| A World Cup final is a magical and marvellous sporting event with the most elite teams and athletes battling it out to be crowned the World champions. There are many World Cups finals held each year, so whatever your passion there is a tournament out there to suit you.
The most popular World Cup finals are the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup, but the smaller lesser known championships such as the Hockey World Cup and the Boxing World Cup are growing in size and sponsorship thrusting them into the sporting mainstream. Even the most specialised of tournaments like the Orienteering and Futsal World Cup attract a moderate but highly dedicated and enthusiastic audience. The sporting fans highlight is watching their team battle and win the World Cup Final. The Football World Cup is the most followed and supported sports tournament in the world, with over 75 nations appearing in it since its establishment in 1930. The competition has been played every four years apart from 1942 and 1946, when the tournament was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Second World War. The Football World Cup is an international affair and has been hosted all over the World including, Germany, Japan, France, U.S.A, Mexico, Argentina, England, Chile, Sweden, Switzerland with the most flamboyant being held in 1950 in Brazil which turned into a football festival uniting the global football community together after the monstrous Second World War. A standard football match last for 90 minutes. However, a World Cup final match goes one step further, , with 30 minutes added time if it ends in a draw and if the game is still drawn after extra time the match is decided by a dreaded penalty shoot out. Brazil have won the World Cup five times and are arguably the best footballing nation in the World. However, the Italians may disagree with this as they have lifted the Football World Cup Trophy 4 times. South Africa are gearing up to host the next Football World Cup in 2010, where Italy will be battling it out to retain their crown. William Webb, who is credited with inventing Rugby when he accidentally caught the ball during a football match, would have been overjoyed at the creation of the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. The tournament which is held every four years was first held in Australia and has since been hosted by New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, Netherlands, Spain, Canada and England. Over 20 nations currently battle it out during the Rugby World Cup competing through the group and knock out stages. The two teams, who make it through the ferocious competition, go head to head in the World Cup final with the victors being award the William Web Ellis Cup. The current World champions South Africa will be holding their breath as they try to keep their champion status during the next Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. England which is the home of Cricket exported the gentile sport all around the World during the heyday of the British Empire. The British invaders have since been kicked out of most her colonies but one pillar of the British Empire remains – Cricket! The Cricket World Cup has been played every four years since 1975 and consists of mainly commonwealth countries. The tournament is played between all ten Test playing nations, which are Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and South Africa, and the ODI playing teams which presently include Scotland, Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada and Kenya. Australia are the most successful Cricket World Cup team winning the final no less than five times, with the last being in 2007. The West Indies have won the World Cup final twice with Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan winning it once each. The international Hockey Federation host the Hockey World Cup every four years. Field Hockey is growing in size and popularity and every World Cup final attracts more and more fans. Twenty four countries from around the world compete in the tournament with Pakistan and the Netherlands dominating the sport. The next Hockey World Cup final will be held in India in 2010 with most of the field action taking place in New Delhi. Most World Cup tournaments have nations competing against each other; however the IAAF Continental Cup (formerly known as the IAAF World Cup) is the only competition where entire continents are represented. The IAAF Continental Cup is the World Cup final of Athletics and consists of separate men’s and women's events. The continental teams comprise of Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, but from 2010 onwards Asia and Oceania will be combined under the banner of Australasia. The Skeleton World Cup final conjures up graphic images in your head but it's not as gory as it appears to be. Skeleton or tobogganing as it's more commonly known, is a fast winter sliding sport where athletes ride a small sled down a frozen track whilst lying down face first and achieving incredible speeds. The Skeleton World Cup is held each year with Austria and Germany dominating the event. |
World Cup Final
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