The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing body. It is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany. The 2010 World Cup is being held in South Africa, between June 11th and July 11th, 2010. The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, 2006 champions, won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. Other former champions include Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each.

Spain won the 2010 World Cup final, 1-0, vs the Netherlands. Iniesta put the ball in the back of the net in overtime to put Spain on top of the World. Germany came in 3rd with a 3-2 win over Uruguay.