Aug
29
UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 – Official Weigh Ins (Frankie Edgar vs BJ Penn)
Posted in Sports
No Comments »
He has been working on the completion of this step – arm triangle – for more than a year. If the end seemed familiar to fight fans, there is a reason but it is exactly the throttle newborn heavyweight champion current Brock Lesnar used to cope with rival Shane Carwin in July – a Lesnar after the completion of the development of training to spend time with Couture.
After the game, fashion design pay respect to Tony (0-1), and the boxer trash talk, which backed up his words and arrived at the Octagon. Said Tony anyone to hear – including the newborn Dana White, who gave Tony wants to fight in the newborn – that has the power to hit Couture important discipline of the fighting in a match in a shadow. At the same time, “said Couture Tony spent nine months training” is a real short to take everything you need to know. “
Couture needed only 15 seconds to get used to the position of Tony before the shooting for the legs and the use of its Olympic-caliber wrestling him to the mat. Couture spent two minutes Tony earth, and the bombing by the search for the request. It was Tony, Tony, repulsed the first attempt to strangle, but once in fashion design is closed, no choice but to take advantage of it.
And culminated in August of a superb fashion design, which co-starred in Hollywood and consumer – who spent two weeks at the top of the box office in North America.
Couture said, with a smile: “It was a hell of a month.”
Whether you’re a fan or a casual follower of the fight against militants, and 118 newborn Thanks to everyone for something to participate in major events pitting lightweight champion Frankie B. C. Edgar against bin side by side with Couture, Tony match-up.
Edgar (01/12) and will be to defeat for the second time the man he calls the greatest light in the history of MMA.
“This is just great for me to fight him for the last Lguetal it made me force myself to make the best of me, and now I have to do it again,” said Edgar.
Ben (15-6-1) says he still feels the sting of the loss of resolution is debatable to Edgar in April.
“It’s definitely motivation. If people put Frankie and the underdog, and this is exactly what I feel. I’m the underdog. I’m the guy who does not want to allow the sport pass him, and I want to stay at the forefront of this whole thing.”
In other pay-per-view games in the newborn 118:
Took – Demian Maia (13-2) his first step up the peace average, easily beating Mario Miranda (02/12) by unanimous decision in a match since losing Maya first title shot against Anderson Silva in April.
And scored all three judges in the game 30-27.
- Received Gray Maynard (10-0 (1), (NC) shot the first lightweight title newborn at the same time denied the existence of a crack in the belt, the third Boston native Kenny Florian (14-5). Maynard using his wrestling to control the the final 11 minutes of the game, winning a unanimous decision over Florian sadness to determine Division number (1) the opponent.
Scored two of the judges in the match 30-27, while the third was 29-28.
“Feeling good, man. I get really, really happy in the end to the scene where you get a chance at the belt,” said Maynard.
- Nate Diaz (13-5) continues to rise in the welterweight ranks, and put on a clinic against the hometown favorite Marcus Davis (17-7). Diaz turned the right side of the face Davis in a scene from a horror movie by the bottleneck at the end of the day to Maine native at 4:02 of the third round.
“I feel good,” said Diaz. “Marcus Davis is a hell of fighters.”
In the opening match in the newborn 118:
- Get on the reaction resulted from the crowd, Joe Lauzon (18-5) put on the performance of a star in the loop. He needed only 2:01 to lock in armbar and Gabe Ruediger (17-6) with regards to light.
- Nick Lentz (21-3-2) won a unanimous decision on the winner, Andre (12-4-1) in a fit of light. Two judges scored in the third game 30-27, while losing 29-28.
- Put an end to a run of three games lost, Dan Miller (12-4 (1), (North Carolina) suffocated by John Salter (5-2) at 1:53 of the second round in their average.
- Overcoming the significant reduction in the first round, Greg Soto (8-1) won a unanimous decision on Osipczak Nick (5-3) in a welterweight contest. And scored all three judges in the game 29-28.
- Mike Pierce (11-3) dominated from start to finish his welterweight bout against Amilcar Alves (11-2), using Kimura finally to win to win at 3:11 of the third round.
Follow Nick Colon for the tweets and keep it locked here for the live action after each fight happens. Latest updates are first for your lack-of-scrolling pleasure.
Let’s do this!
12:10 AM
Poor Frankie Edgar. As he steps into the Octagon, a fight breaks out and everyone gets distracted. The Lightweight Champion is bouncing and full of energy, coming out to Notorious BIG.
Penn is out to his normal Hawaiian music. Fans are standing but are considerably less into this than Couture/Toney. Fans are into Penn pretty big here.
Results after we’re done…here we go!
11:55 PM
Randy Couture def. James Toney by 1st round submission (3:19) via arm triangle
Insane atmosphere and everything went down exactly as expected. Couture waited and took down Toney with a single leg without even the hint of a swing from Toney.
