1.
FIFA World Cup <br />By: Marwan Saleh <br />

2.
History of the game !!<br />The history of the worlds most loved sport started in England 1863. Actually it is a fact that people have been “kicking the ball around” for thousands of year. The skill of controlling a ball with the foot is not an easy skill, and evidently the first time soccer was seen was the second and third centuries BC in CHINA. This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted. These rules are almost the same as the ones today. Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which began about 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.<br />The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves. but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small. <br />

3.
History of the FIFA World Cup <br />No other sporting event captures the world's imagination like the FIFA World Cup. Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA's flagship has constantly grown in popularity. A group of futurist French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet (President Of FIFA), are credited with the original idea of bringing the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions. But then came the second World War which put a stop for the competition for about twelve years. Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history - the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea's defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon's emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990. ( Egypt wining the CAF cup 3 consecutive times). The FIFA up till now has an audience of over 37 billion people, and 2.7 million of them attended, and watched the 64 matches in the French Stadia. <br />

4.
Jules Rimet Cup <br />The Jules Rimet Cup was a trophy that was made by the French designer Abdel Laufler It was supposed to be like the old virgin of the modern world cup. The Italian Vice President of Fifa kept it in a shoe box under his bed during world war as he feared it would be stolen. But in 1966 The cup disappeared and was recovered by the English as they found out that it was buried under a tree by a dog named pickles. In 1983 the cup was stolen again but this time in Rio De Janeiro, and apparently was melt down by the thieves. But since the Brazilian team had won the World Cup three times then they kept it and ordered a replica of the cup to be made. The original piece was 35cm and 3.8 Kg and was made of gold and silver and the base was made of blue precious stone. There was a gold plate on each of the four sides of the cup on it was engraved the names of the NINE teams that won the cup from the period of 1930-1970. <br />

5.
The Home of the game <br />As most of us know that soccer was found or discovered in Britain. As in the beginning soccer was not actually soccer as it was a games with no rules or limits it was a heavy ball that could not be shot and a village would play against the village so they would start hitting each other and passing the ball around until they reach a certain destination that they plan about before they start the game and it will go on and on until they get tired there wasting a time limit like now a days which is 90 minutes . But then there came a point were the people who did not wasn’t violence and wanted to play soccer made a new game and the old game became rugby. So the people who wanted to continue with the violence and the freedom to play with no rules called the game rugby but the people who wanted to kick the ball and play with fair rules called the game soccer. This was how soccer that the teams play today was found. Or actually discovered spontaneously. <br />

6.
The Global Growth of the game <br />It was not until the 19 century that real soccer or football was played as a real sport but still the rules were a bit free and easy as playing soccer depended on the place you were playing in like for example if you were playing in a school yard with a brick wall then it will be a bit different than playing in a field. There were many schools such as Harrow, Eton, Westminster, and Charterhouse these schools favored soccer and not rugby. But on the other hand A school like Cheltenham preferred playing rugby were you can physically attack your opponent and the ball can be touched or actually carried by the hand. The education authorities started noticing that soccer had a good impact on the students as they were taught cooperation, and defense to the team spirit. Which are very important characteristics that a human should have. By time Rugby, and soccer became a main part of the curriculum. In 1863 schools came to a decision that there will be unified uniforms. Which made much better as you can differentiate between the different teams. <br />

7.
FIFA Presidents <br />Robert Guerin, France - 1904-06 Born 1876, Died 1952 <br />Daniel Burley Woolfall, England - 1906-18 Born 1852, Died 1918 <br />Jules Rimet, France- 1921-54 Born 1873, Died 1956 (named Honorary FIFA President on 21 June 1954) <br />Rodolphe William Seeldrayers, Belgium - 1954-55 Born 1876, Died 1955 <br />Arthur Drewry, England - 1955-61 Born 1891, Died 1961 <br />Sir Stanley Rous, England - 1961-74 Born 1895, Died 1986 (named Honorary FIFA President on 11 June 1974)<br /> João Havelange, Brazil - 1974-98 Born 1916 (named Honorary FIFA President on 8 June 1998)<br />Joseph S. Blatter, Switzerland - 1998-present Born 1936 <br />