World Cup 2010: FIFA for Dummies

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Even if you don’t understand football, you can feel the crowd's excitement at World Cup matches.

204 nations attempted to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The National Teams are comprised of citizens of the particular nations, although some players will actually move to a different nation if they can’t make their home team.

Most players are employed by professional teams who give them permission to play for their national squads.

Many countries pay the players to play for their National Team. Nations also try to hire the best coach, even if he’s from a different country, and they are paid very well.

The World Cup features 32 national teams (the host nation and the 31 best teams from the qualifying tournaments). The games are played over a month in the host nation(s).

There are two stages in the month-long World Cup, a Group Stage and a Knockout Stage.

In the first stage (the Group Stage), the 32 teams are placed into eight groups of four teams. Each group consists of one "seeded" team, based on FIFA Rankings and recent World Cups, while the other teams in each group are selected at random from the top finishers in qualifying play and the host team.

No group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any of the five other FIFA zones (there are six FIFA continental zones. Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania and Europe).

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches.

Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. The top two teams from each group advance to the second stage (the Knockout Stage).

If two or more teams finish even on points, tie-breakers are used. The first is goal differential, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots.

In the Group phase, games may end in a draw. American sports fans find it hard to understand that a game can end in a tie.

But if you think about it, until about three years ago, hockey ended in a tie. Just two years ago, a football game ended in a tie.

Also, people don’t understand that just because a team won 4-0 (Germany), doesn’t necessarily mean they will win the Cup.

Spain were the favorites to win the Cup this year and they lost their first game to Switzerland. Now people are forgetting about them. You shouldn’t.

Once the round-robin is over, the real competition begins with the second round, or Knockout Stage.

In this single-elimination round, there are no draws. Extra time and penalty kicks are used to decide the winner.

The Knockout Stage begins with the Round of 16. The winner of each Group plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.

The losing semi-finalists play a match for third place.

The seven national teams that have won the World Cup are allowed to add one star to the crest on their shirt for each World Cup their nation has won.

Brazil has won five times, Italy four, Germany three, Argentina and Uruguay two, and France and England once.

One reason that nations want to host the World Cup is that the host team automatically qualifies for the World Cup.

History has also shown there is a home team advantage. England (1966) and France (1998) won their only World Cups while hosting, and South Korea finished 4th in 2002.

The current World Cup trophy is solid gold and, unlike the first trophy, it cannot be won. Its ownership remains with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).

The tournament winner holds on to the trophy until the next World Cup, at which time they return it and are given a replica gold-plated trophy. The trophy has the visible engraving “FIFA World Cup” in outpouring letters at its base.

The winning country's name from each tournament is engraved on the bottom side of the trophy, and therefore is not visible when the trophy is standing upright.

The text states the year in figures and the name of winning nation (the way their language says it) for example “— 1974 Deutschland [Germany]” (much like the Stanley Cup).

Something unique to the 2010 World Cup is the vuvuzela.

The vuvuzela, or stadium horn, is a blowing horn up to approximately three feet in length.

It is commonly blown during football matches in South Africa. The instrument is played using a simple brass technique of blowing through compressed lips to create a buzz, and emits a loud monotone sound.

It has become a point of controversy during the World Cup. During the opening ceremony, the announcer had to ask fans using vuvuzelas to be quiet as he could not be heard.

During the event, many competitors have criticized and complained about the noise caused by the vuvuzela horns, including France's Patrice Evra, who blamed the horns for the team's poor performance.

He also claimed that the sound of the vuvuzelas away from the stadiums hampered the ability of the players to get their rest. Other critics include Lionel Messi, who complained that the sound of the vuvuzelas hampered communication among players on the pitch, and broadcasting companies, who complained that commentators' voices were being drowned out by the sound.

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo went on record to state that the sound of the vuvuzelas disturbed the teams' concentration.

Not all is bad. In response to criticism of the horn's use, FIFA President Sepp Blatter commented, "I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound. I don't see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country. Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?" 

I agree with him. Who are we to ban African tradition? We have no right to do such a thing.

It might be annoying to listen to, but I think it’s beautiful because it’s the sound of an entire country playing one tone.

I mean, isn’t that the motto of FIFA?—“For the game. For the World.” So why silence an entire nation?

I hope this “World Cup 101” helped you understand the world’s greatest game in a different light. I hope you go watch the Cup in a different point of view.

Remember, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean the game is stupid and boring.