World Cup Expert: Teams

World Cup Expert: Teams — page 1
4 THE WORLD CUP The World Cup is a month-long celebration of soccer which is held every four years Teams from 32 countries battle it out on the fi eld for the ultimate prize in soccer the World Cup trophy WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEAM The World Cup tournament brings out the best in every team Games are played at a high level of skill and often decided by a single goal in overtime It is considered a great accomplishment to reach the championship game even though only one team will take home the trophy BRAZIL BRAZIL In the history of the World Cup there have been many excellent teams In the past Brazil has often been a dominant force and two of their teams are featured in this book However many countries have had memorable teams through the years CLASS ACTS What qualities should a great team have Sometimes it is simply world-class players and dramatic goals such as Brazil in 1958 and 1970 or possessing a genius who inspires their teammates as was the case with Maradona’s Argentina in 1986 Or it might lie in a quality team packed with talent such as France in 1998 or with a brilliant short-passing game such as Spain in 2010 WORLD CUP FAST FACTS FOUNDED 1930 NUMBER OF TEAMS THAT TAKE PART 32 expanded from 16 in 1978 and again from 24 in 1982 MOST SUCCESSFUL TEAM Brazil TOP GOAL-SCORER Ronaldo above with 15 FORMAT For the group stage teams are put in eight groups of four teams Each team plays all the other three teams once The top two teams from each group qualify for the knock-out stages where the winner of one group plays the runner-up of caption another The winners of this qualify for the eight-team quarterfi nals which are followed by the semifi nals and the long-awaited World Cup fi nal itself