Ponedelnik scored with seven minutes left in extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural European Championship. In the 1962 World Cup, the Soviet team was in Group 1 with Yugoslavia, Colombia, the match between Soviet Union and Colombia ended 4–4, Colombia scored a series of goals. Star goalkeeper Lev Yashin was in poor form both against Colombia and Chile and his form was considered as one of the main reasons why Soviet Union team did not gain more success in the tournament. In 1964, the Soviet Union attempted to defend their European Championship title, defeating Italy in the last 16, after two matches against Sweden, the Soviet side won on aggregate. The Soviet Union team went to Spain where the finals were held. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union defeated Denmark 3–0 in Barcelona but their dreams of winning the title again were dashed in the final when Spain, the 1966 FIFA World Cup was the tournament which the Soviet Union team reached their best result by finishing in fourth place
33.
Czechoslovakia national football team
–
The national team was founded in 1901, existing under the previously mentioned names before the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1992. Their first international competition as the Czech Republic was the UEFA Euro 1996, where they finished runners-up, following the separation, however, they have only featured in one FIFA World Cup, the 2006 tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, when the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner-up finishes in World Cups and a European Championship win in 1976. The newly formed team played their first home game in Ostrava, against Lithuania, in which registered their first home win. Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in the final tournament, hosted by England, the Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany. They continued their form, and progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 final. Given their success at Euro 1996, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and they finished third in their qualifying group, however, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament. The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2000, winning all ten of their group games, in the finals the team were drawn in Group D, alongside 1998 FIFA World Cup winners France, co-hosts the Netherlands and UEFA Euro 1992 winners Denmark. This was considered to be the most difficult group to advance from in the tournament, the team were unlucky in the first match against the Netherlands as they hit the woodwork multiple times before losing 1–0 to a last-minute penalty. The Czechs lost their match against eventual champions France 2–1 which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round. Czech Republic managed a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game courtesy of two goals from Vladimír Šmicer, the team were unbeaten in 2002 and 2003, scoring 53 goals in 19 games and easily qualifying for Euro 2004 in the process. The Czech Republic went on a 20-game unbeaten streak, finally ended in Dublin on 31 March 2004 in a match against the Republic of Ireland. The Czechs entered the Euro finals in Group D, dubbed the tournaments Group of Death alongside the Netherlands, Germany, despite going behind in all three group games, the team won them all. This included trailing 2–0 to the Netherlands in a classic 3–2 win, the Czechs convincingly beat Denmark in the quarter-finals meaning a semi-final against Greece awaited them. It was not to be as the 90 minutes finished goalless, Greece would go on to win the tournament. The Czech Republic recorded their record win during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the same match, Jan Koller became the all-time top scorer for the national team with his 35th international goal. At the end of the campaign, after finishing in place in Group 1 then defeating Norway in a playoff. The team was boosted prior to the matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd
34.
Hungary national football team
–
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. Hungary has a football history, having won three Olympic titles, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, and third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. The national side first appeared at the Summer Olympic Games in 1912 in Stockholm, the team had to ask for donations in order to be able to go to the games. Hungary lost 7–0 to England and thus were eliminated, after the Olympic Games Hungary played two matches against Russia in Moscow. The first match was won 9–0 and the second 12–0, which is still a record for the national side, the top scorer of the two matches was Imre Schlosser who scored seven goals. The beginning of World War I had a impact on the thriving Hungarian football. Both the country and the clubs were suffering financial problems, during World War I Hungary played Austria 16 times. In 1919 England claimed the exclusion of the Central Powers from FIFA, when FIFA refused Englands plea, the British and Irish associations decided to resign from FIFA. Budapest was denied the opportunity to host the 1920 Summer Olympics, the countries of the Central Powers were excluded from the Olympics. During this period the Fogl brothers played in the national team, the formation the Hungarians used was 2–3–5 which was unique at that time. The national team played at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, in the first match Hungary beat Poland but in the second round they lost to Egypt. As a consequence, both the coach and the head of the Hungarian Football Federation resigned. Between 1927 and 1930, Hungary participated in the Europa Cup, which is considered to be the first international tournament, with Austria, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Russia, in the final, Hungary lost to Russia. On 12 June 1927, Hungary beat France by 13–1, which is still a record, the first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, but Hungary were not invited and did not take part in the tournament, there were no qualification matches. Hungary first appeared in the 1934 World Cup in Italy, Hungarys first World Cup match was against Egypt on 27 May 1934, a 4–2 win. The goals were scored by Pál Teleki, Géza Toldi and Jenő Vincze, in the quarter-finals, Hungary faced neighbouring arch-rivals Austria but lost 2–1, the only Hungarian goal coming from György Sárosi. Hungary entered the 1936 Olympics, where in the first round they were eliminated by Poland, the 1938 World Cup was held in France. The first match was played against Dutch East Indies and Hungary won 6–0, Sárosi and Gyula Zsengellér each scored twice while Vilmos Kohut and Toldi scored one goal each
35.