The rest of the bout was classic Couture ground and pound. Couture just unloaded on punches and the crowd chants just kept getting louder and louder. At one point, the fans were chanting “UFC”. I never thought I’d see a home team at a UFC event.
Toney held on with both arms but couldn’t do anything. Eventually Couture worked in a side choke and then an arm triangle to which James eventually waved off to. Yes, he waved off…not even a tap. By my count, Toney got one punch in…feebly on the ground.
Toney was wobbly post-fight getting up. The place went insane at the finish. I’m surprised Dana didn’t run into the Octagon and hug Randy. At one point, I felt sorry for Toney who looked completely lost.
Both guys shook hands afterward. Couture is king of Boston for the night and seemed super excited post-fight.
No breaks…BJ Penn/Frankie Edgar up next!
11:50 PM
EVERYONE is standing for the intros. Toney comes out to some hard hip-hop while Couture is out to Van Halen (I think?) This has that big fight feel.
Buffer is going on and on about Couture’s accomplishments. Seems to really be driving home the UFC vs. boxing deal.
Back in a few with the results…here we go!
11:40 PM
Demian Maia def. Mario Miranda by unanimous decision
Judges had it 30-27 for Maia.
If you like jiu-jitsu, you’d like this fight. Otherwise, this was entirely skippable.
Maia exhibited superior body control for 15 minutes, attempting rear naked chokes and armbars. However, Miranda was just good enough to work out of them. It didn’t help that Maia’s punches just don’t have the force to deliver any damage while on the ground.
Miranda couldn’t stop the takedowns and wasn’t good enough in his striking to do any damage up top. Who do you match Maia up with to have a good fight?
The crowd was a bit restless and there was booing throughout. I’m surprised this fight went on 3rd instead of Florian/Maynard. There were a lot of empty seats during the bout.
Boxer Mickey Ward and the Boston Celtics’ Glen Davis were shown. Toney/Couture up next.
11:10 PM
Gray Maynard def. Kenny Florian by unanimous decision
Two judges had it 30-27 and one had 29-28.
Ladies and gents, we have a new No. 1 155-pound contender.
Maynard did what he needed to do and grinded out a unanimous decision over Florian, who never could get out of the starting blocks.
Maynard scored a takedown in the first to win a tentative round and used effective body control on t he ground in the 2nd and 3rd for the win. Florian just looked out of it, perhaps buckling to the pressure of fighting in his hometown.
There was a small chance for Florian in the 3rd when he was looking to lock on an armbar but he couldn’t secure.
Ugh. Can they bring the WEC 155-pounders up yet?
Chuck Liddell and Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker were shown and both got the same pop. Crazy night. Mario Miranda and Demian Maia is up next.
10:45 PM
Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard up next. Florian out to a Dropkick Murphys song and the people are into it. Seems a little quieter than Lauzon for some reason.
10:35 PM
Nate Diaz def. Marcus Davis by 3rd round submission (anaconda choke) at 4:02
This was the night that Marcus Davis officially got old.
Diaz, quite unpopular with the crowd, dominated the ex-boxer Davis with striking throughout the first and second, opening up a nasty cut above Davis’ right eye. The blood looked to bother Davis throughout the fight.
Diaz kept taunting throughout the first, but Davis couldn’t match Diaz’s speed and made him look really slow. The end came in the 3rd when Diaz got Davis with a takedown and got a side choke (anaconda?) for the tap. Davis was clearly out, but Yves Lavigne made the call a few seconds too late.
Davis was on the deck for a while, but walked out under his own power. Diaz said post-fight that he broke his hand in the 2nd.
Diaz is a great asset for the UFC: an unpopular guy that people like to boo that also wins fights. He continues to get better.
10:15 PM
Marcus Davis and Nate Diaz are up. House is about 95% full. Monitors cut off some seats in the upper bowl. Very, very loud so far.
Davis out first to ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain. People love it…even the ring girls whom Alex Karalexis is trying to impress with his form of dancing. Diaz out to 2Pac. East Coast vs. West Coast!
Back in a few minutes…
9:55 PM
We got the Teenage Wasteland open. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh man. Marcus Davis and Nate Diaz up first to kick off the PPV.
9:37 PM
Joe Lauzon def. Gabe Ruediger by 1st round submission (armbar) at 2:01
Good lord, did it get loud in here.
Massachusetts guy Lauzon dominated Ruediger, getting several takedowns and the crowd was going ballistic. He started laying in shots on the ground, eventually got another takedown after a stand-up and just seamlessly transitioned into an armbar for the tap.
Ruediger didn’t bother shaking hands afterward. Kinda weak.
“Shipping Up To Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys is now playing. It’s a freaking party in here.
Kenny Florian? The floor is yours.
Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis up next, so we’re off for 20 minutes.
