What Is the ‘FIFA World Cup’ in Sports?

The “FIFA World Cup” (or just “the World Cup”) is the biggest and most important soccer tournament in the world.

Think of it as the Super Bowl for the entire planet, but it only happens once every four years, which makes it a massive global event.

Here’s What You Need to Know:

• What it is: It’s a tournament where national teams from countries all over the globe compete to be crowned the world champion.
• Who Competes: The best players in the world represent their home countries (like the USA, Brazil, Argentina, France, etc.).
• The “FIFA” Part: “FIFA” (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is just the official name for the global governing body of soccer that organizes the event.
• How it Works: For three years, countries compete in qualifying matches just to make the tournament. The main event (what we all watch) is a one-month-long tournament featuring the teams that qualified, all held in a host nation (or nations).
• How Big Is It? It’s the most-watched single sporting event on Earth, with billions of people tuning in.