Soccer may be an English game, but the origin of soccer dates back to the American land. It is as American as it is Scottish or English. Association football or football experienced great levels of popularity towards late 19th century all over England. The industrial revolution has a big hand in giving boost to recreational sports. People felt the need to relax and play during weekends. The British sailors, tradesmen and worker sectors spread the fame of football all over Europe and the rest of the world.

In early 19th century, countries such as Denmark, France, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, etc decided to form a governing association for the sport of football and thus, FIFA came into existence. Federation International Football Association further felt the need to organize international competitions for taking the sport to new levels of fame.

1920s saw the emergence of professional football leagues, and the first ever World Cup Football Tournament took place in Uruguay. The winner was the host country beating Argentina in the final match. By this period, many European countries started taking active interest in football sports. The World Cup became so popular that almost 36 nations participated in the 1938 football World Cup Tournament. The preliminary matches were played so that only sixteen best final teams entered the final stages. France was the official host of the 1938 World Cup and Italy won the grand final Cup.

It is almost 150 years since football game found its existence in the streets of London. In such short period, the game has seen phenomenal success from being a humble local English game to an international craze of billions worldwide. Nearly 3 billion people are said to be avid soccer fans all over the globe, and the numbers are increasing everyday.

Soccer has generated many legendary stories; some are mere myths while some hold fascinating historical facts. It is rumored that early gaming style of football saw Chinese players trying to play a very blunt and rustic game during the ancient 2nd century BC. Likewise the Americans were known to practice a mix game of basketball and football. Kicking a ball may be hard, especially if you have to control and maneuver it to a goal post.

As the game was introduced to European territory, Soccer started gaining immense fame with several countries starting association teams. Very old form of soccer includes the titillating game of mob soccer that involves the whole of a village or town members. In Mob Soccer, the teams had unlimited playing members with the opposing teams having to kick the football towards any particular landmark and guard their own positions. It was very wild and chaotic form of soccer. And to add to the ruckus, the ball was made of animal bladder and leathery skins stuffed with lots of rags or waste materials.

Despite its colorful past, the soccer game is a international sport of great importance, the most accepted game in the entire world.

The FIFA is considered to be at par with the Olympics. But, not every country is fortunate enough to participate in World Cup matches as there is intense competition to reach the final stages of the World Cup Tournament.