9:30 PM
Joe Lauzon and Gabe Ruediger is up next. Crowd shown video of top guys walking in and Couture/Penn heavily cheered while Toney/Edgar loudly booed.
Lauzon is the first local guy of the night coming out. Both guys are getting intros and Ruediger is getting killed here. Out in headphones to block some of the noise out?
Lauzon out to ‘Move’ by Thousand Foot Krutch. I’m a New England guy and got some goosebumps here.
Back in a few with the results, y’all.
9:25 PM
Nik Lentz def. Andre Winner by unanimous decision
Two judges had it 30-27 while another had it 29-28.
Bland fight to open up the Spike show. Lentz was content to grind Winner up against the cage and try for takedowns, while Winner couldn’t do anything to get free. He wanted to bang and Winner did not.
In the 3rd round, Winner opened up the round with throwing kicks and punches but Lentz didn’t want any part and it was back to the floor. Bleh. Considering what we’ve seen so far, people here HATED this fight.
Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz came out at varying points over the last 15 minutes and are in a competition for best dressed.
SI’s Chris Mannix and ESPN/Boston globe Bob Ryan in the house. I am really wondering what Ryan is thinking.
9:05 PM
Nik Lentz and Andre Winner up first but get no intros, ala old school WWF jobbers. (Yes, I know it’s WWE.)
8:50 PM
Dan Miller def. John Salter via 2nd round submission (1:53) with an anaconda choke
Both guys were content to stand and bang in the 1st round, but Salter got two takedowns to win the round. Miller kept up the attack in the 2nd round and stuffed a Salter takedown, working into a side choke that Salter tapped to.
Miller let out a loud yell afterward as he really, really needed that win. Crowd popped huge for the finish and he got the first Rogan interview which people went crazy for.
We have a quick break until the Spike show starts at 9 pm.
8:36 PM
Dan Miller out to CCR (or John Fogerty) while John Salter comes out Thirty Seconds to Mars.
8:30 PM
Greg Soto def. Nick Osipczak by unanimous decision (three 29-28 scores)
Fans popped for Soto coming out as he’s fired up. Osipczak came to some cool British rap.
Really great fight. Soto just wore him down with punches and knees as the fight wore on, even with a nasty cut above his left eye. People loved it. I had it 29-27 Soto as the 3rd round was dominant.
1st round: Osip with hard right kick that buckled Soto followed by some hard shots. Soto worked for the takedown and got it. Osip with hard elbows from the bottom as Soto takes him down. Osip seems fine to trade but so is soto, who got cut and is bleeding from his left eye. That’s a tough round to judge. 10-9 Osip.
2nd round: Osip staggers him with punch and knees. Fight goes to the ground and Soto has his back and crowd is going nuts. People chanting USA. Osip teased an armbar and people went nuts. Soto nearly full mounted and dropping shots. Both guys are wearing as the round goes on. 10-9 Soto
3rd round: Soto got a takedown and people popped. Soto is laying in knees to the side while in side control and is doing everything to finish.Osip looks gassed. Soto gets his back…head and arm triangle……Osip does theok. Osip in a bad way…knees to ribs…ground and pound…Osip surviving but no doing anything..punches to side of head…crowd wanted a finish but popped huge at the end. 10-8 Soto.
USA chants at the end. Unreal.
8:05 PM
Mike Pierce def. Amilcar Alves via submission (kimura) at 3:11 of the 3rd round
This fight was extremely boring and was saved in the 3rd round. Early on, it was simply Pierce taking Alves down and staying active enough to win the rounds, nothing more or less. The biggest pops of the fight were the kimura and the entrances of Shaquille O’Neal and Clay Guida.
No, they’re not sitting together.
The 3rd round started with Double-A throwing kicks, but Pierce got the takedown and kept working for the kimura on Alves’ right arm. Eventually, he clamped it in enough to get a tap. The crowd loved the finish as everything up to this point was pretty bland.
Alves looked overmatched, but Pierce isn’t a striker and couldn’t do much else than grapple and control.
7:40 PM
Go time!
Alves out first to something with very, very loud bass while Pierce is out to a hip hop song. Is there a rule that everyone must wear flat brims hats? This trend is ridiculous.
7:37 PM
First in-stand fight of the evening. Apparently, a guy took a swing and tumbled down down the stairs in the upper level and almost flew off the balcony. Oh boy.
7:26 PM
Nothing yet. Still holding. Arena is nearing half full. C’mon Boston…where are ya?
7:15 PM
Joe Rogan is walking in so we’re getting close. Interesting mix of media tonight with lots of print guys, especially old school boxing writer Ron Borges as part of the Herald’s core of writers.
7:00 PM
Arena is very sparse right now. Surprising for a first-time crowed, but we’ll see what happens in 30 minutes.
Nick and I are three rows back in press row, about 20 feet from the cage. No chance of blood spatter on us unless someone gets hit really, really hard.
