World Cup 2018

Ole, ole, ole,

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie…

G’day all!

Football. Futbol. Voetbal. Futebol. Fußball. Fotboll. Calcio. Soccer.

No matter what language, the world’s most popular sport, consisting of over 3.5 billion fans is globally celebrated every four years, and yes... 2018 calls for all soccer supporters to gear up, liven up and take their team to victory in the most watched sporting event, the FIFA WORLD CUP!

The History of the FIFA World Cup began in Amsterdam on 28 May 1928 following the success of the Olympic Football Tournament which encouraged a separate world championship to flourish under the presidency of Jules Rime, the longest serving FIFA president of 33 years. He was aided by the untiring

Secretary of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay and together they created an Executive Committee which affiliated associations to agree upon the tournament and its conditions. The first World Cup was hosted by Uruguay, subsequent to their renowned accomplishment of being two-time official football world champions in the Olympics and due to their celebratory centenary of independence in 1930. 13 nations took part – seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

France and the USA respectively won the first two World Cup matches (by 3 points each), which took place simultaneously against Mexico and Belgium. The first goal in the history of the World Cup was scored by Lucien Laurent from France, alongside

the first World Cup hat-trick achieved by Bert Patenaude from the USA, in America’s win against Paraguay. Despite these extraordinary accomplishments, in the end it was Uruguay who defeated Argentina in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, becoming the first nation to win the World Cup, setting a legacy which would be remembered for many centuries to come.

Today the legacy of the FIFA World Cup still continues to amalgamate and spread a joyous passion across the globe, with 30 billion viewers watching some aspect of the event. It contrives an opportunity for individuals who are not frequent followers of soccer to ignite their inner patriotism, fervency and accepting nature by engaging in cheers for their team throughout the World Cup.

Undeniably, no matter how cliche’ it may sound but as stated by Hunter S. Thompson (an American journalist and author), “Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types…” Just like the passion and love for reading is a universally binding act, the FIFA World Cup is also an extremely important and connecting event without which society will be stifling a conventional similarity that fortifies colloquial and sustainable solidarity.

13 June 2018