Argentina national football team
–
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentinas home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final appearance in 1978, beating the Netherlands at extra time. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and they again made the World Cup finals in 1990, and lost 1–0 to West Germany following a controversial penalty call in the 87th minute. Argentina made their appearance in a World Cup final in 2014, again losing to Germany. Argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times and also winning the extra South American Championships in 1941,1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the Argentine olympic team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina, Brazil and France are the national teams that have won the three most important mens titles recognized by FIFA, the World Cup, the Confederations Cup. They have also won their continental championship. Argentina is known for having rivalries with Brazil, Uruguay, England, the first match ever recorded by Argentina was against Uruguay. The game was held in Montevideo on 16 May 1901 and Argentina won 3–2, during the first years of its existence, the Argentina national team only played friendly matches against other South American teams. The reasons for this varied, including long travel times between countries and World War I, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost, 4–2, to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final in 1978, beating the Netherlands. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and their most recent World Cup final was in 2014, which they lost 1–0 to Germany. Previous to this their last World Cup final was in 1990, argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986. Argentina has been successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentina team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina also won six of the 14 football competitions at the Pan American Games, in March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time
36.
Ecuador national football team
–
The Ecuador national football team represents Ecuador in international football competitions and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation. They play official matches at Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito. Ecuador has qualified for three FIFA World Cups in 2002,2006 and 2014 and their best performance came in 2006 when they advanced to the Round of 16, eventually eliminated by England. They are one of two countries in South America not to have won the Copa América, the other being Venezuela and their best performance in the continental tournament was fourth in 1959 and 1993, both times on home soil. Ecuador did not beat Haiti 8-0, the score was 4-0, from a historical viewpoint, Ecuador have been one of the more struggling footballing nations in South America. Despite their past irregularities, however, Ecuador has risen to be a serious South American competitor in recent years. However, the 1966 qualifying campaign pitted the side, regarded as one of the finest teams Ecuador has ever produced, against 1962 hosts and third-place finishers Chile and a weakened Colombia side. Ecuador, featuring stars such as Washington Muñoz, Alberto Spencer, Carlos Alberto Raffo, Enrique Raymondi and Jorge Bolaños, other talented players to have represented Ecuador include José Villafuerte in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1998 World Cup qualifiers saw the format for qualifying in CONMEBOL changed to a league home-and-away system and this difference made a huge impact on Ecuadors performance as they clinched several important home wins during the campaign. At the end, they achieved a very respectable 6th-place finish, just under Peru and this remained the closest they had come to appearing in a finals until the qualification tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Led by Colombian born manager Hernán Darío Gómez, they finished second to Argentina, agustín Delgado, with 9 goals, finished joint top scorer in qualifying with Hernán Crespo of Argentina. They were drawn into Group G with Italy, Mexico and Croatia, although they were knocked out at the group stage, they achieved a 1–0 victory over Croatia, who had come third at the previous edition of the World Cup. A disappointing showing at the 2004 Copa América in Peru led to the resignation of Gómez and he led them successfully through the latter stages of the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, finishing third to make the finals. In Germany, they were drawn into Group A with the hosts, Poland, wins over Poland and Costa Rica earned La Tri qualification to the knockout stages for the first time. He was replaced in 2008 for Sixto Vizuete, who had gained recognition for winning the 2007 Pan American Games with the U-18s. They managed to turn it around in the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign where they finished in the top 4, on Friday, December 6,2013 they were drawn into a balanced group compromising of top seeds, Switzerland, former champions France, and minnows Honduras. 1951 to 1991 – Did not compete 1995 – Round 11999 to 2003 – Did not compete 2007 – Champion 1995 Korean Cup – Winner 1999 Canada Cup – Winner Bolivarian Games Football Gold Medal,1965 and 1985. The following 23 players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Paraguay on March 23, caps and goals updated as of March 28,2017, after the match against Colombia
37.
