New Delhi: If you ain't seen a FIFA World Cup match, you ain't seen anything yet.
No other sporting event has ever captured the imagination of the entire world the way FIFA World Cup has.
Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.
A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet, are credited with the idea of bringing the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions.
The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet's name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.
When it resumed, the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world.
Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for World Cup 2002, which was a first.
Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history.
The FIFA World Cup has undergone many changes but even after 76 years, the main focus remains the same, the glistening golden trophy, which is every footballer's dream.
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