FIFA: World Cup Soccer

World of Sports Science. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2007. p261-262.

Soccer, known as football outside of North America, is the "beautiful game" to its multitudes of
fans. Soccer is played in every corner of the world and inspires its own frenzy every four years
with the convening of the international championship known as the World Cup. There is no
competition on Earth that mobilizes such passion or that is as inclusive as the qualification for
this event.

The World Cup is entirely controlled through the international governing body for the sport of
soccer, FIFA, the French language acronym for the Federation Internationale de Football
Association. A testament to the status of soccer as the world's most popular sport, FIFA is
unquestionably the most powerful and all-encompassing world sports body. Unlike other global
sports such as basketball, where there is a lack of international unanimity regarding the rules of
the sport, FIFA, through both custom and stature, reigns supreme.

The first organized soccer governance occurred in 1863, with the founding of the Football
Association in England. The Football Association codified its rules of play, and as international
competition began to be more popular among European teams in the latter part of the nineteenth
century, there arose an increasing interest in the formation of a corresponding governing body.
FIFA was created for this purpose in 1904. FIFA's membership and authority over the game
increased each year thereafter. The first World Cup championship took place in Uruguay in
1930, and, other than the intervention of World War II, the World Cup has been held every four
years since that time.

FIFA is responsible for many aspects of the governance of international soccer, including the
sanction of a multitude of age group championships for both men and women, the maintenance
of a world-ranking system, the resolution of issues pertaining to the nationality of players, and
the annual review of the rules of the game. Technical innovations such as the use of goal line
cameras and high technology balls are items falling under the authority of FIFA. The greatest
ongoing responsibility undertaken by this organization is the organizing of the World Cup.

Every member country organization (virtually every country in the world) has the right to
attempt to qualify for a World Cup. Qualification begins almost three years in advance of each
tournament, with each country placed in one of six qualification groups, based upon geography.
A fixed number of teams from each group will qualify for the World Cup; by rule, the host
country and the defending champion are provided an automatic position. The FIFA groups
include Africa; Asia; Europe; North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; Oceania; and
South America.

Thirty-two teams are ultimately selected to play in the tournament. Once the teams have
qualified, FIFA, using its ranking system, will then seed the top eight teams in the competition,
and each seeded team will be placed at the head of a pool of four teams, referred to as a "group."
The seeding process, which has a significant competitive impact, is based on a formula employed
by FIFA that takes into account the play of each of the selected teams over the previous three
years. The balance of the teams is grouped according to a random draw. Traditionally, there is
one group of four teams that is very evenly matched and where no team, irrespective of seeding,
has a clear advantage heading into tournament play. Such pools are referred to as a "Group of
Death." The announcement of the World Cup seedings is a much-anticipated event; the seedings
are typically determined six months in advance of the World Cup competition.

The World Cup competition, from the preliminary round games through the Cup final, will last
approximately one month. Teams are permitted rest days between competitions. As a number of
venues are employed in a World Cup, the competitors and their supporters will generally be
required to travel to different locations within the host country as the games are played. Security
at World Cup matches has been a more prominent feature of the event in recent tournaments;
some countries with supporters that have reputations for rowdiness are the subject of intense
scrutiny.

FIFA are also responsible for the approval of the stadiums in which the competitions will take
place. Unlike sports such as American football or baseball, FIFA is extremely particular about
the nature and quality of the surfaces on which its competitions are held. For many years, FIFA
would not sanction any international soccer game to be played on an artificial surface, citing both
a higher injury rate and unnatural ball movements on such surfaces. In recent years, with
significant improvements being made in artificial turf construction, FIFA has authorized a
number of test competitions using artificial surfaces; while the 2006 World Cup (won in
overtime by Italy) in Germany was played on natural grass, it is anticipated that significant
international events, including a future World Cup, may be performed on artificial surfaces.

Post Reading:
- What contributes to international unanimity regarding the rules of soccer?

- What are the characteristics of a “Group of Death”?

- What was the author’s stance? Did she have one? Explain your answer.

- Why do you think this text was written?

- Who do you think is the intended audience for this text?

- Is this an academic or non-academic text? Explain your answer.

Mexico is assured of advancing out of Group F in the 2018 World Cup with a win or draw
Wednesday against Sweden. Sweden needs a victory in order to move on following its last-
minute loss to Germany. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET at Central Stadium. Sportsbooks
have Mexico as the favorite at +130 to win outright (bet $100 to win $130) in the latest 2018
World Cup odds, while Sweden is listed at +220 (bet $100 to win $220). The draw is offered at
+230, and the over-under for total goals scored in this World Cup match is two.

Before you enter your 2018 World Cup picks, you need to see what European football expert
David Sumpter has to say. Sumpter is an applied mathematician who wrote "Soccermatics," a
book that explains how math works inside the sport. Together with other experienced analysts,
Sumpter developed the powerful Soccerbot model.

The Soccerbot reads current odds and all team performance data, calculates key metrics and
predicts upcoming matches. In nearly three seasons since its inception, the Soccerbot is up an
incredible 1,800 percent on bookmakers' closing odds.

The Soccerbot has already nailed draws for Argentina-Iceland (+385) and Brazil-Switzerland
(+360). It also correctly predicted Iran upsetting Morocco at +275, just to name a few of its big
calls. Anyone who has followed it is way up.

Now, Soccerbot has digested the film, crunched the numbers and broken down every single
player on the rosters for Mexico and Sweden. The model has released a very strong money-line
pick, which it's sharing over at SportsLine.

The model is aware that Mexico has emerged as a surging and dangerous contender, which it
announced with a 1-0 opening win against reigning champion Germany. The club followed it up
with a mostly dominant performance in a 2-1 win against South Korea.

The model has also taken Sweden's sense of urgency into account. Defeating Mexico provides its
best chance of moving on. Sweden could advance amid other criteria, but a win Wednesday
would help remove doubt.

Sweden won its opener against South Korea, 1-0, and took a 1-0 lead into the intermission
against Germany. But the defending champs rallied and Toni Kroos salvaged their hopes of
advancing with a spectacular winning goal in the first minute of stoppage time.

Mexico and Sweden have faced each other on nine occasions but only once at a World Cup, with
Sweden winning 3-0 in 1958.
Post Reading:
- What soccer matches has the Soccerbot predicted correctly?

- How many times have Sweden and Mexico faced each other?

- What was the author’s stance? Did she have one? Explain your answer.

- Why do you think this text was written?

- Who do you think is the intended audience for this text?

- Is this an academic or non-academic text? Explain your answer.