Peru national football team
–
The Peru national football team has represented Peru in international football since 1927. Organised by the Peruvian Football Federation, it is one of the 10 members of FIFAs South American Football Confederation, the Peruvian teams performance has been inconsistent, it enjoyed its most successful periods in the 1930s and the 1970s. The team plays most of its matches at the Estadio Nacional in Lima. Peru has won the Copa América twice and qualified for FIFA World Cup finals four times and it has longstanding rivalries with Chile and Ecuador. The team is known for its white shirts adorned with a diagonal red stripe. This basic design has been used continuously since 1936, and gives rise to the teams common Spanish nickname and this team qualified for three World Cups and won the Copa América in 1975. Peru last reached the World Cup finals in 1982, Perus most successful managers, Jack Greenwell and Marcos Calderón, led the national team to its major tournament victories. Football was introduced to Peru in the 19th century by British immigrants, in 1859, members of the capital Limas British community founded the Lima Cricket Club, Perus first organization dedicated to the practice of cricket, rugby, and football. These new sports became popular among the local upper-class over the following decades, after the war, Perus coastal society embraced football as a modern innovation. The sport became a daily activity in Lima barrios, encouraged by bosses who wanted it to inspire solidarity. In the adjacent port of Callao and other areas, British civilian workers and sailors played the sport among themselves. Sports rivalries between locals and foreigners arose in Callao, and between elites and workers in Lima, over time, as foreigners departed, this evolved into a rivalry between Callao and Lima. The Peruvian Football League was formed in 1912 and held each year until it broke up in 1921 amid disputes between the member clubs, the Peruvian Football Federation was created the following year and, in 1926, it reorganised the annual league competition. The FPF joined the South American Football Confederation in 1925, the team debuted in the 1927 South American Championship, which the FPF hosted at the Estadio Nacional in Lima. Perus first match was a 0–4 loss against Uruguay, their second was a 3–2 victory over Bolivia, Peru next took part in the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, but was eliminated in the first stage. The 1930s have been called Peruvian footballs first golden era, during this decade, Peruvians traveled abroad in search of competition that would further develop their football. Starting with Ciclista Lima in 1926, Peruvian clubs also toured Latin America, sports historian Richard Witzig described these three as a soccer triumvirate unsurpassed in the world at that time, citing their combined innovation and effectiveness at both ends of the field. Peru and the Rodillo Negro awed crowds at the 1936 Summer Olympics, won the inaugural Bolivarian Games in 1938, subsequent years proved less successful for the team, according to historian David Goldblatt, despite all the apparent preconditions for footballing growth and success, Peruvian football disappeared
38.
