The Official History of the FIFA World Cup Book is an authoritative and comprehensive review of the 20 FIFA World Cups to have taken place since the inaugural tournament in 1930. Packed with stunning photography, exclusive interviews of the biggest stars of each edition, unique official documents and statistics, it is a must read for any football fan around the world. No other event in the sporting world can rival the glamour, impact, fervent following and universal appeal of the FIFA World Cup. This unique book tells the stories behind the scenes, as well as analyzing the most famous incidents. It features the biggest stars and many previously unknown ones too, all with a unique worldwide point of view.

This publication accompanies a BBC series on the World Cup and looks at the development of the tournament, its best players and teams and its role in making football the world's foremost sport.

This publication accompanies a BBC series on the World Cup and looks at the development of the tournament, its best players and teams and its role in making football the world's foremost sport.

The first complete history of the FIFA World Cup with a preview of the 2022 event in Qatar. Every four years, the world’s best national soccer teams compete for the FIFA World Cup. Billions of people tune in from around the world to experience the remarkable events unfolding live, both on and off the field. From Diego Maradona’s first goal against England at the 1986 World Cup to Nelson Mandela’s surprise appearance at the 2010 final in South Africa, these unforgettable World Cup moments have helped to create a global phenomenon. In The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event, veteran soccer reporter Clemente A. Lisi chronicles the tournament from 1930 to today, including a preview of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Lisi provides vivid accounts of individual games, details the innovations that impacted the sport across the decades, and offers biographical sketches of greats such as Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi. In addition, Lisi includes needed, objective coverage of off-field controversies such as the FIFA corruption case, making this book the only complete and impartial history of the tournament. Featuring personal interviews and behind-the-scenes stories from the author’s many years attending and covering the World Cup, as well as stunning color photography, The FIFA World Cup is the definitive history of this global event.

There is no sporting event more popular than the World Cup. For one month every four years, billions of people around the world turn their attention to the tournament. Fans call in sick to work, pack into bars to watch games, or stay home for days at a time glued to their TV sets. Nothing else seems to matter. In A History of the World Cup: 1930-2014, Clemente A. Lisi chronicles this international phenomenon, providing vivid accounts of individual games from the tournament's origins in 1930 to modern times. It features a glossary of terms, statistics for each competition, photos, and profiles of the most memorable—and controversial—figures of the sport, including Diego Maradona, Juste Fontaine, Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Kempes, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and, of course, Pelé. Though other histories of the World Cup largely ignore the United States' contribution to the competition, this volume highlights the progress of the American teams over the last several decades. Updated with a new chapter on the 2014 World Cup, profiles of those players who stood out in the latest competition, and revised statistical information, A History of the World Cup provides a fascinating read for fans of the game.

The only comprehensive history of the world's top football tournament, fully updated to include the 1998 competition in France. As well as vivid accounts of individual games (from the first tournament in Uruguay in 1930 to the most recent), there are many behind-the-scenes stories and character sketches of the great managers and players whose names, both through success and failure, will forever be synonymous with one of the world's greatest sporting events.

The World Cup as World History uses football’s premier event to analyze modern sports and world history. William D. Bowman traces the history of a tournament that has become a global phenomenon that generates intense political, economic, and cultural interest and profound discussions about racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the contemporary era. By focusing on the World Cup, the book keeps a tight thematic focus that allows for an integrated discussion of the core issues of globalization, money and finance, sport as spectacle, race and gender, and contemporary politics.