Brazil hosts the month-long global event this summer — and it promises to be a FIFA World Cup™ unlike any other.

With almost a billion fans watching the finale in 2010 alone, the FIFA World Cup™ is by far the single most watched sporting event on the planet. This summer, Brazil hosts 32 teams — and the world's top soccer talent — as they put their national pride on the line for the most coveted of trophies. And for the soccer faithful, it's a month of pure poetry. Or as the Brazilians say, O Jogo Bonito (the beautiful game).

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It all starts on June 12 and closes on July 13.

fifa world cup 101 How does it work?

The FIFA World Cup™ is a global event, so a three-year qualification process is required to reduce the large field of participating teams from about 200 to 32.

Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the number and/or relative strength of the confederations' teams.

The host country automatically qualifies to compete in the FIFA World Cup™. Unlike many other sports, results of the previous FIFA World Cups™ or of the continental championships are not taken into account. Until 2002, the defending champions also received an automatic berth, but since the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ this is no longer the case.

This is the stage in which teams discover who they're up against and where they're playing. The 32 countries will be split into four pots. Sounds simple, right? Actually, it's quite the opposite.

  1. To create an even flow to the draw as Pots 1 to 4 are emptied, we begin by drawing one ball from Pot 4 (containing European teams) and placing it in Pot 2 to achieve an equal balance of eight teams in each pot.
  2. Pot 1 (containing seeded teams) will then be emptied, beginning with Brazil; teams will be allocated position 1 of Groups A through H sequentially.
  3. With the addition of the European team to Pot 2, Pot 2 will contain teams from three different qualification zones. With teams from three zones in the same pot, we increase the risk of inadvertently violating the principle of geographic separation. To ensure we do not mistakenly end up with three European teams in the same group, the following mechanism will be implemented:
    • The four seeded South American teams will be placed in an auxiliary pot — Pot X.
    • One of the four teams will be drawn.
    • The group of the South American team that is drawn will determine which group the European team from Pot 2 will join.
    Final Draw Procedures:
  4. Pot 2 will then be emptied, beginning with the European team.
    • The European team will join the group of the South American team drawn from Pot X.
    • The remaining teams will be allocated to Groups A through H sequentially.
    (Note: Groups may be skipped to respect the principle of geographic separation. For example, Chile and Ecuador may not be drawn into groups headed by seeded South American teams.)
  5. Pots 3 and 4 will then be emptied in order.
  6. The positions within Groups A through H will be drawn for all teams from Pots 2, 3, and 4.

In the first stage of play (the Group Stage), the 32 teams are placed into eight groups of four teams each. Each group consists of one seeded team based on FIFA rankings and recent FIFA World Cups™, and the other teams in each group are selected at random from the top finishers in qualifying play and the host team.

Groups are set up so that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any of the five other FIFA zones (there are six FIFA continental zones: Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe). Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. Each group's last round of matches is held simultaneously to prevent collusion between nations. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.

The top two teams from each group advance to the second stage (the Knockout Stage). If two or more teams finish even on points, tiebreakers are used: the first is goal differential, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally the drawing of lots. In the Group Stage, games may end in a draw.

The second round, or Knockout Stage, is a single-elimination round in which there are no draws. If the score is tied at the end of regulation play, extra time and penalty kicks are used to decide the winner.

The Knockout Stage begins with the Round of 16 in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The losing semifinalists play a match for third place.

Welcome to a realm reserved for the privileged few. The holy grail of the soccer world. The elite of the elite. The winner's circle of the FIFA World Cup™ finals.

For the victors, the spoils include everlasting glory, yes. But also the most coveted trophy on the planet, which is made of 18-karat gold with a malachite base, and depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. And while every young soccer player dreams of lifting it, the current holder of the trophy is Spain, winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

"FIFA World Cup™" appears in raised letters at the base of the trophy. The name of the country whose national team has won each tournament is engraved on the bottom of the trophy, and therefore is not visible when the trophy is standing upright.

It also lists the year the trophy was won and the name of the winning nation in its national language, for example "1994 Brasil" or "2010 España." As of 2010, ten winners have been engraved on the base.