CONMEBOL
–
The South American Football Confederation is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFAs six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay, CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American footballs major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA, CONMEBOL national teams have won nine FIFA World Cups, and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina and Uruguay have won two Olympic gold medals each, Brazil has won one Olympic gold medal and it is considered one of the strongest confederations in the world. Currently, the Confederation is planning to create the first womens qualification to the FIFA Womens World Cup to replace the Copa América Femenina. Juan Ángel Napout was the president of CONMEBOL until December 3,2015 when he was arrested in a raid in Switzerland as part of the U. S. Justice Departments widening bribery case involving FIFA. Wilmar Valdez was interim president until January 26,2016 when Alejandro Domínguez was elected president, the first and second vice-presidents are Ramón Jesurum and Laureano González. The four participating associations of that tournament gathered together in order to create a governing body to facilitate the organization of the tournament. The constitutional congress on December 15 of that same year ratified the decision, over the years, the other football associations in South America joined, with the last being Venezuela in 1952. Guyana, Suriname, and the French overseas department of French Guiana, with ten member nations, CONMEBOL is the smallest and the only fully continental land-based FIFA confederation. The main competition for national teams is the Copa América. CONMEBOL also runs national competitions at Under-20, Under-17 and Under-15 levels, for womens national teams, CONMEBOL operates the Copa América Femenina for senior national sides, as well as Under-20 and Under-17 championships. In futsal there is the Copa América de Futsal and Campeonato Sudamericano de Futsal Sub-20, the Campeonato Sudamericano Femenino de Futsal is the womens equivalent to the mans tournament. A third competition, the Copa CONMEBOL, started in 1992 and was abolished in 1999, in womens football CONMEBOL also conducts the Copa Libertadores Femenina for club teams. The competition was first held in 2009, the Recopa Sudamericana pits the past years winners of the Copa Libertadores against the winners of the Copa Sudamericana, and came into being in 1989. The Intercontinental Cup was jointly organised with UEFA between the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League winners. S, department of Justice on charges of corruption, money laundering, and racketeering. Those swept up in the operation include former CONMEBOL Presidents Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolás Léoz and several football federations presidents such as Carlos Chavez, on 3 December 2015, the CONMEBOL President Juan Ángel Napout was arrested also
39.
Chile national football team
–
The Chile national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions and is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. The team is referred to as La Roja. They have appeared in nine World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup where they finished in third place, since the mid to late 1960s, the Elo ratings ranks Chile among the 25 strongest football teams in the world. Chile are the reigning Copa América champions, after winning 2015 Copa América on home soil, prior to this, Chile had been runners-up in the competition on four occasions. As a result of winning the 2015 Copa América, they qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the Federación de Fútbol de Chile is the second oldest South American federation, having been founded in Valparaíso on June 19,1895. Chile is one of the four founding nations of CONMEBOL. Together with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, the four competed in the first South American Championship, later to be renamed the Copa América, on October 12,1926, Chile made the first corner-kick goal in Copa América history in a match against Bolivia. Chile was one of the thirteen teams that competed in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. The team started off well, beating Mexico and France without conceding a goal, a 3–1 loss to Argentina in the final game left the Chilean team in second place within the group, eliminating it from the tournament. In the 1950 World Cup, Chile defeated the United States, 5–2, the best Chilean result in the World Cup was third place in 1962, as the host nation. Chile lost 4–2 to eventual champion Brazil in a semi-final but went on to defeat Yugoslavia 1–0 to earn third place, the players banned were captain Jorge Valdivia, defenders Álvaro Ormeño, Rodrigo Tello, Jorge Vargas, Pablo Contreras and striker Reinaldo Navia. Nelson Acostas resignation as manager came after Chile were knocked out of the 2007 Copa América, Chile had qualified to the quarter-finals after a 3–2 win against Ecuador, and a 0–0 draw against Mexico. But two losses, one of those being a 6–1 defeat against Brazil, sealed Acostas fate, former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa was given the task of becoming the Chile national team manager in preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. On October 16,2008, Chile beat Argentina 1–0 for the first time in a qualifying competition, Marcelo Bielsa was acclaimed for this accomplishment by both Chilean and Argentinian people. This match was seen as one of the reasons that ended Alfio Basiles tenure as Argentinas coach, Bielsa stated that he would leave his position if Jorge Segovia were elected as President of the Chilean Football Board. He followed through on this threat, despite Segovias election being annulled, Claudio Borghi then became Chiles manager in March 2011. After a string of bad performances and harsh criticisms, Claudio Borghi stepped down as Chiles manager in November 2012, a new manager, Jorge Sampaoli, was appointed in December 2012. A disciple of Marcelo Bielsa, Jorge Sampaoli broke new records for La Roja by winning 10, drawing 3, with Sampaoli, Chile were able to qualify for 2014 FIFA World Cup, reaching to the round of 16, where Chile lost to Brazil in penalties
40.
