riel and mai's spicy brain caesars: FIFA

The commonly argued word soccer vs. football is one of the most popular watched sports in the world. What is FIFA and where will it be held this year? What teams have qualified, and in your opinion Mai, what team do you think will win, or after doing your research who are people thinking will win?

Warm Regards

Riel

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The Federation Internationale de Football Association, commonly known as FIFA, is the international governer of association football. The headquarters is located in Zurich, Switzerland. FIFA is responsible for the organization and governance of football's major international tournaments, the most famous being the FIFA world cup which started in 1930. It is held every 4 years. The next world cup is being held in South Africa for 2010 between June 11 - July 11. There as been a total of 18 tournaments and 7 nations have won the title. Brazil has won a record 5 times, followed by Italy with 4 and Germany with 3. The last world cup in 2006 saw Italy win the tournament.

FIFA was formed in the early 1900's when football became increasingly popular and it was realized that they needed to have someone over-looking the standards and rules to make sure the game stayed consistent. The world is broken up into 6 confederations that each have their own "football government." FIFA over looks all of these confederations. They are:

* Asia - Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

* Africa - Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF)

* North and Central America and the Caribbean - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)

* South America - Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol (CONMEBOL)

* Oceania - Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)

* Europe - Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

There are 204 teams (countries that have teams) and only 32 qualify to compete in the world cup in South Africa. The following are the 32 qualifying teams: