1.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
2.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
RER D
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The RER D is one of five RER rapid transit system lines serving Paris, France. It connects Orry-la-Ville and Creil in the north to Melun, Corbeil-Essonnes and Malesherbes in the south, passing through the heart of Paris. Opened in stages from 1987 to 1996, it is the longest RER line by distance, due to a high rate of incidents and social issues, the line is sometimes colloquially known as the RER poubelle. Line D also links Gare du Nord with Gare de Lyon via Châtelet – Les-Halles, operated Villiers-le-Bel – Gare du Nord – Châtelet-Les Halles,19 km, using the Line B Tunnel to Châtelet – Les Halles 1988, Extension north towards Goussainville. September 1990, Extension north towards Orry-la-Ville, September 1995, Inauguration of Interconnexion Sud-Est. The line is extended from Châtelet to Melun and La Ferté-Alais then Malesherbes in the south of Paris,25 January 1998, New station, Stade de France – Saint-Denis, opened. Located between Gare du Nord and St-Denis,29 January 2007, First renovated Z20500 stock in service. 19 March 2008, Start of the D Maintenant programme by Guillaume Pepy,14 December 2008, Reduced Interconnexion Nord-Sud service, with 8 interconnected trains per hour. Late 2009, End of the D Maintenant programme,7 December 2011, Start of studies for the doubling of the Châtelet-Gare du Nord tunnel. 15 December 2013, New station, Créteil-Pompadour, opened, the operation of renovating les Halles gave the occasion to build Châtelet-Les Halles with a cut-and-cover method, in order to reduce costs. Initially, the new RER D was meant to share with the RER A between Paris-Gare de Lyon and Châtelet-Les Halles. But, RATP, the company who runs the RER A, objected to such an operation as the number of passengers using the RER A was growing and required running extra trains on the RER A. The RER D tracks at Paris-Gare de Lyon have four tracks and being above the RER A tracks, allowed platform to platform transfers vertically, a Japanese invention. On 27 September 1987, the RER D was officially created, by extending existing suburban trains from Villiers-le-Bel to Gare du Nord, initially 19 km long, it was equipped with bi-current Z8800 stock trains, while newer Z20500 stock trains were still being built. At Châtelet-Les Halles station, the RER D terminated on the three tracks, already built from the conception of Châtelet-Les Halles station. In 1988, existing suburban trains terminating at Goussainville now integrate with the RER D, on the same year, the first bi-mode Z20500 trains are in service. They were initially composed of 4 cars until the north-south interconnection was inaugurated in 1995, in September 1990, the RER D again extended north to Orry-la-Ville. In 1996, the RER D was extended south from La Ferté-Alais to Malesherbes, on 15 January 1998 for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, St-Denis – Stade de France station opened, in order to serve the Stade de France
5.
RER B
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The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving Paris, France. The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. First opened,9 December 1977 Length,80.0 km Number of stops,47 Traffic,165,100,000 journeys per annum The southern part of the line is operated by RATP, trains are owned by either company. Until December 2009, drivers changed at Gare du Nord, RATP, trains moving from one network to the other at this station is known as the Interconnexion. Line B was the product of the connection in 1977 of the Ligne de Sceaux terminus, Luxembourg,1846, The Ligne de Sceaux is inaugurated from Massy to Denfert-Rochereau. 1862, The Chemin de Fer du Nord line from Paris to Soissons via Mitry-Claye is opened, from 1889 to 1895, The Ligne de Sceaux is extended from Denfert-Rochereau to Luxembourg. 1937, The CMP buys from the PO company the ligne de Sceaux which connected the Luxembourg Garden to Robinson,1976, A new 13.5 km long line from Aulnay-sous-Bois to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport is opened, linking it with Paris. 9 December 1977, The ligne de Sceaux is extended to Châtelet-les Halles,2 km, january 1983, New station, Parc-des-Expositions, opened. 7 June 1983, Some trains work through between points north and south of Gare du Nord, service increased in 1984 and 1987
6.
La Plaine - Stade de France Station
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La Plaine – Stade de France is a station in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France served by the RER B. It is one of the two RER stations that serve the Stade de France, the other being Stade de France – Saint-Denis on RER Line D, the station is in Zone 2 of the Carte orange. The station opened on January 25,1998, in time for the 1998 World Cup, the station is the work of the architecture Jean-Marie Duthilleul. The structure of the station is suspended with cables, the architectural style of the station echoes their namesake stadium. List of stations of the Paris RER
7.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
8.