Bolivia national football team
–
The Bolivia national football team, also known as La Verde or Los Altiplanicos, has represented Bolivia in international football since 1926. Organized by the Bolivian Football Federation it is one of the 10 members of FIFAs South American Football Confederation, after playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994. They have never advanced past the first round of any World Cup, however, they did win the Copa América at home in 1963, and finished as runners-up in their following tournament as hosts in 1997. In the Copa América 2015 in Chile, after defeating Ecuador 3–2 and this also ended a non-winning streak in the Copa América, with their last win being on June 28,1997, when they defeated Mexico 1–0 in the semi-finals. Bolivia debuted in international football in 1926, one year after the foundation of the Bolivian Football Federation, as participants of the 1926 South American Championship in Chile, Bolivia scored first against the hosts with Téofilo Aguilar, but wound up defeated by the Chileans 7–1. Bolivia also lost the three games, 0–5 against Argentina, 1–6 against Paraguay and 0–6 against Uruguay. In 1930, Bolivia was one of the invited to the inaugural edition of the FIFA World Cup. Drawn in Group 2 of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, Bolivia lost both its games 4–0, first to Yugoslavia at the Estadio Parque Central, and then to Brazil in the Estadio Centenario. The match versus the Yugoslavs would be the last match against non-South American opposition for Bolivia until 1972 – when they again met Yugoslavia and they returned in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, where Argentinas withdrawal from the qualifiers led Bolivia to an automatic berth. With three teams declining to play in Brazil, Bolivia was put in a group of two along with Uruguay, the Bolivians only game was an 8–0 defeat to Uruguay at the Estádio Independência in Belo Horizonte. Bolivias greatest football achievement was the 1963 South American Championship title, Bolivia was drawn into the tournaments Group C, and got selected as the adversary of defending champions Germany in the tournaments opening match. Following a 0–0 draw with South Korea at Foxboro Stadium, Bolivia returned to Chicago and lost 3–1 to Spain, following that Bolivia again hosted the South American Championship, now known as Copa América, in 1997. Again the team reached the final, to finish as runner-up to Brazil, in the 2015 Copa América in Chile, Bolivia were in Group A, with Chile, Mexico, and Ecuador. In their match against Mexico, Bolivia drew 0–0, however, against Ecuador, Bolivia won 3–2, with goals from Raldes, Smedberg-Dalence, and Martins. From this victory against Ecuador, Bolivia made it to the next round, Bolivia were deafeted by Peru 1–3 in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Bolivias only goal of the game was a penalty in the last minutes of the match by Marcelo Martins Moreno, bolivias first uniforms were all white. In the 1930 FIFA World Cup, Bolivia painted before the match with Yugoslavia one of the letters in Viva Uruguay in each of the eleven starters jerseys to please the local crowd. In the following game with Brazil, given the adversary also wore white Bolivia instead borrowed Uruguays own blue uniform to play, Bolivia again painted a message to the hosts in the 1945 South American Championship, with the players jerseys reading Viva Chile
41.
Paraguay national football team
–
The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in mens international football competitions. Paraguay is a member of CONMEBOL, the Albirroja has qualified for eight FIFA World Cup competitions and has reached the second round of the competition on four occasions. A regular participant at the Copa América, Paraguay have been crowned champions of the competition on two occasions, Paraguays highest FIFA World Rankings is 8th and lowest is 103, and was awarded second place with Best Move of the Year in 1996. Paulo da Silva holds the most amount of appearances for the team with 133. Denis Caniza, who was present with the team from 1996 to 2010, is the only player to have represented Paraguay in four consecutive FIFA World Cup competitions. Soon after the introduction of football in Paraguay by Williams Paats, the first national football team was organized in 1910 when an invitation by the Argentine club Hércules of Corrientes was received to play a friendly match. Members of that first national team where F. Melián, G. Almeida, A. Rodríguez, M. Barrios, P. Samaniego, J. Morín, Z. Gadea, D. Andreani, villamayor, M. Rojas and E. Erico. The match ended in a 0–0 draw, the