Every four years, the FIFA World Cup captures the global imagination like no other sporting spectacle. With a cumulative television audience of several billion people tuning in to the 2014 World Cup, and an estimated 700 million watching the finals—including more than 25 million in the United States alone—the World Cup is the world’s most-watched sporting event. The Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available on the history of this incomparable event. An introductory narrative explains the origins and historical progression of the World Cup, while a chronology traces the development of the World Cup since it was first held in 1930. Hundreds of entries cover the players and coaches who have participated in the World Cup and made the most memorable contributions to the event’s history. Additional entries include officials, stadiums, overviews of each major country’s performances, and more. A separate section provides detailed entries for each World Cup finals tournament. Appendixes contain details on every participant in World Cup history, as well as top performers, officials, and World Cup records. Including an indispensable bibliography on the key World Cup texts, Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup is an essential reference for soccer fans, players, and researchers alike.

The essential illustrated guide to soccer charting more than 100 years of the game worldwide: the teams, the triumphs, the tragedies of the world's number one sport.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Footballis the ultimate celebration of the most popular sport on the planet. This comprehensive and fully illustrated book is written by one of the world's leading football writers and describes the history and development of the game, its legendary players, clubs and international teams, notable coaches and stadia. There is also in-depth information on the major competitions at both national and club levels. Each entry comes with graphical statistical information to show the greatest achievements of each player, club or nation. It even includes the action and results of the 2017/18 season and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

A global view of soccer and its remarkable growth and development in the U.S.

This newly updated edition of The Soccer Encyclopedia (FIFA) will make you an expert of the most popular game in the world. The pages are brimming with the latest facts, stats and records, plus punchy profiles of the best international teams on the planet, as well as essential info about the top leagues and tournaments in world soccer. What's more, you can get the lowdown on all the FIFA competitions from the World Cup to the eWorld Cup and the latest recipients of the FIFA awards. With a comprehensive list of honours citing every international and intercontinental competition, FIFA's The Soccer Encyclopedia is a must-have for every young fan of the sport.

One thousand people witnessed the first World Cup match in 1930. The last World Cup Final drew a global television audience of over one billion. Soccer's popularity has never been so apparent, at grassroots and international level, with players from all around the globe playing Major League Soccer and USA players in teams around Europe, with television companies paying hundreds of millions for the privilege of showing live matches, and with players commanding huge sums from clubs to bring them the most hotly-contested trophies.