France national football team
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The France national football team represents France in international football. The teams colours are blue, white and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol, France are colloquially known as Les Bleus. France play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, and they have won one FIFA World Cup, two UEFA European Football Championships, an Olympic tournament, and two FIFA Confederations Cups. France experienced much of its success in three major, in the 1950s, 1980s, and late 1990s/early 2000s respectively, which resulted in numerous major honours. In 1958, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, in 1984, France, led by Ballon dOr winner Michel Platini, won UEFA Euro 1984. Under the leadership of Didier Deschamps and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, two years later, the team triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. France won the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003, and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team also reached the final of UEFA Euro 2016, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. France, Argentina and Brazil 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. The following year, on 12 February 1905, France contested their home match against Switzerland. The match was played at the Parc des Princes in front of 500 supporters, France won the match 1–0 with the only goal coming from Gaston Cyprès. Due to disagreements between FIFA and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, the sports union. In 1919, the CFI transformed themselves into the French Football Federation, in 1921, the USFSA finally merged with the FFF. In July 1930, France appeared in the inaugural FIFA World Cup, in their first-ever World Cup match, France defeated Mexico 4–1 at the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo. Lucien Laurent became notable in the match as he scored not only Frances first World Cup goal, conversely, France also became the first team to not score in a match after losing 1–0 to fellow group stage opponents Argentina. Another loss to Chile resulted in the team bowing out in the group stage, the following year saw the first selection of a black player to the national team. Raoul Diagne, who was of Senegalese descent, earned his first cap on 15 February in a 2–1 defeat to Czechoslovakia. Diagne later played with the team at the 1938 World Cup, alongside Larbi Benbarek, at the 1934 World Cup, France suffered elimination in the opening round, losing 3–2 to Austria
9.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years
10.
Racing 92
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Racing 92 is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to Racing 92,92 is the number of Hauts-de-Seine, a département of Île-de-France, bordering Paris to the west, where they play, and whose council gives financial backing to the club. They currently play in the Top 14, having been promoted as 2008–09 champions of Rugby Pro D2, Racing 92 play at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir stadium at Colombes, where the France national team played for several decades. Racing Club was established in 1882 as a club, one of the first in France. New sections were regularly added thereafter, a rugby section was founded in 1890, which became an immediate protagonist of the early French championship and to which, until 1898, only Parisian teams were invited. On 20 March 1892 the USFSA organised the first ever French rugby championship, the game was refereed by Pierre de Coubertin and saw Racing win 4–3. R. C. France 4 – Stade Francais 3, archived from the original on 25 November 2006. Racing were awarded the Bouclier de Brennus, which is awarded to the winners of the French championship today. Both clubs would contest the game the following season as well, though in 1893 it would be Stade Français who would win the event. Stade went on to dominate the years and the Racing Club would make their next final appearance in the 1898 season. However the title was awarded after a round-robin with six clubs, Stade Français won with 10 points, Racing came in second with 6. Racing contested the 1900 season final against the Stade Bordelais club, Racing easily won the match, defeating Stade Bordelais 37–7. The two clubs would meet again in the 1902 championship game, where Racing would again win, a decade passed until Racing Club made another championship final, which would be on 31 March 1912, where they would play Toulouse in Toulouse. Due to World War I the French championship was replaced with a called the Coupe de lEspérance. The Racing Club won the competition in 1918, defeating FC Grenoble 22 points to 9, normal competition resumed for the 1920 season. That season the Racing Club made their first final since 1912, though they lost 8 to 3 to Stadoceste Tarbais, after the 1920 season, the Racing Club would not win any championships for a number of years. In 1931 they created the Challenge Yves du Manoir competition, after losing the 1957 final to FC Lourdes, the club then won the championship in the 1959 season, defeating Mont-de-Marsan 8 points to 3. The Racing Club would next play in the final in the 1987 season
11.
National stadium
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Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a countrys national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to a football stadium. Usually, a stadium will be in or very near a countrys capital city or largest city. It is generally the countrys largest and most lavish sports venue with a history of hosting a major moment in sports. In many, but not all cases, it is used by a local team. Many countries, including Spain and the United States, do not have a national stadium designated as such, Stadium Australia, currently known under a sponsorship deal as ANZ Stadium, the 2000 Sydney Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 84,000. There exists a popular rivalry between ANZ Stadium and the MCG due to lasting rivalries between football codes and the respective cities, there was an implied claim to being the new national stadium when it opened in 1999 with the name Stadium Australia. Cricket is no longer played at the venue, while Australian rules will not be played there beyond 2016, large sports events are commonly held in alternate venues. The second largest and most well known stadium in Brazil is Estádio do Maracanã located at Rio de Janeiro, the national team plays at several venues throughout the country. Likewise, Canadian football and lacrosse, two prominent sports unique to Canadian culture, play at venues across the nation. Prior to confederation into Canada, the Dominion of Newfoundland used King George V Park as its national stadium, Estádio da Várzea Stade Barthélemy Boganda Stade Idriss Mahamat Ouya Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos Beijing National Stadium Chinese football national team does not have a national stadium. The team plays games in Beijing Workers Stadium, Shanghai Hongkou Stadium, Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, Stade Omar Bongo Independence Stadium Boris Paichadze Stadium The German national football team usually plays at different stadiums throughout the country. See the Northern Ireland section for other cases, teddy Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium Nokia Arena Canada Stadium The Italian national football team usually plays at different stadiums throughout the country. Stadio Olimpico In the case of union, the national team plays matches throughout the country. Previously, Stadio Flaminio served the same purpose, darius and S. Mexicos national baseball and basketball teams play at various venues throughout the country. Zimbru Stadium Stade Louis II Podgorica City Stadium Marrakesh Stadium Hage Geingob Stadium Olympisch Stadion The national football team has no dedicated stadium and it plays at venues around the country. However the most commonly used stadium is the Amsterdam ArenA in Amsterdam, Stadion Narodowy - home stadium of Poland national football team. National Rugby Stadium, rugby union national stadium Estádio do Jamor, however, the national football team very seldom plays there
12.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
13.