first of those friendly matches was a 5–1 loss against Argentina, and it marked the first international game by the Paraguayan national football team. Paraguay eventually finished fourth in the tournament and became a participant of the tournament for the next editions. In 1930, Paraguay participated in the first World Cup, organized by Uruguay, in the first round, Paraguay debuted and lost to the United States, to then defeat Belgium with a goal by Luis Vargas Peña. Only one team was to advance from the stage. After strong participations in the Copa América tournaments of 1929,1947 and 1949, the return to the World Cup was in 1950, where Paraguay faced Sweden and Italy in Group 3. Paraguay failed to advance to the round after a 2–2 draw against Sweden. The first big success came in 1953 when Paraguay won the Copa América disputed in Peru, in their road to the championship, Paraguay defeated Chile, Bolivia and Brazil, and tied against Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. Since Paraguay and Brazil were tied in points at the end of the tournament, key players of the campaign included Ángel Berni, Heriberto Herrera and Rubén Fernández. The coach was Manuel Fleitas Solich, in their first game in Sweden, Paraguay were 3–2 up against France in a game they lost 7–3. A 3–2 win over Scotland and a 3–3 draw with Yugoslavia saw Paraguay finish third in their group, the departure of several of their stars for European football resulted in a weakening of Paraguays football fortunes somewhat, but they were only edged out by Mexico in the 1962 qualifiers. Paraguay fell short in subsequent World Cup qualifying campaigns, but Copa América success in 1979 shored up Paraguay as a player on the continent
42.
Philippines national football team
–
The Philippines national football team is the national football team of the Philippines and represents the country in international football. The team is controlled by the Philippine Football Federation, the body of football in the Philippines. Philippines home grounds are the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, and the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila and the current coach is Thomas Dooley. The national team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the Asian Cup, the national teams best finish in a major tournament was at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup where they finished second after losing to Palestine in the final. The Philippines participated at the Far Eastern Championship Games, which included football, the first edition was in 1913 and the last was in 1934. The games were the first regional tournament for national teams outside Britain. The national team routinely faced Japan and China and at one edition the Dutch East Indies at the games, the Philippines won over China at the inaugural tournament with the scoreline of 2–1. During the 1917 edition, the team achieved its biggest win in international football. Led by Filipino-Spanish icon Paulino Alcantara, the Philippines defeated Japan 15–2, the team finished third behind champions Japan and second placers, Manchukuo and ahead of the Republic of China. In the 1950s the Philippines hosted friendlies with international-based sides, However the national team experienced lack of funding, during that time talents from the national team were drawn from the Manila Football League which received substantial support from the Chinese-Filipino community. The national teams decent performance at the 1958 Asian Games, hosted in Tokyo, after 1958, saw the decline of Philippine football, several key players resigned from the national team due to financial challenges for playing for the national team. National team players Ed Ocampo and Eduardo Pacheco switched to basketball, sponsors withdrew and leagues, which were mostly funded by the Chinese-Filipino community started to decline. The 60–40 rule was lifted much later during the tenure of president Johnny Romualdez of the Philippine Football Federation, the national team suffered defeats with big margins at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. This includes the teams record 15–1 defeat to Malaysia, which became the worst defeat of the national team at that time. The record was broken by the 15–0 lose to Japan in 1967 at the qualifiers for the 1968 Summer Olympics. Foreigners were hired to serve as coaches for the national team in an attempt to reduce big margin loses. Englishman, Allan Rogers was hired following the defeat to Malaysia. Coaches from the United Kingdom, Alan Rogers and Brian Birch, after the two were relieved, Danny McClellan and Graham Adams continued their task
43.
Indonesia national football team
–
The Indonesia national football team represents Indonesia in competitive international association football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Indonesia and is a member of the Asian Football Confederation, prior to the declaration of independence in 1945, the team competed as the Dutch East Indies national football team. Under this name, Indonesia was the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup, the Indonesian team was eliminated by the Hungary national team in the first round and has not qualified for the World Cup since this defeat. Indonesian national team qualified for the AFC Asian Cup on four occasions, Indonesias best performance in Asia was at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, when it achieved the bronze medal. The team has reached the ASEAN Football Championship final on five occasions, the early matches, involving sides from the Dutch East Indies, were organised by the Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Bond, or its successor, the Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Unie. The matches that were run prior to the independence in 1945 are not recognised by the PSSI. The first recorded football match that involved a team from the Dutch East Indies was a contest against a Singapore national team on 28 March 1921, the match was played in Batavia and Indonesia won with a final score of 1–0. This was followed by matches against an Australian XI in August 1928, in 1934, a team from Java represented the Dutch East Indies in the Far Eastern Games that was played in Manila, Philippines. Despite defeating the Japan national team, 7–1, in its first match, although not recognised by PSSI, these matches are treated by the World Football Elo ratings as the first matches involving the Indonesian national side. The Dutch East Indies were the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup, the 6–0 loss to eventual finalists, the Hungary football team, in the first round of the tournament in Reims, France, remains the nations only appearance in the World Cup. After the Second World War, followed by the Indonesian National Revolution, the team forced the Soviet Union national football team to a nil-all draw, but lost 0–4 in the replay match, The Soviet Union later was successful in attaining the gold medal. This remains the only appearance in the Olympics. In 1958, the team tasted its first World Cup action as Indonesia in the qualifying rounds, the team defeated China in the first round, but subsequently refused to play its next opponents, the Israel national team, for political reasons. The team subsequently suffered a ban from the FIFA World Cup that lasted from 1958 to 1970 resulting from its political situation, shortly after, the Indonesian team won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. Indonesia beat the India national team, 4–1, in the third-place match, the team also drew, 2–2, with the East Germany national team in a friendly match. During this period, the Indonesian team lifted the Merdeka Tournament trophy in victory in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia were also champions of the 1968 Kings Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Indonesia returned to World Cup qualification competition in 1974, however, during the 1978 qualification heats, the Indonesian team only won a single match, out of four matches, against host team, Singapore. Four years later, in 1982, Indonesia recorded two victories in qualifying matches, against the Chinese Taipei national team and the Australia national team, however, the South Korean national team emerged victorious over the Indonesians in the second round
44.
Myanmar national football team
–
The Myanmar national football team is the national team of Myanmar and is controlled by the Myanmar Football Federation. It was known as the Burma national football team until 1989 and it finished second in the 1968 Asian Cup. They have participated in the Summer Olympics in 1972 and in the Asian Games, since then, Myanmars highest achievement is the silver medal in 1993. Myanmar played its first World Cup qualifiers in 2007, losing 0–7, Burma sent players to the Philippines in 1954 Asian Games and captured a bronze medal, behind Taiwan and South Korea, this fact marked the beginning of the golden age. On the other hand, the nation was not expected to contend for a medal in the Olympic-type Asian Games, in the meantime, this delegation became the first male Burmese team to win a continental medal. But this was only the beginning, then, against all odds, the team of Burma bettered their 1954 effort by winning the gold medal in the Asian Games, which were held at Bangkok in the mid-1960s. In that tournament, Burma beat Iran in the gold-medal game, the 1966 Asian Games gold medal winning squad established itself as one of the two best teams in the region as it finished as runner-up to Iran at the 1968 Asian Cup. Despite losing almost all their matches, the Burmese players captured the Fair Play Award, the following year, the nation earned its fifth consecutive Southeast Asian Games gold medal at Singapore City. Burma thus became the second soccer squad to win the Asian tournament twice, certainly, they were declared national heroes in Rangoon, the then capital of Burma, with their second consecutive gold medal in mens soccer. During this golden era, Burma produced many talented footballers, one among them is Suk Bahadur who is now considered as the greatest Burmese footballer of all times for his outstanding contribution to Burmese football. Over the following years, due in part to several problems in the country. The national team plays most of its matches in Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon. The stadium is larger and more up-to-date than Bogyoke Aung San Stadium and it was upgraded to a seating capacity of 50,000 spectators from capacity of 32000 in 2013. Myanmars home kits is a red shirt with red shorts and red socks while the away kits is a shirt with white shorts. The kits are manufactured by FBT after reaching an agreement with the FA in 2015. Disqualified in 2006 for withdrawing from qualification in 2002, initially banned from 2018 for crowd trouble during 2014 World Cup qualifying match but later overturned to and matches to be played on neutral soil. Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2017 after the match against India, the following players have also been called-up recently
45.
