Football And FIFA

       Football is a competitive sport with numerous emotions and has spread its influence in all parts of the world. There are many tournaments with thousands of players and millions of attendees. The FIFA World Cup is the most awaited and viewed football tournament. Some other tournaments are UEFA Champions and Nations League, Copa America, La Liga Bundesliga, Indian Super League and many more.

  

Structure of the game

              A football match is played between two teams. The time for the match is 90 minutes and 45 minutes per half time. To win the match, any one of the team should score more than the other team. If the score of both teams is equal, then the match is considered draw. In knockout stages, semis and finals, if the score is equal, then Extra Time of 30 minutes are given. If the score after the extra time is also equal, then the penalty shootouts are conducted to decide who will proceed or who will win. Between the 90 minutes game and extra time, let be the player or the team manager, who do not abide by the decorum of the match, then the referees can give them yellow or red cards. In football, yellow card means first warning and red card means instant disqualification of the player or the manager. If the yellow card is given twice to the same person, he/she wil be disqualified from the match

         

      History of Football

           Ancient China played cuju which resembles the modern football. Cuju was played in second and third centuries. It existed in Han and Qin dynasties. 

            The Japanese played kemari which was the Japanese version of cuju. This was developed in the Asuka period.

           The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known for inventing ball games, some of in which use of foot was involved.

         By this, many parts of the world played football in their own style.

 

           Because  FIFA World Cup is the most popular platform where many players compete against each other, we are going to dive into this championship.

          FIFA World Cup is conducted every 4 years. FIFA is abbreviated as Fédération Internationale de Football Association. At present, Gianni Vincenzo Infantino is the President of FIFA.

               Gianni Vincenzo Infantino

    

      History of FIFA World Cup

                 Robert Guérin was the first President and one of the founders of. He was a French sport journalist. In 1906, he was replaced by Daniel Burley Woolfall from England. FIFA staged their first tournament in the 1908 Olympics which was held in London. Daniel Burley Woolfall was the President from 1906 to 1918.  During World War 1, players were sent off to war and travel for international fixtures were severely limited. Due to this, the organisation's survival was in a doubt. Post war, following the death of Woolfall, the association was run by the general secretary Dutchman Carl August Wilhelm Hirschmann. It was saved from extinction at the cost of withdrawal of Home Nations who were not willing to participate in international competitions will their recent World War enemies. After the general secretary, Jules Rimet served as the third President of FIFA. He was the longest serving President from 1921 to 1954 and was in the office for 33 years. In 1928, under Rimet's leadership, the plans for the World Cup which was held in Uruguay because the nature of professional game in South America was good and the Uruguayan Football Association offered to pay the travel costs of the players. But Rimet's decisions were criticized as European nations complained that if they participated in the 1930 World Cup then the players would be out from domestic tournaments for three months. So, only four European countries accepted to participate in the World Cup. And for 40 years (1930 - 1970) the Cup was named after Jules Rimet. Uruguay, Italy, Brazil, Germany and England won the Jules Rimet Trophy.

            From 1970 till date, New World Cup was given to the champions. 

   (Above - New World Cup, Below - Jules                          Rimet Trophy)

      The FIFA World Cup winners

              Uruguay won the first World Cup. Brazil is the most successful team in the FIFA World Cup with 5 titles. Next comes Italy and Germany with 4 titles. Then, at third, comes Argentina with 3 titles including this year's World Cup. 

 

                  FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar 

         FIFA 2022 was conducted in Qatar. It started from 20 November 2022 to 18 December 2022. There were 32 teams qualified for the World Cup. The teams were gourped with 4 teams each. Adidas was the company which designed the ball for the tournament. Al Rihla was used in Group stages, round of 16 and quarter finals. Al Hilm was used in semi finals and finals. 

        (Left - Al Rihla        Right - Al Hilm)

       Netherlands, England, Senegal, USA, Australia, France, Argentina, Morocco, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Japan , Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and Portugal were the countries which were qualified for the Round Of 16 but Argentina procured the World Cup at last. This made Argentina the third successful team with 3 titles. 

            FIFA 2022 Finals

          FIFA 2022 Finals was conducted in the Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar. Before the finals, Kylian Mbappé, who is the forward player for France and Lionel Messi, who is the forward player for Argentina, both scored 5 goals each. But in the finals, Messi scored 1 penalty, 1 goal and 2 goals in total. Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick in 2 penalty and a goal. Mbappé's first 2 goals were a game changer for France. At the end of full time, the score was Argentina 2-2 France. And at the end of 2nd Extra Time, the score was Argentina 3-3 France. The decision of the champion was made by the penalty shootouts. In the shootouts, Argentina scored 4/5 and France scored 2/5 and Argentina won the World Cup 2022. At the end of the series, Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball for best player. Messi finished the series with 7 goals. Mbappe finished the series with 8 goals. Mbappe won the Golden Boot as he was the top goal scorer in the series. Emiliano Martínez, who was the goalkeeper for Argentina, won the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper in the series. 

         Argentina with the World Cup 

  (Left - Lionel Messi, Middle - Emiliano         Martínez and Right - Kylian Mbappé)

           With all these tensed moments, The FIFA 2022 Wold Cup came to be an unforeseeable and unforgettable competition.