Track and field
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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sports venue, a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorised under the sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also combined events or multi events, such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, in these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a victor, the most prominent team events are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the mens and womens competitions are held at the same venue. It is one of the oldest sports, in ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won the stadium race. According to some traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. In modern times, the two most prestigious track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body. Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, however, if athletes are deemed to have violated the events rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased. In North America, the track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon. The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory, Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, Track and field events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this period, and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC
14.
1998 FIFA World Cup
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France staged the competition. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997, for the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the match and final staged at the Stade de France. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals, France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7, Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFAs requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively, France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, blazer stated that we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup. Since France won the selection process it was thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the payment was from the failed Moroccan bid. The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, as tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round, in Europe, fourteen countries qualified excluding France. Ten were determined after group play, nine group winners and the best second-placed team, the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals as well. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament, chile qualified for the first time since 1982
15.
Michel Platini
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Michel François Platini is a French former football player, manager and administrator. Nicknamed Le Roi for his ability and leadership, he is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon dOr three times, in 1983,1984 and 1985, and came sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1985, during his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Together with the midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, Platini was his countrys record goalscorer until 2007, and holds the record for most goals scored in the European Championship despite only appearing in the victorious 1984 edition. Following his retirement as a player, Platini was the French national team coach for four years, from 2007, he served as the president of the Union of European Football Associations. He also held the positions of chairman of FIFAs Technical and Development Committee, in 2015, however, he was banned from football administration for conflict of interest by the FIFA Ethics Committee. Born in Jœuf, in the Lorraine region, Platini is the son of Aldo and Anna, Aldo was a professional footballer and a long-time director for AS Nancy, the club where Michel started his professional career. Platini was called up for a trial with Metz, but missed out on the opportunity due to injury and he returned to regional league football with Jœuf. Another trial at Metz went horribly wrong when a breathing test on a spirometer caused Platini to faint, the doctors verdict on Platinis breathing difficulties and weak heart ended any hopes Platini had of playing for his boyhood favorites. He then joined the side of his fathers club Nancy in September 1972. Platini was quick to make a big impression at his new club, further outstanding displays put him in contention for a place in the Nancy first team. His introduction to the squad was inauspicious. On the substitutes bench for a match against Valenciennes, Platini was spat on, playing for the reserves a few days later, a hefty challenge from an opponent left Platini with a bad ankle injury. His season would finish on a positive note, and he would go on to make his league debut against Nîmes on 3 May 1973. In March 1974, he suffered a setback when he sustained a fracture of his left arm in a match at OGC Nice. Platini missed the remainder of the season as a result, unable to assist Nancy in a bid to avoid relegation from Ligue 1. The following season saw Nancy win promotion back to the French first division with ease, Platini became the teams most important player, scoring 17 goals, a number of which were scored from free-kicks, as was becoming Platinis specialty. Saint-Étienne, the then reigning French league champions, were knocked out of the French Cup with two goals from Platini free-kicks, Platini practised his free-kicks with the help of his friend, goalkeeper Moutier, and using a row of dummies to form a defensive wall of sorts
16.
Brazil national football team
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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
17.
1998 FIFA World Cup Final
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. France won the match 3–0 to claim the World Cup for the first time, zinedine Zidane, who was named man of the match, scored twice before half-time and Emmanuel Petit added a third goal in the last minute. The match had an attendance in the region of 75,000, after a 4–1 win over Chile and a 3–2 success against Denmark, they reached the final with a penalty shoot-out victory over the Netherlands. As for France, they won their three matches and defeated Paraguay in the knockout stages on golden goals. They had a penalty-shootout with Italy in the quarter-finals, and defeated recently formed Croatia to reach the final, the match also saw speculation on the condition of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who suffered a convulsive fit on the eve of the match. After initially being left out of the sheet, in spite of his physical state. In the match, he sustained an injury in a clash with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, France followed up their victory by qualifying for and winning UEFA Euro 2000 held in the Netherlands and Belgium. Brazil took the Copa America title in 1999, and then won the next FIFA World Cup in Japan, Ronaldo went on to set the record for goals in World Cups, which was later broken by Miroslav Klose of Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For Brazil, this only the second time that they had lost a World Cup final. The 3–0 scoreline was also Brazils previous largest loss at any World Cup match prior to their 7–1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil were drawn in Group A for the group stages alongside Scotland, Morocco and Norway. They recorded victories over Scotland and Morocco to progress but lost their final game 2–1 to Norway and they next faced Group B runners-up Chile in the last-16 and comprehensively won 4–1, Ronaldo and César Sampaio each scoring twice. In the quarter-finals, they played Denmark, who had won their previous game 4–1. Despite being 1–0 down to a Martin Jorgensen goal in the minute, Brazil turned the game around in their favour with goals from Bebeto. Brian Laudrup equalised for Denmark after 50 minutes but Brazil won the game 10 minutes later courtesy of a second from Rivaldo, in the semi-finals, Brazil faced the Netherlands in Marseille. The game finished 1–1 at full-time, Ronaldo scoring just after half-time and Patrick Kluivert equalising for the Netherlands in the 87th minute, the match had to be settled by penalties which Brazil won 4–2 to reach their second successive World Cup final. France were drawn in Group C alongside Denmark, South Africa and they started their campaign with an easy 3–0 win over South Africa followed by a convincing 4–0 win over Saudi Arabia. France secured top spot in their group courtesy of a 2–1 win over Denmark with goals from Youri Djorkaeff, in the second round they faced Group D runners-up Paraguay. France won a close encounter 1–0 in extra time thanks to a goal scored by Laurent Blanc
18.
2024 Summer Olympics
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The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event. Bidding for the games started in 2015, with five cities in contention. The two remaining candidate sites are Los Angeles and Paris, the host of the Summer Olympic Games is scheduled to be announced at the 130th International Olympic Committee Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. However, IOC President Thomas Bach has suggested to both cities the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics at the session in Lima. On 17 March 2017, the International Olympic Committee has moved closer toward picking both Los Angeles and Paris to host a Summer Games in a double vote that year. The candidature process was announced at the time as the names of the five candidates cities on 16 September 2015. olympic. Hamburg withdrew its bid due to a referendum held on November 29,2015, while, citing fiscal difficulties, on February 22,2017, it was reported that Budapest withdrew its bid, after a petition against the bid collected more signatures than necessary for a referendum. In a statement released the IOC’s evaluation commission praised the candidates for “creativity, the International Olympic Committee wanted feedback on the formation of a working group that will consider giving 2024 to one city and 2028 to the other. On April 5,2017 the race between Los Angeles and Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics caused a debate from Facebook fans. On 19 February 2013, the United States Olympic Committee sent letters to the mayors of 37 American cities to gauge their interest in hosting the 2024 Olympics, the cities included were Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D. C. On 10 June 2014, the USOC met in Boston to confirm the shortlist of cities drawn up for the 2024 Olympics, on 13 June 2014, the USOC announced its shortlist for potential host cities, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington. On 26 September 2014, The U. S. Olympic Committee received near-unanimous support from the sports federations in a poll asking whether they would support a bid for the 2024 Olympics. Forty of the 47 national governing bodies took part in the poll and all 40 answered positively to the question, during the closed door meeting each of the four cities were given two hours to present their citys bids. Following the final presentation, the USOC announced that the United States would bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but did not announce which city would bid. On 8 January 2015, the USOC selected Boston to be the city from the United States but on 27 July 2015 Bostons bid was withdrawn. On 1 September 2015 the USOC announced that Los Angeles was chosen for the United States bid for the 2024 Summer Games, Baku, Azerbaijan Baku submitted a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and submitted a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Baku failed to become a candidate both times, upon failing to become a candidate for the 2020 Games, it was stated that Baku would come back again next time even stronger. Baku National Stadium also hosted the 2015 European Games, istanbul is expected to bid for the 2019 European Games, as European Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos stated that hosting the European Games would help with its future Olympic bids
19.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
20.
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
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It was the final match of the 2005–06 season of Europes primary cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their final, having won the competition once in 1992. Arsenal were appearing in the final for the first time and in doing so became the first club from London to feature in the final, each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beating Chelsea, Benfica and Milan, Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, respectively. A crowd of 79,500 watched as Jens Lehmann was sent off early in the game, despite this setback, Arsenal took the lead through Sol Campbell towards the end of the first half. The game turned with the 61st minute introduction of Henrik Larsson as a Barcelona substitute, Larsson provided two assists, one each for Samuel Etoo and Juliano Belletti. The 2–1 victory was Barcelonas second triumph in the competition 14 years after they won the European Cup in 1992, both Arsenal and Barcelona entered the competition in the group stages, Arsenal by finishing second in the 2004–05 FA Premier League, and Barcelona by winning La Liga. The group stages were contested as eight double round robin groups of four teams, knockout matches were decided based on home and away matches, with the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed. UEFA also conducted a variety of site visits, saint-Denis was chosen to host the final in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup final in 1956, held in nearby Paris at the Parc des Princes, now home of Paris Saint-Germain. The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1975 and 1981 European Cup finals, the 1978 and 1995 UEFA Cup Winners Cup finals, Barcelona were to show the match live from their Mini Estadi on a 70-metre television screen for an estimated audience of 15,276. Before the final an estimated 1.2 million people converged on to the streets of Barcelona, Arsenal went into the match with the record for the longest time without a conceding a goal. They had gone 919 minutes without conceding since conceding against AFC Ajax in the group stages, Arsenal were featuring in their first European final six years to the day since their last final. They faced Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final, the match had finished goalless after 90 minutes, Arsenal lost the subsequent penalty shootout 4–1. Of the players who featured in final, only Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp remained at the club, whilst Sylvinho. The 2006 final was the first time that Arsenal had reached the showpiece match, Barcelona were appearing in the final for the fifth time, their last appearance had been in a 4–0 loss to Milan in 1994. Two more losses preceded the 1994 final, and their success in the competition came in 1992 when they beat Sampdoria. Barcelona went into the final as domestic champions, having won La Liga a fortnight earlier. They were regarded as being the best side on the continent because they possessed players such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Etoo
21.
1999 Rugby World Cup
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The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia and this was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sports professional era. Although the majority of matches were played outside Wales the opening ceremony, the first match, qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations. The 1999 tournament saw the introduction of a repechage, effectively a chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone. The tournament began with the ceremony in the newly-built Millennium Stadium, with Wales beating Argentina 23–18. The overall attendance for the tournament was 1.75 million, the following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Of the 20 teams, only four of those places were automatically allocated and these went to the champions, runners-up and the third-placed nations at the 1995 and the tournament host, Wales. A record 65 nations from five continents were involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 16 spots. Wales won the right to host the World Cup in 1999, other venues in Wales were the Racecourse Ground and Stradey Park. An agreement was reached so that the unions in the Five Nations Championship also hosted matches. Venues in England included Twickenham and Welford Road, rugby union venues, as well as Ashton Gate in Bristol and the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield, venues in Ireland included Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Ravenhill and Thomond Park. France used five venues, the most of any nation, including the French national stadium, Stade de France, the five pool runners-up and the best third-placed side qualified for the quarter-final play-offs. The unusual format meant that two winners in the quarter-finals would have to play each other. From the quarter-final stage it became a knockout tournament. The semi-final losers played off for third place, the draw and format for the knock-out stage was set as follows. The tournament began on 1 October 1999 in the newly built Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the Pool stage of the tournament played out as was widely expected with the Tri Nations teams of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia all winning their pools easily without losing a single game. For the then Five Nations Championship teams who all played their matches in their own countries it was a case of mixed fortunes with France winning their pool without losing a game. Host Wales also won their pool, though they suffered 31–38 defeat at the hands of Samoa in front of a crowd at the Millennium Stadium
22.
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days,42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, the top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup. The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. The stadium was also the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title, both England and France bid to host the tournament. The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001, both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans. The International Rugby Board stated that countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option. The IRB said Englands original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer. The French bid, while complying with the document in all other respects. Englands bids included a tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament. It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament, the tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was. It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, the eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, the qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007, including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament. In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively, in July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Americas 2 was filled in August when Canada defeated the United States 56–7 in Newfoundland, the United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November, in late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong, georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place
23.
FIFA World Cup
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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
24.
FIFA World Cup Final
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The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition established in 1930. It is contested by the national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association. The tournament has taken every four years, except in 1942 and 1946. The most recent World Cup, hosted by Brazil in 2014, was won by Germany, the World Cup final match is the last of the competition, and the result determines which country is declared world champions. If after 90 minutes of play the score is a draw. If such a game is tied after extra time it is decided by kicks from the penalty shoot-out. The winning penalty shoot-out area team are then declared champions, the tournament has been decided by a one-off match on every occasion except 1950, when the tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams. Uruguays 2–1 victory over Brazil was the match which put them ahead on points. Therefore, this match is regarded by FIFA as the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup, in the 20 tournaments held,77 nations have appeared at least once. Of these,12 have made it to the final match, with five titles, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup finals tournament. Italy and Germany have four titles, the other former champions are Uruguay and Argentina with two titles each, and England, France, and Spain with one each. The current champions, Germany, took their title in 2014. The 2014 German team also became the first European team to win in South America, the team that wins the finals receive the FIFA World Cup Trophy, and their name is engraved in the bottom side of the trophy. The 1970 and 1994 along with the 1986,1990 and 2014 games are to date the only matches competed by the same teams, as of 2014, the 1934 final remains the latest final to have been between two teams playing their first final. The final match of the upcoming 2018 World Cup in Russia is scheduled to take place at the countrys biggest sports complex, the 1930 and the 1966 games are the only ones that did not take place on Sunday. The former did on a Wednesday and the latter on a Saturday, as of 2014, only nations from Europe and South America have competed in a World Cup Final. The Year column refers to the year the World Cup was held, the wikilinks in the Final score column point to the article about that tournaments final game. Links in the Winners and Runners-up columns point to the articles for the football teams of the countries
25.
Rugby World Cup
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The Rugby World Cup is a mens rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand, New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England. Four countries have won the trophy, New Zealand have won it three times, two teams have won twice, Australia and South Africa, while England have won it once, the tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sports international governing body. Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the tournament in 1987. Japan will host the event in 2019. Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the tournament, where eight of the sixteen places were contested in a twenty-four-nation tournament. The remaining twelve positions were filled by continental qualifying tournaments, positions were filled by three teams from the Americas, one from Asia, one from Africa, three from Europe and two from Oceania. Another two places were allocated for repechage, the second repechage position was determined between the runners-up from the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. The qualification system for the eight places is region-based, with a total eight teams allocated for Europe, five for Oceania. The last place is determined by an intercontinental play-off, the 2015 tournament involved twenty nations competing over six weeks. There were two stages, a pool and a knockout, Nations were divided into four pools, A through to D, of five nations each. The teams were seeded before the start of the tournament, with the seedings taken from the World Rankings in December 2012, the four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The next four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The remaining positions in each pool were filled by the qualifiers, Nations play four pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. A bonus points system is used during pool play, if two or more teams are level on points, a system of criteria is used to determine the higher ranked, the sixth and final criterion decides the higher rank through the official World Rankings. The winner and runner-up of each pool enter the knockout stage, the knockout stage consists of quarter- and semi-finals, and then the final. The winner of each pool is placed against a runner-up of a different pool in a quarter-final, the winner of each quarter-final goes on to the semi-finals, and the respective winners proceed to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place, called the Bronze Final, if a match in the knockout stages ends in a draw, the winner is determined through extra time
26.
Race of Champions
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The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the worlds best racing and rally drivers. The race was first organised in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnsson, the top individual overall in The Race Of Champions is given the title Champion of Champions, and receives the Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy. The ROC Nations Cup was added in 1999 and now features teams of two drivers who compete for their country, the event has taken place in several venues, including 12 years on Gran Canaria from 1992 to 2003. In 2014, the event was held at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados, the 2015 event took place in November at the 2012 Olympic Stadium in London. The 2017 ROC took place in January at Marlins Park in Miami, in the Race of Champions, the individual drivers compete head-to-head in one race around the track. The drivers are eliminated using a round-robin format, with the best eight entering a knockout tournament. Prior to the Race of Champions, eight teams of two compete in the ROC Nations Cup using a similar format. In both the ROC Nations Cup and the Race of Champions, the final consists of three runs, with the team or driver that achieves two victories first crowned champion, the cars used in The Race Of Champions vary from year to year. Prior to each run, a type of car is assigned to both of the drivers, with each machine being identical in every respect, over the course of the event, each driver will get to drive several different cars. The final was a battle between two Flying Finns, in which Kankkunen beat Salonen to become the first Champion of Champions. The cars used at the first event were Audi Quattro S1, BMW M3, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta Integrale, Opel Manta 400, the following years saw new events in addition to the main race. The International Rally Masters, started in 1990, was designed to offer the seasons best drivers, who were yet to win a championship title, the Classic Rally Masters, first contested in 1994, was a historic Race of Champions competed with pre-1965 Porsche 911s. These two events have since been discontinued and it was during this period that the emphasis on rally champions faded, as evidenced by victories for Andrea Aghini and François Delecour, neither of whom had won a WRC title. 2003 was the last time the event would be held on Gran Canaria, the 2004 Race of Champions took place on December 6 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The individual event was won by Heikki Kovalainen, the first non-rally driver to win the crown, there was also a special World Champions Challenge race held between 2004 Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and 2004 World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb, which Schumacher won. The 2005 event took place on December 3, the individual event was won by Sébastien Loeb after Tom Kristensen crashed out of the final, and the Nations Cup event was won by Tom Kristensen and Mattias Ekström representing Scandinavia. The 2006 event took place on December 16, the Nations Cup was competed first and the event was won by Finland, with Heikki Kovalainen beating United States Travis Pastrana on the final round. The individual event and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden and he beat Kovalainen by 0.0002 seconds in the semi-finals, and then defending champion, Sébastien Loeb of France, in the finals
27.
UEFA Euro 2016
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It was held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. Spain were the defending champions, having won the 2008 and 2012 tournaments. Portugal won the tournament for the first time, following a 1–0 victory after extra time over the host team, France, for the first time, the European Championship final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Under the new format, the finalists contested a group consisting of six groups of four teams. France was chosen as the host nation on 28 May 2010, after a process in which they beat Italy. The matches were played in ten stadiums in ten cities, Bordeaux, Lens, Lille Métropole, Décines-Charpieu, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Étienne and it was the third time that France hosted the finals, after the inaugural tournament in 1960 and the 1984 finals. As the winners, Portugal earned the right to compete at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, four bids came before the deadline on 9 March 2009. France, Italy and Turkey put in single bids while Norway, Norway and Sweden eventually withdrew their bid in December 2009. The host was selected on 28 May 2010, Round 1, Each of the thirteen members of the UEFA Executive Committee ranked the 3 bids first, second, and third. First place ranking received 5 points, second place 2 points, Executive members from the countries bidding were not allowed to vote. Round 2, The same thirteen-member committee voted for either of the two finalists, the qualifying draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis in Nice, on 23 February 2014, with the first matches being played in September 2014. A total of 53 teams competed for 23 places in the tournament to join France. Gibraltar competed in a European Championship qualifying for the first time since their affiliation to UEFA in 2013, the seeding pots were formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficients, with the Euro 2012 champions Spain and hosts France automatically top seeded. The 53 national sides were drawn into eight groups of six teams, the group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team qualify directly for the final tournament. The remaining eight third-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers, in March 2012, Gianni Infantino, the UEFA General Secretary at the time, stated that UEFA would review the qualification competition to ensure that it was not boring. In May 2013, Platini confirmed a similar qualifying format would be discussed during the September 2013 UEFA executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik. Thirteen of the sixteen teams qualified for Euro 2012 qualified again for the 2016 final tournament. Romania, Turkey, Austria and Switzerland all returned after missing out in 2012, with the Austrians qualifying for just their second final Euro tournament, five teams secured their first-ever qualification to a UEFA European Championship final tournament, Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales
28.
Portugal national football team
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The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in international mens association football competition since 1921. It is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the body for football in Portugal. Portugals first participation in a tournament finals, at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup finals were in 1986 and 2002, going out in the first round both times. Portugal also made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 1984 final tournament, losing 3–2 after extra time to the hosts and eventual winners France. The team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2000, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012, as well as the final of Euro 2004, the latter on home soil. At Euro 2016, Portugal won its first ever trophy, defeating hosts France 1–0 after extra time. With the win, Portugal qualified and will make its first appearance in the FIFA Confederations Cup held the year in Russia. The teams home stadium is the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras, the current head coach is Fernando Santos and the captain is Cristiano Ronaldo, who holds the team records for most caps and goals. Portugal was not invited to the 1930 World Cup, which featured a final stage. In the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Seleção played one game against Switzerland in a ground, held in Milan, losing 2–1 against the Swiss. Because of the conflict due to the World War II, there was no World Cup held until the 1950 competition and subsequently. On the restart of games, the team was to play a round against Spain. After a 5–1 defeat in Madrid, they managed to draw in the second game 2–2, for the qualification of the 1954 World Cup, the team would play Austria. The Austrians won the first game with a humiliating 9–1 result, the best the national team could do was hold the team to a goalless draw in Lisbon, and the round ended with a 9–1 defeat. In the 1958 qualification, Portugal won a match for the first time. Nevertheless, they finished last in the stage that also featured Northern Ireland, only the first-placed team, Northern Ireland. The year 1960 was the year that UEFA created the European Football Championship, the first edition was a knock-out tournament, the last four teams participating in final stage that only featured one leg while the older stages had two legs
29.
Single-elimination tournament
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Where more than two competitors can play in each match, such as in a shootout poker tournament, players are removed when they can no longer play until one player remains from the group. This player moves on to the next round, some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a final stage called playoffs. The round before the quarterfinals is sometimes called the round of sixteen, Last Sixteen, or pre-quarterfinals, earlier rounds are typically numbered counting forwards from the first round, or by the number of remaining competitors. If some competitors get a bye, the round at which they enter may be named the first round, with the matches called a preliminary round. Many Olympic single-elimination tournaments feature the bronze medal if they do not award bronze medals to both losing semifinalists. The FIFA World Cup has long featured the third place match, the number of distinct ways of arranging a single-elimination tournament is given by the Wedderburn–Etherington numbers. Brackets are set up so that the top two seeds could not possibly meet until the round, none of the top four can meet prior to the semifinals. If no seeding is used, the tournament is called a random knockout tournament. One version of seeding is where brackets are set up so that the quarterfinal pairings would be the 1 seed vs. the 8 seed,2 vs.7,3 vs.6 and 4 vs. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals, in American team sports, for example, the MLS, NFL and WNBA employ this tactic, but the NBA does not. MLB does not have teams in its playoff tournament where re-seeding would make a large difference in the matchups. In international fencing competitions, it is common to have a group stage, participants are divided in groups of 6–7 fencers who play a round-robin tournament, and a ranking is calculated from the consolidated group results. Single elimination is seeded from this ranking, the single-elimination format enables a relatively large number of competitors to participate. There are no dead matches, and no matches where one competitor has more to play for than the other, the format is less suited to games where draws are frequent. In chess, each fixture in a single-elimination tournament must be played multiple matches, because draws are common. In association football, games ending in a draw may be settled in extra time, another perceived disadvantage is that most competitors are eliminated after relatively few games. Variations such as the tournament allow competitors a single loss while remaining eligible for overall victory
30.
