The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association football competition contested by the mens national teams (List of mens national association football teams) of the members of F�d�ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sports global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (1930 FIFA World Cup), except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month - this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase (FIFA World Cup qualification), which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven national teams have won the title. Brazil (Brazil national football team) have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy (Italy national football team), the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany (Germany national football team) are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay (Uruguay national football team), winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina (Argentina national football team), with two titles each, and England (England national football team) and France (France national football team), with one title each.

The World Cup is the worlds most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match (2006 FIFA World Cup Final) of the 2006 World Cup (2006 FIFA World Cup) held in Germany. The current World Cup (2010 FIFA World Cup) is being held in South Africa, June 11-July 11, 2010, and the 2014 World Cup (2014 FIFA World Cup) will be held in Brazil.