Scott Jorgensen, Jorge Rivera and Bart Palaszewski are in the row behind us.
Oakland, California, fans and media gathered at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California to see UFC fighters weighing 117 to for the weekend’s UFC event.
When it comes down to weighing the UFC, one of the things that people expect is the most intense potential acaraments among participants of the billboard.
Anderson Silva and Chael Sonne Sonne-especially-but have been a wave of propaganda into this matter, and the anticipation before their gaze down at this time had built two were weighing on its way to the stage.
As did the conference yesterday Sonne press prior to the fight, Silva came to his opponent’s face after he directed his attention in the direction of the crowd, while Sonne Stared the left side of champion’s face.
One item of note: Thiago Alves weighed a half pound over the limit of 171 pounds for his fight with Jon Fitch. He will compete in the fight in this weight.
Here are the rest of the ceremony heavy on results for UFC 117.
MAIN CARD
Chael Sonnen (185 lbs.) vs. Anderson Silva (184.5 lbs.)
Thiago Alves (171.5 lbs) vs. Jon Fitch (170.5 lbs.)
Ricardo Almeida (170.5 lbs.) vs. Matt Hughes (170.5 lbs.)
Junior dos Santos (240 lbs.) vs. Roy Nelson (263 lbs.)
Rafael Dos Anjos (156 lbs.) vs. Clay Guida (156 lbs.)
Rick Story (169 lbs.) vs. Dustin Hazelett (169.5 lbs.)
Rodney Wallace (206 lbs.) vs. Phil Davis (205.5 lbs.)
Charlie Brenneman (171 lbs.) vs. Johnny Hendricks (171 lbs.)
Todd Brown (206 lbs.) vs. Tim Boetsch (206 lbs.)
Christian Morecraft (263 lbs.) vs. Stefan Struve (247 lbs.)
Dennis Hallman (171 lbs.) vs. Ben Saunders (171 lbs.)
From Beijing to Berlin, it seemed that Usain Bolt and his long, were turbocharged walks more than a match for anyone over 100 meters. But Tyson Gay upset the defending world and Olympic champions Friday in a race between the two fastest runners in history.
Gay beat the Jamaican at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds, competing for the same stadium in Stockholm, where Bolt recently lost a race two years ago.
The American seemed to be in complete control against the world record-holder. The pair went side by side Gay, comfortable looking, pulled away. Bolt was to keep tension and finished in 9.97 seconds.
Tennis
Thanks to players like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi then, and, lately, Andy Roddick, it began to be always at least one man from the United States in tennis’ top 10 since the computer rankings in 1973. In strip is the end of next week.
With Roddick sliding from No. 9 to no better than No. 12 when the new rankings issued Monday, said the ATP, there will be zero for the first time U.S. men to be among the top 10.
Pro Basketball
Even after losing all those games and an embarrassing sexual harassment suit has Isiah Thomas a seat at the New York Knicks. Thomas was reinstated Friday by the team as a consultant, two years after he was fired as coach and president.
College Football
Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 the head of the USA Today preseason coaches’ poll.
Boise State begins the season ranked fifth The Broncos, like Alabama, finished last season 14-0.
The Crimson Tide got 55 out of 59 possible first place votes. The other four went to Ohio State and No. 2 in the newspaper is the ranking. Florida is third, followed by Texas.
Motorsport
San Jose-raised AJ Allmendinger, 28, in his fourth full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup has signed a multiyear contract extension with Richard Petty Motorsports.
# A person familiar with the 2011 NASCAR schedule said that the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, is a second race to come next
The FIFA World Cup (also referred to as the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an worldwide association football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the realtors of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the earliest tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War.
The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams contending for the title at venues within the duration of the host nation(s) over a cycle of about a month – this stage is often dubbed the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding 3 years, is used to determine that teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).
The 18 tournaments that experience been concluded have been won by seven weird national teams. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and properties are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy have won four titles, and Germany are coming up surrounded by three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, surrounded by two titles each. England and France have won a single title each, both at home, while Spain or the Netherlands will win the first World Cup in South Africa, that will in addition be the first win for a European team in a finals tournament held outside of Europe.
The World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.[1] The latest World Cup is being held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup should be held in Brazil.
Previous international competitions
The world’s first international football equate was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,with the first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.At this stage the sport was rarely played outside the United Kingdom. As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.
After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England’s football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm, where the tournament was organised by the Swedish Football Association.
With the Olympic event continuous to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between precise clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of that represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,and featured the a multitude of prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the end up with to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur portion from County Durham, to speak for England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. They were considering the trophy to stay forever, as per the rules of the competition.
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a “world football championship for amateurs”, and took responsibility for managing the event.This paved the way for the world’s first foreign football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, disproved by Egypt and thirteen European teams, and won by Belgium.Uruguay won the approaching two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.
Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay
Due to the deed of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, through President Jules Rimet the driving force, again began looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam reached the conclusion to stage a world championship organised by FIFA. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA’s proficient era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host earth of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and pricey trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams based on what i read in Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to cause the trip. In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from what i read in North America.
The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first task in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.[10] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in working at so became the first world to win the World Cup.
World Cups before World War II
After the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not rules to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was moderated out of the Games.Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.
The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments got the issues of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams got prepared to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American collection to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.
World Cups after World War II
The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew based on data from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,[13] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA’s invitation.[14] The tournament too saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the earliest two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament once again in the wake of defeating the host nation Brazil in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the “Maracanazo” (Portuguese: Maracanaço).
Map of countries’ best results
In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in every tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, quitting the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, quitting the tournament with 13 teams.[15] Most of the participating nations were based on what i read in Europe and South America, in on a minute minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.
Expansion to 32 teams
The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,[16] and then to 32 in 1998,allowing more teams of Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, teams out of these regions own enjoyed more success, and folks who have obtained the quarter-finals include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; and Ghana as quarter-finalists in 2010. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1998 and 2006 were all for Europe or South America.
Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, additonally a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Other FIFA tournaments
An equivalent tournament for women’s football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China.[19] The women’s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.
Football has continued included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is proven false between full national sides with no age restrictions.
The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of every of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country.
FIFA also organises global tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup)..
Trophy
From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the earliest tournament. In 1970, Brazil’s third victory in the tournament privy them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.
After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The professionals of FIFA, next from seven multitude of countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, at length opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the foot side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact person of the sculpture inflate the figures of two athletes at the stirring second of victory.
This new trophy is not awarded to the thriving nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the coming up tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather as opposed to the solid gold original.
At the present, all workforces (players and coaches) of the top three teams receive winners’ (gold), runner-ups’ (silver), and third-place medals (bronze). Prior to the 1978 tournament, medals were merely awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced which all workers of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners’ medals.
Format
Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been heard apprehended to thin the field for the concluding tournament.They are held through the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For every tournament, FIFA decides the number of units awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally established on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams.
The qualification procedure can start as the first part of as nearly 3 years before the final tournament and last within the duration of a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments vary between confederations. Usually, one or two real estate are awarded to winners of foreign play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed committe from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations obtained automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, got the mainly defending champions to play in a qualifying match.
Final tournament
For the many formats used in previous tournaments, see History of the FIFA World Cup#Format of each ultimate tournament.
The current ultimate tournament features 32 countrywide teams contending over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group step tracked by the knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, through the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.The other teams are assigned to different “pots”, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in every pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints suffer been applied to the allure to ensure that no group contains greater number of as opposed to two European teams or a good deal more than one team from any further confederation.
Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The go on round of matches of each team is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, 3 points have been awarded for a win, one for a appeal to and none for a reduction (before, winners received two points).
The ranking of each bunch in each group is determined as follows:
1. Greatest number of points in assembly matches
2. Greatest goal difference in group matches
3. Greatest number of goals scored in commission matches
4. If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
1. Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
2. Greatest intention difference in head-to-head matches among people teams
3. Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches surrounded by persons teams
5. If any of the teams above continue rate after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots
The knockout evolution is a single-elimination tournament in that teams play each other in one-off matches, with supplementary time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the “eigth-finals” (aka “round of 16″ or the time round) in which the winner of each team plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
Hosts
Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave appreciation to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to sole four European nations competing.The next two World Cups got both held in Europe. The decision to have the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had continued led to understand that the World Cup can rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.
Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid times ahead boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, that kept on until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one seized in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts. South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup plans to be hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America from the time of 1978, and will be the primarily occasion at which consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.
2022 World Cups
The host country is now specific in a vote by FIFA’s Executive Committee. This is wrapped up under a single transferable vote system. The national football association of a globe desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement” from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a firm bid. The bidding establishment also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a projection on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions at which the hosts of a large amount of coming years tournaments got announced at the same time, as will be the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing simply countries out of the selected confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue past 2014, so any country, not including those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding approach for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.
Performances
See also: Results of host nations in the FIFA World Cup
Six of the seven champions have won one of such a titles additonally playing in the own homeland, the exception being Brazil, who ended as runners-up subsequent to losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950. England (1966) and France (1998) won their merely titles while trifling as host nations. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934) and Argentina (1978) won their first titles as host nations but suffer gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their time title on residential structure soil.
Other nations have additionally carried on successful when hosting the tournament. Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best possible outcome when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) was the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first and foremost round.
Organisation and media coverage
The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and trailed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is predicted to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million lendees watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, that decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.[42] Recent World Cups have furthermore featured official meet balls specially intended for each World Cup.