Coupe de France
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The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The final is played at the Stade de France and the winner of the Coupe de France qualifies for the stage of the UEFA Europa League. The reigning champions are Paris Saint-Germain who defeated Marseille in the final of the 2015–16 competition, the Coupe de France was first held in 1917–18 and, during the 2007–08 season, celebrated its 90th anniversary. Combined with random draws and one-off matches, the Coupe de France can be difficult for the clubs to win. However, despite the advantages, only one club has actually reached the final since professionalism was introduced in French football in 1932. Both clubs who have won the competition and were not playing in Ligue 1 were professional, Le Havre in 1959, the Coupe de France is managed and run by the Coupe de France Commission, whose president is former French international Willy Sagnol. 7,422 clubs participated in the 2011–12 cup competition, furthermore, an improved 7,656 clubs competed in the 2013–14 edition. The Coupe de France was created on 15 January 1917 by the French Interfederal Committee, the major clubs in France objected to the notion that all clubs should be allowed to enter. However, the federation dispelled their complaints and declared the competition would remain as is, due to the minimal requirements to enter, the first competition featured 48 clubs. By 1948, the number had increased to 1,000 and at present, due to the initial increase in clubs, the federation created preliminary rounds beginning with the 1919–20 season. The following season, they added a second preliminary round, as of today, the competition contains eight regional rounds with some regions containing as much as ten. The first Coupe de France victors were Olympique de Pantin who defeated FC Lyon 3–0 at the Stade de la Légion Saint-Michel in Paris in front of 2,000 spectators. The following year, the competition was shifted to the Parc des Princes, the competition alternated between many stadiums during its early years playing at the Stade Pershing from 1920–1924 before switching to the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. The competition lasted a decade there before returning to the Parc des Princes in 1938, in 1941, the final was held at the Stade de Paris. Since the ratio between amateur and professional clubs in France is extremely one-sided, the competition regularly produces surprises, the best performance by an amateur club in the competition is usually awarded the Petit Poucet Plaque. One of the recent successes of an amateur club occurred during the 1999–2000 competition when Championnat de France amateur club Calais RUFC reached the final. Calais, composed of doctors, dock workers, and office clerks, started the competition in the 5th round and, after defeating fellow amateurs, Calais, after 120 minutes, were level 1–1 with Lille and defeated their Northern foes 7–6 on penalties. In the following two rounds, Calais defeated Langon-Castets and Cannes, in the quarter-finals, Calais defeated Strasbourg 2–1 and on 12 April 2000, eclipsed Bordeaux 3–1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final
31.
Coupe de la Ligue
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The Coupe de la Ligue, known outside France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. Paris Saint-Germain are the current champions, having defeated Monaco 4–1 for a seventh title in the 2016-2017 competition. Competitions similar to the Coupe de la Ligue had been held in France. The Coupe Charles Drago was held from 1953 to 1965, it involved teams eliminated from the Coupe de France, the winner of the first Coupe Charles Drago final was decided by a coin-toss when Sochaux and Toulouse tied 3–3 after extra time. Another competition named Coupe de la Ligue existed from 1963 to 1965, in 1982, a Coupe dEté was held before the start of the French league season, the cup was won by Stade Laval. This tournament continued under the name of Coupe de la Ligue, until 1994, entrance to the UEFA Cup, now called the UEFA Europa League, is offered to the winning team. Its first winner was Paris Saint-Germain, after their 2–0 victory over Bastia, the first final decided by a penalty shootout was in 1996 when Metz beat Lyon. The first three finals were held at Parc des Princes, since the 1998 cup, all finals have been held at the Stade de France, strasbourg and Paris Saint-Germain have won the competition at both stadiums. Gueugnon became the first team below the top division of France to win the cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the 2000 final, overall, there have been 14 winners of the competition since 1995. The current holders of the cup are Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Lille in the 2016 final to win the cup for a sixth time. Most tournament wins, seven, Paris Saint-Germain, most final appearances, eight, Paris Saint-Germain. Most goals scored in a season, Stéphane Guivarch, seven goals in 1997–98, in France, the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by France Television until the 2008–09 season and will continue to do so until at least the 2015–16 season. In Spain, the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by beIN Sports, in Australia the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by Setanta Sports Australia. In many parts of the world the game is broadcast live on TV5Monde, Coupe de France, the nations football cup Coupe de la Ligue information on LFP. fr
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Saint-Denis – Porte de Paris
Stade de France – Saint-Denis
La Plaine – Stade de France
Brazil
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France
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Croatia
New Zealand
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Turkey
Argentina
England
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Republic of Ireland
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Portugal
