FIFA: History Structure and Tournaments of the World Football Association
FIFA: History Structure and Tournaments of the World Football Association, As the world football association, FIFA takes care of the organization of the competitions, including the World Cup. But what sets the organization apart?
Zurich – FIFA is the world football association and, with almost seven million members, is one of the largest sports associations in the world. The central task of FIFA is the organization of international tournaments. FIFA is also hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Flagship events are the men’s and women’s world championships. It’s not just about the sport. There’s also a lot of money involved from sponsorship revenue and TV rights. Time and again, FIFA also causes negative headlines through scandals.
| Surname | Federation Internationale de Football Association |
|---|---|
| founding | May 21, 1904 in Paris |
| legal form | Nonprofit organization |
| Seat | Zurich, Switzerland |
| president | Gianni Infantino |
| general secretary | Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura |
| members | 211 national federations |
FIFA: When was the World Football Association founded?
FIFA was founded on May 21, 1904 by a number of national football associations. The aim was to simplify the organization of international tournaments and individual games. French journalist Robert Guerin was FIFA’s first president. The founding members of FIFA all came from Europe:
- France
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Spain (Represented by Real Madrid)
- Germany (via Telegram)
Other nations joined the International Football Association over time. In 1909, South Africa became the first non-European country to join, followed by Argentina in 1912. The first tournament organized by FIFA was held as part of the 1908 Olympic Games in London.
History of FIFA: First setback and strong growth
The first crisis in FIFA’s history was the First World War. After the war ended, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland withdrew. The FIFA members belonging to Great Britain initially did not want to play against the teams of the former opponents.
FIFA therefore had just 20 member states until 1921. The World Football Association experienced an upswing under President Julies Rimet. Numerous nations joined under him, so that at the time of his resignation, 85 national associations were already members of FIFA.
1930 FIFA World Cup: The first major tournament
Rimet was a driving force behind the organization of the first soccer World Cup in 1930 in Uruquay together with Uruquayer Enrique Buero. However, the tournament was much smaller in scale than later editions: there were only 18 matches and only four European teams, Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia and the French national team , competed.
In 1932, FIFA moved its headquarters from Paris to Zurich, where it inaugurated the €180 million Home of Zurich building in 2007.
FIFA: Who is a member of the World Football Association?
211 national associations are members of FIFA. These in turn are divided into six continental associations or confederations:
| continent | confederacy |
|---|---|
| Asia | Asian Football Confederation (AFC) |
| Africa | Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) |
| North and Central America, Caribbean | Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCAF) |
| South America | Confederacao Sul-Americana de Futebol (CONMEBOL) |
| Oceania | Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) |
| Europe | Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) |
However, the various nations are not necessarily in superordinate associations of their geographical continent. For example , the states of Israel , Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, which are already in Asia, are members of the European UEFA . Australia switched football to Asia in 2006 because, apart from New Zealand, they had no equal opponents in Oceania.
The organization of FIFA
The most important bodies of FIFA are the Congress and the Council. The FIFA Congress is an important decision-making body in which all 211 associations have a voice. Together they decide on the FIFA Statutes and the methods of their application. In addition, the body decides on new admissions, adopts an annual report and, among other things, elects the president.
The FIFA Council, on the other hand, consists of 37 members. It consists of the President, eight Vice Presidents and 28 other members who are elected by the associations for four years. Each continental federation must be represented by at least one woman. In addition, after reforms in 2016, both the presidents and the other council members are only allowed to serve three terms of office.
FIFA: The Role of the President
The FIFA President chairs the Council, however, following reforms to the office, he only performs the function of Chairman of the Board of Directors. The current President of the World Football Association is the Swiss Gianni Infantino , who succeeded Sepp Blatter. Infantino previously served as UEFA general secretary from 2009 to 2016.
An overview of his predecessors as FIFA President:
What competitions does FIFA organize?
FIFA aims to regulate football and promote the sport worldwide. However, the association not only acts in the background, but also organizes its own competitions. FIFA’s most important tournament is the men’s World Cup. All FIFA competitions at a glance:
Not only national teams compete in FIFA tournaments. Since 2000, the best clubs in the six confederations have competed in the Club World Cup. Europe is therefore represented by the winners of the Champions League. As with other competitions, the host is seeded. Real Madrid are record champions of the Club World Cup with four wins.
FIFA World Cup Men
Since the first tournament in Uruguay in 1930, the World Cup has grown in importance and prestige. Since 2002, the 32 best national teams in the world have been competing. In three group games and a knockout phase, in which 16 teams still take part, the world champions are cut. At the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA, the number of finalists is to be increased.
Brazil is the record world champion with five titles. The German national team and Italy follow with four titles each . All previous tournaments and world champions at a glance:
| World Championship | winner |
|---|---|
| Uruguay 1930 | Uruguay |
| Italy 1934 | Italy |
| France 1938 | Italy |
| Brazil 1950 | Uruguay |
| Switzerland 1954 | Germany |
| Sweden 1958 | Brazil |
| Chile 1962 | Brazil |
| UK 1966 | England |
| Mexico 1970 | Brazil |
| Germany 1974 | Germany |
| Argentina 1978 | Argentina |
| Spain 1982 | Italy |
| Mexico 1986 | Argentina |
| Italy 1990 | Germany |
| United States 1994 | Brazil |
| France 1998 | France |
| Japan/South Korea 2002 | Brazil |
| Germany 2006 | Italy |
| South Africa 2010 | Spain |
| Brazil 2014 | Germany |
| Russia 2018 | France |
| Qatar 2022 | Argentina |
| USA, Canada, Mexico 2026 | – |
Today’s World Cup trophy was designed by Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. The trophy has been awarded since the 1974 World Cup in Germany. The trophy can be seen in the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich. Until 1970, the world champions received the Jules Rimet Cup.
FIFA: How long has there been a women’s World Cup?
There has only been a FIFA World Cup for women since 1991. The USA crowned themselves the first women’s world champions in soccer at the tournament in China . Since then, the women’s World Cup has always taken place one year after the men’s tournament. Record world champions are the USA , who have already won four tournaments. In second place is Germany with two World Cup victories. Japan and Norway each celebrated the title once. All women’s World Cups at a glance:
| World Championship | winners |
|---|---|
| China 1991 | USA |
| Sweden 1995 | Norway |
| United States 1999 | USA |
| United States 2003 | Germany |
| China 2007 | Germany |
| Germany 2011 | Japan |
| Canada 2015 | USA |
| France 2019 | USA |
| Australia/ New Zealand 2023 | – |
FIFA under criticism: corruption and nepotism
However, football has long been more than just a sport, but a lucrative business. In addition, hosting a world championship can serve as a platform to present yourself in a publicly effective way. There have also been cases of abuse of power, nepotism and corruption at FIFA. The award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia or the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar are particularly criticized in this context. (ms)
