BELGIUMWorld Cup 2014

Daniel Gorman

The World Cup - History

The FIFA World Cup was first held in 1930, when FIFA president Jules Rimet decided to stage an international football tournament. The first tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930, and only 13 teams played. Since then, the FIFA World Cup has changed to its current 32-team final tournament preceded by a two-year qualifying process, involving almost 200 teams from all over the world.

• The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. 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 champions are Spain, who won the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

• The 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month; this phase is called the World Cup Finals.

• The 19 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 other World Cup winners are Italy, with four titles; West Germany, with three titles; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each.

• The World Cup is among the world's most widely viewed sporting events; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany.

• The next three World Cups will be hosted by Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022.

Belgium – The countrySome Interesting Facts about Belgium

1. Belgium produces around 220,000 tonnes of chocolate every year. That means, 22 kg of chocolate is consumed per person per year or 61 grams per day on an average. The world’s biggest chocolate selling point is Brussles National Airport

2. The diamond capital: The world’s main diamond center and second largest petrochemical center is in Belgium. Almost 90% of raw diamonds in the world are negotiated, polished, and distributed in Antwerp, Belgium.

3. Belgium has 3 official languages. Majority people speak Flemish, which is a local dialect of Dutch, then French is the 2nd most popular, finally very small percent of Belgians (may be 1%) speak German. Luckily, most of the locals can speak Flemish and French very well along with English in cities like Brussels, Brugges, Gent or Antwerp

4. Heart of Europe: Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but also the capital of European Union (EU) and houses the headquarter of NATO. That’s why Brussels is called the “Heart of Europe”.

5. Royal Palace of Brussels: The Royal Palace of Brussels is 50% longer than Buckingham Palace.

6. Quality of Education: A 2007 UNICEF report on child well-being in rich countries ranked Belgium as the best country for children’s education well-being.

Belgium Football

• The Belgian national football team has represented Belgium in football since 1904.

• Belgium's home stadium is the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels and Marc Wilmots is their national manager. They are nicknamed the Red Devils

• The best achievements from Belgium in international tournaments so far were the qualification for six successive FIFA World Cups between 1982 and 2002 including a fourth place finish in 1986, the title of European runners-up in 1980 and the 1920 Olympic Football Gold Medal

• On 11 October 2013, Belgium qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Belgium have been very strong contenders with players such as attackers Mirallas, Benteke, Lukaku, as well as midfielders Fellaini, Witsel, Dembélé, De Bruyne and Hazard. Also the strong defence is very good with players such as Kompany, Vermaelen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen as well as the goalkeepers Courtois and Mignolet.

Famous Belgium Players

Hazard Kompany Fellaini

Famous Belgium Players

Lukaku Courtois

Mirrallas

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