India national football team
–
The India national football team represents India in international football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation. Under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and governed in Asia by the AFC, the team, which was once considered one of the best teams in Asia, had its golden era during the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim, India won gold during the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, while finishing fourth during the 1956 Summer Olympics. India have never participated in the FIFA World Cup, though the team did qualify for the World Cup in 1950 after all the nations in their qualification group withdrew. However, India themselves withdrew prior to the tournament beginning, the team has also appeared three times in the Asias top football competition, the AFC Asian Cup. Their best result in the tournament occurred in 1964 when the team finished as runners-up. India also participate in the SAFF Championship, the top football competition in South Asia. They have won the tournament six times since the tournament began in 1993, despite India not reaching the same heights since their golden era, the team has seen a steady resurgence since the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Challenge Cup victory allowed India to once again qualify for the Asian Cup for the first time in 27 years, Football teams consisting of entirely Indian players started to tour Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand during the late 1930s. After the success of several Indian football clubs abroad, the All India Football Federation was formed in 1937, the national team played their first match as an independent nation in 1948 in the first round of the 1948 Summer Olympics against France. Using mainly barefooted players, India were defeated 2–1 in London, in 1950, India managed to qualify for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, which was scheduled to take place in Brazil. This was due to all their opponents during qualifying withdrawing from the pre-tournament qualifiers, however, India themselves withdrew from the World Cup before the tournament was to begin. The All India Football Federation gave various reasons for the withdrawal, including travel costs, lack of practice time. Despite the reason given out from the AIFF, many historians, since then, India has not come close to qualifying for another World Cup. Despite not participating in the World Cup in 1950, the years after. India, coached by Hyderabad City Police head coach Syed Abdul Rahim, in March 1951, Rahim lead India to their first ever triumph during the 1951 Asian Games. Hosted in India, the team defeated Iran 1–0 in the medal match to gain their first trophy. Sahu Mewalal scored the goal for India in that match
46.
Belgium national football team
–
The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian teams supervising body. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, most of Belgiums home games are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Belgiums national team has participated in three major football competitions. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—West Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium has long-standing football rivalries with its Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as the Red Devils since 1906, during the national player career of forward Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium took third place at Euro 1972. After that, they experienced two golden ages with many gifted players, in the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 World Cup. In the second, under guidance of Marc Wilmots in the 2010s, between September 2016 and October 2017, they are competing in the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Belgium was one of the first mainland European countries to play association football and its practice in Belgium began on 26 October 1863, after an Irish student walked into the Josephites College of Melle with a leather ball. Initially an elitist pastime, during the following decades association football supplanted rugby as Belgiums most popular football sport, on 11 October 1900, Beerschot AC honorary president Jorge Díaz announced that Antwerp would host a series of challenge matches between Europes best football teams. After some organisational problems, on 28 April 1901, Beerschots pitch hosted its first tournament, in which a Belgian A-squad, Belgium won, and beat the Netherlands in all three follow-up games, FIFA does not recognise these results because Belgium fielded some English players. On 1 May 1904, the Belgians played their first official game, against France at the Stade du Vivier dOie in Uccle, twenty days later, the football boards of both countries were among the seven FIFA founders. At that time, the Belgian squad was chosen by a committee drawn from the six or seven major clubs. From 1912, UBSSA governed football only and was renamed UBSFA, during the Great War, the national team only played unrecognised friendlies, with games in and against France. This triumph led them to a high second place in the World Football Elo Ratings. In the three 1920s Summer Olympics, they achieved results, and played their first intercontinental match. Over the following decade, however, Belgium lost all of their matches at the first three FIFA World Cup final tournaments, according to historian Richard Henshaw, The growth of in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and South America left Belgium far behind. Although World War II hindered international football events in the 1940s, Belgium qualified for only one of eight major tournaments during the 1950s and the 1960s, the 1954 World Cup
Uruguay (2nd title)
Brazil
Sweden
Spain
Bolivia
Brazil (hosts)
Chile
England
Italy (1938 champions)
Mexico
Paraguay
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
Uruguay
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Switzerland
Mexico
59'
England
Chile
United States
Italy
Paraguay
India
Bolivia
France