Records
Two players share the key in for playing in the a good number of World Cups; Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Germany’s Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) both played in five tournaments.Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, amongst 25 appearances.Brazil’s Pelé is the only player to undergo won 3 World Cup winners’ medals (1958, 1962, and 1970),[56] with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer (1966-74) is the only player to be named to three Finals All-Star Teams, and is also the only player to collect all three sorts of medals (gold, silver, bronze).
The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo, scorer of 15 goals (1998–2006). Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002–2010) and Gerd Müller (1970–1974) are second, amid 14 goals.[58] The fourth placed goalscorer, France’s Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup, as all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.
Brazil’s Mário Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only those of us to date to win the World Cup as both player and operated coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach.[60] Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach.Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the easily head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938).All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country properties coached to victory.
Among the national teams, Germany have played the numerous World Cup matches, with 99[63], while Brazil have scored the most World Cup goals, with 210.[64] The two teams hold played each other only after in the World Cup, in the 2002 final.
Ten players experience been short-listed for the Golden Ball as top player at the World Cup. Chances are it will come lowered to Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and Xavi Hernandez of Spain. The 5-7 midfielders are towering figures today in the uppermost game of their lives.
Xavi, whose corner kick set up Carles Puyol’s lucrative header in the 1-0 semifinal win for the duration of Germany, personifies Spain’s patient, high- purchase offense. No player at the World Cup has passed additionally often or wrapped up more passes. He has yet to score, but the Spanish attack flows with him.
Sneijder has been more spectacular. His five goals are linked for tops in the tournament, and they include game-winners against Japan in the first round, Slovakia in the second sweet and Brazil in the quarterfinals. He was voted man of the match for the 3-2 semifinal win over Uruguay, as Xavi was for Spain in the victory through Germany.
Having spent three seasons providing Real Madrid, Sneijder is a familiar foil for Xavi and Spain’s other Barcelona-based players. He left before last season for Inter Milan, where he won the Italian league and cup championships as good as the European Champions League, helping knock off Barcelona along the way. He would become the primarily player to celebrate league, domestic cup, European and World Cup titles in the same year.
Sneijder and Xavi rather still personify what we have seen from their teams in South Africa. Xavi is all grace, skill and efficiency; Sneijder is cunning, surprise and opportunism. Xavi has designed frequent patches of brilliance but can’t match Sneijder when it comes to thrills.
Against Brazil, Sneijder delivered a cross based on information from the right side that eluded goalkeeper Julio Cesar, whose path was blocked by teammate Felipe Melo, and sailed into the net. Three minutes later, he scored what he claimed was the first went goal of his life.
Today, the two difference- makers meet with a chance for each to put his imprint on this World Cup. More than one trophy may be at stake.
The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association 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 first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War.
The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).
The 18 tournaments that have been concluded have been won by seven different national teams. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each. England and France have won a single title each, both at home, while Spain or the Netherlands will win their first World Cup in South Africa, which will also be the first win for a European team in a finals tournament held outside of Europe.
The World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.[1] The current World Cup is being held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.
Previous international competitions
The world’s first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,with the first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.At this stage the sport was rarely played outside the United Kingdom. As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.
After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England’s football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm, where the tournament was organised by the Swedish Football Association.
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. They were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a “world football championship for amateurs”, and took responsibility for managing the event.This paved the way for the world’s first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and thirteen European teams, and won by Belgium.Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.
Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay
Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA’s professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.
The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.[10] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup.
World Cups before World War II
After the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.
The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.
World Cups after World War II
The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,[13] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA’s invitation.[14] The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the “Maracanazo” (Portuguese: Maracanaço).
Map of countries’ best results
In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.[15] Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.
Expansion to 32 teams
The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,[16] and then to 32 in 1998,allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, and those who have reached the quarter-finals include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; and Ghana as quarter-finalists in 2010. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1998 and 2006 were all from Europe or South America.
Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Other FIFA tournaments
An equivalent tournament for women’s football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China.[19] The women’s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.
Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions.
The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country.
FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup)..
Trophy
From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil’s third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.
After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.
This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original.
At the present, all members (players and coaches) of the top three teams receive winners’ (gold), runner-ups’ (silver), and third-place medals (bronze). Prior to the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners’ medals.
Format
Main article: FIFA World Cup qualification
Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams.
The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play in a qualifying match.
Final tournament
For the various formats used in previous tournaments, see History of the FIFA World Cup#Format of each final tournament.
The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.The other teams are assigned to different “pots”, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.
Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association 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 first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War.
The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).
The 18 tournaments that have been concluded have been won by seven different national teams. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each. England and France have won a single title each, both at home, while Spain or the Netherlands will win their first World Cup in South Africa, which will also be the first win for a European team in a finals tournament held outside of Europe.
The World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.[1] The current World Cup is being held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.
Previous international competitions
The world’s first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,with the first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.At this stage the sport was rarely played outside the United Kingdom. As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.
