One of the most popular events in football is the FIFA World Cup tournament. This event is held every four years in a different location, much like the Olympics. In fact, there is some research that contends that the World Cup is just as meaningful and creates just as much worldwide interest as the Olympics do. Teams from around the world compete through special games that determine who will qualify for the tournament.
The World Cup has created such a sense of national pride that there have even been wars between countries held off until the teams knew whether or not they qualified for the tournament. For fans, football represents far more than a simple game. It is a way to show their national pride - and prove their country's dominance through sport.
The Golden Nike
In the early 1930s, the football World Cup was run by Jules Rimet from France. These pre-FIFA games awarded a magnificent statue to the winners of the tournament, the Golden Nike. The sculpture featured Nike of Samothrace, also known as Winged Victory, and was a visual indication that the winners were the world champions of football. Each winning team was allowed to keep the Golden Nike for four years - and if a team ever won three times they would be allowed to keep the statue forever. In 1970 Brazil was able to achieve this coveted goal, thought the award was stolen in 1983 and has yet to be recovered.
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