The first World Cup was played in 1930 in Uruguay, and the World Cup is held every four years. FIFA was founded in Paris on 21 May 1904, and its first members included Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. As of November 2026, FIFA has 211 member national associations, and soccer has six regional groups under FIFA. On 28 May 1928 the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship, and FIFA named Uruguay host of the first World Cup because it was celebrating its centenary of independence in 1930. No European country pledged to send a team until two months before it started. Thirteen nations played: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America. Uruguay won by beating Argentina 4-2.

Qualifying games for the World Cup can start almost three years before the tournament, and the host country gets a place in the World Cup without qualifying. Host nations have qualified automatically since the 1938 World Cup, but defending champions stopped qualifying automatically from 2006. Co-hosting, suspended after 2002, was approved again for the 48-team 2026 World Cup. As of November 2026, the 2026 World Cup had 48 teams, more than ever before, 16 more than in the previous seven tournaments. At the World Cup, teams first play in groups of four, and if both teams have the same score, the match is a draw. In a group, a win earns three points, a draw one point and a loss none, and in 2026 the top two teams in each group, plus the eight best third-place teams, advance.

A player is in an offside position if closer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Being in an offside position is not an offence by itself, and a player offside when the ball is played is only penalised on becoming involved in active play. There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner kick. The Football Association was formed in London in 1863 and published the first rules, and the Laws of the Game have been in effect since 1863 and kept since 1886 by a rule-keeping group called the IFAB. In February 1866 the Football Association added a rule that a player was not offside if three opponents were between him and their goal, and in 2016 it was clarified that a player on the halfway line cannot be in an offside position.

After the groups come knockout games, and losing a knockout match means a team is out, and extra time, when used, is two equal periods of up to 15 minutes each. If a knockout game is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out picks the winner, and the penalty shoot-out was adopted by the IFAB on 27 June 1970. In a shoot-out each team takes five shots, each by a different player, and a player sent off during the match may not take part in the penalty shoot-out, and cautions given during the match are not carried forward into a shoot-out. A player who denies a goal by a deliberate handball is sent off. A penalty kick is awarded for a direct free kick offence inside the penalty area, and the penalty mark is 11 m from the midpoint between the goalposts.

The 2026 World Cup opened on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and Mexico became the first country to host the World Cup three times, and three countries hosted it: Canada, Mexico and the United States. It was played in 16 cities: 11 in the United States, 3 in Mexico and 2 in Canada. As of November 2026, Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan played their first World Cup in 2026, and the 2026 mascots were Maple the moose, Zayu the jaguar and Clutch the bald eagle. The 2026 group stage ran from June 11 to June 27. The 2026 final was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on July 19, and the tournament had 308 goals in 104 matches, about 2.96 goals per match. As of November 2026, Brazil has won the World Cup five times, and in 2026 Spain won it.

Words to know

• centenary: 100th anniversary
• penalised: given a penalty
• qualifying: earning a place