After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England’s football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm, where the tournament was organised by the Swedish Football Association.
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. They were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a “world football championship for amateurs”, and took responsibility for managing the event.This paved the way for the world’s first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and thirteen European teams, and won by Belgium.Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.
Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay
Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA’s professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.
The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.[10] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup.
World Cups before World War II
After the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.
The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.
World Cups after World War II
The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,[13] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA’s invitation.[14] The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the “Maracanazo” (Portuguese: Maracanaço).
Map of countries’ best results
In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.[15] Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.
Expansion to 32 teams
The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,[16] and then to 32 in 1998,allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, and those who have reached the quarter-finals include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; and Ghana as quarter-finalists in 2010. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1998 and 2006 were all from Europe or South America.
Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Other FIFA tournaments
An equivalent tournament for women’s football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China.[19] The women’s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.
Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions.
The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country.
FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup)..
Trophy
From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil’s third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.
After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.
This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original.
At the present, all members (players and coaches) of the top three teams receive winners’ (gold), runner-ups’ (silver), and third-place medals (bronze). Prior to the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners’ medals.
Format
Main article: FIFA World Cup qualification
Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams.
The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play in a qualifying match.
Final tournament
For the various formats used in previous tournaments, see History of the FIFA World Cup#Format of each final tournament.
The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.The other teams are assigned to different “pots”, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.
Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
The ranking of each team in each group is determined as follows:
1. Greatest number of points in group matches
2. Greatest goal difference in group matches
3. Greatest number of goals scored in group matches
4. If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
1. Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
2. Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
3. Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams
5. If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the “eigth-finals” (aka “round of 16″ or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
Hosts
Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.
Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts. South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since 1978, and will be the first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.
2022 World Cups
The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA’s Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement” from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as will be the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.
Performances
See also: Results of host nations in the FIFA World Cup
Six of the seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exception being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950. England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934) and Argentina (1978) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.
Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) was the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first round.
Organisation and media coverage
The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.[42] Recent World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each World Cup.
Records
Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Germany’s Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) both played in five tournaments.Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.Brazil’s Pelé is the only player to have won three World Cup winners’ medals (1958, 1962, and 1970),[56] with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer (1966-74) is the only player to be named to three Finals All-Star Teams, and is also the only player to collect all three types of medals (gold, silver, bronze).
The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo, scorer of 15 goals (1998–2006). Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002–2010) and Gerd Müller (1970–1974) are second, with 14 goals.[58] The fourth placed goalscorer, France’s Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup, as all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.
Brazil’s Mário Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach.[60] Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach.Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938).All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.
Among the national teams, Germany have played the most World Cup matches, with 99, while Brazil have scored the most World Cup goals, with 210. The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup, in the 2002 final.
1. Greatest number of points in group matches
2. Greatest goal difference in group matches
3. Greatest number of goals scored in group matches
4. If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
1. Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
2. Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
3. Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams
5. If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the “eigth-finals” (aka “round of 16″ or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
Hosts
Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.
Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts. South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since 1978, and will be the first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.
2022 World Cups
The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA’s Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement” from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as will be the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.
Performances
Six of the seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exception being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950. England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934) and Argentina (1978) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.
Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) was the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first round.
Organisation and media coverage
The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.Recent World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each World Cup.
Records
Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Germany’s Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) both played in five tournaments.Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.Brazil’s Pelé is the only player to have won three World Cup winners’ medals (1958, 1962, and 1970),[56] with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer (1966-74) is the only player to be named to three Finals All-Star Teams, and is also the only player to collect all three types of medals (gold, silver, bronze).
The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo, scorer of 15 goals (1998–2006). Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002–2010) and Gerd Müller (1970–1974) are second, with 14 goals.[58] The fourth placed goalscorer, France’s Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup, as all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.
Brazil’s Mário Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach.[60] Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach.Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938).All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.
Among the national teams, Germany have played the most World Cup matches, with 9, while Brazil have scored the most World Cup goals, with 210.The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup, in the 2002 final.
Chasing a second successive title, Australia face a tricky task against a resurgent rivals New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final in Centurion on Monday.
Ricky PontingRicky Ponting’s men have been in red-hot form and they have not lost a single match in the eight-nation ICC event.
A rejuvenated New Zealand, however, will not let a rare chance of an ICC event triumph go by so easily as they finally broke the semi-final jinx having made it to the final of the Champions Trophy for the second time.
Though without a major ICC event triumph, except for the 2000-01 edition of the Champions Trophy, New Zealand have always been tough opponents.
The Australians have been in fine form with the bat with skipper Ricky Ponting leading the chart of most prolific batsman in Champions Trophy with 287 runs at an average of nearly 96.
And Shane Watson’s return to form at the top order with a blistering unbeaten 136 against England in the first semi-final will only add to the concerns of Kiwis.
The timely return to form of Michael Hussey has also filled the void left by vice-captain Michael Clarke’s absence in the middle-order.
Australia’s quick bowling department comprising Peter Siddle , Brett Lee [ Images ], Watson and Mitchell Johnson has been among wickets too.
The good form of the pacers has also compensated the few concerns Ponting had in the slow-bowling department with only off-spinner Nathan Hauritz [ Images ] in his armour.
Ponting has already made his intentions clear and said his side will raise their game when it matters the most.
“We are playing at a level which would win us the big games. We look to play best cricket when it matters. We are peaking at the right time for the finals,” Ponting said.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have often been the underdogs in major tournaments, having faltered eight times in the semi-finals of 50-over ICC events.
The Black Caps mainly consists of bits-and-pieces players, mainly all-rounders, who have the capability to turn a match on any day, as was witnessed in Grant Elliot’s 75-run knock against Pakistan.
Skipper Daniel Vettori is determined to see that his side does not lose a chance to win a major tournament.
“There is a real ambition in the side. There’s belief and desire to win tournament instead of just ending up as semi-finalists,” he said.
But with a flat track on offer at Centurion, Vettori will bank on wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum , Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor to give them a good start.
Although Vettori has been multi-tasking with both bat and the ball, the Black Caps cannot afford to leave it to him all the time.
On the bowling front, with support from Kyle Mills and James Franklin at the other end, Shane Bond too is slowly and steadily coming back to his usual hot form sending down fast stuffs.
The charge of middle overs, meanwhile, rests with Vettori, who along with Ian Butler and Elliot, have done a decent job so far in the tournament.
Teams
Australia: Ricky Ponting (Capt), David Hussey , Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger.
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (Capt), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott , Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, James Franklin, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Raymond, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey.
Johannesburg—New Zealand found the perfect balance between the defensive and the offensive after having lost the toss on a flat pitch surrounded by an outfield as fast as a highway. They bowled tight lines interspersed with odd effort balls, their fielders made every run hard work, and frustrated Pakistan into giving their wickets away at important junctures. As a result, Pakistan were left to defend 233, that too thanks to a 35-run last-wicket stand between Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal.
Only the 19-year-old Umar Akmal batted with a free mind, scoring a 62-ball 55 in the middle overs, but just before he could open up in the last 10 a rare ordinary call from Simon Taufel accounted for him. The rest of the batsmen, though, were thrown off their game plan by the hustling New Zealanders. Pakistan once again suggested they had forgotten the batting Powerplay, and played as if the good old 15-over restriction rule was in place.
Mohammad Yousuf and Umar did well to bring Pakistan back from 86 for 4, but did little to unsettle the lesser bowlers. Yousuf, too, fell when the time to accelerate came, having scored 45 off 78. James Franklin and Grant Elliot went for 40 in their 10 overs, and gave Ian Butler and Shane Bond enough scope to attack. Butler ended with career-best figures of 4 for 44.
The innings started with a delightful face-off between two men making their comebacks from ICL. Bond was forever accurate, consistently bowling inswingers headed for the top of off stump. The first such delivery to Imran Nazir showed him a slight bat-pad gap. All through his first spell Bond kept working on that gap. He played on the intelligence and ego of a batsman known for his attacking instinct and dashing stroke play – mixing the inswingers with slower legcutters.
On his part, Nazir played one of his more mature knocks. He didn’t try any expansive shots to Bond. He found release by hitting Butler for three boundaries in his first over, and Pakistan suddenly looked healthy at 43 for 0 after nine overs.
That was when Bond produced a special over. Two accurate bouncers, one a no-ball, and the other one, a jaffa, rising from just short of a length and jagging into Nazir and taking the edge, reminded the cricketing world what it had been missing.
It was then Butler’s turn to make a comeback from an ordinary start. He first induced an edge from Shoaib Malik, and then got an under-pressure Kamran Akmal to hole out to sweeper-cover. At 69 for 3 Pakistan needed a renovation job from Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, but bowling at such times is right up Daniel Vettori’s alley.
In his second over, he got a leading edge from Younis, his third failure in three innings in the tournament. While Yousuf and Umar added 80 runs for the fifth wicket, the intent that their middle order showed against India was missing. It also owed to much smarter bowling and field placements from New Zealand.
When Yousuf fell in the 39th over, with the score on 166, one would have expected Shahid Afridi to call for the Powerplay. He didn’t. But he kept playing risky cricket at the same time, and paid for it. In between those two dismissals, Taufel ruled Umar lbw off Vettori, while replays showed the batsman had hit the ball.
The bowlers were left to give themselves runs to defend, and Aamer and Ajmal did that in uninhibited manner. They managed 233 but will it be too much to do for the most varied and skilled attack of the tournament?
Pakistan: 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 9 Mohammad Aamer, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Umar Gul.
New Zealand: 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 Grant Elliot/Scott Styris, 7 James Franklin, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Ian Butler.