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Most fans follow their teams on the Internet and on television throughout the month-long tournament comprising 64 matches. But those who have the opportunity to travel to a match in person soon discover that the FIFA World Cup is more than just two teams kicking the ball for 90 minutes. The World Cup is all about hospitality—from hotel rooms, transportation, and meals to sightseeing, recreation, and entertainment.

It stands to reason that if an activity occurs only once every four years and the opportunity to experience it firsthand occurs only once or twice in a lifetime, it is worth doing everything full out. In this regard, FIFA official partners provide a number of travel packages, which include everything needed to enjoy the event, from airfare, accommodations, and transfer to the actual tickets to the match.

Corporate packages for groups of four or more are the most economical, although individual packages are available, too. A typical corporate hospitality pack might include premium match tickets for a single contest, dedicated parking, access to high-end catering at the stadium, open-bar service, a match programme, and commemorative gifts, as well as all travel amenities—flight/bus transfers to matches and accommodation.

Beyond single-match packages, there are series offers for those who can attend multiple events. The Venue Series allows entrance to all matches (4~8) at a single stadium. In South Africa, this was priced at £2,740~$12,100 per person. For those who want to follow all matches played by a specific team, the Team Specific Series could cost £12,000 and include other matches if the chosen team is eliminated early.

Read More >> Experiencing the World Cup

In the six decades since the resumption of World Cup events, FIFA has cemented its role as the hub of the global football community. The Association moved its headquarters from Paris to in Zurich after World War II and is governed by Swiss law, employing some 310 people from more than 35 nations. It represents 208 member associations and is composed of a legislative body called the Congress, a governing body called the Executive Committee, an administrative body known as the General Secretariat, and a number of standing committees.

By 1998, the 16-team tournament format could no longer meet the world’s demand for football competition. Fully 174 entries had been received to vie for the gold trophy, so a new formula was devised to allow 32 teams to compete. Qualifiers were divided into eight round-robin groups of four, named A through H. The top two from each group would then advance to a knock-out bracket of sixteen.

This format has resulted in even greater success for FIFA and the World Cup, with more teams competing, more matches played, more viewers, higher attendance, and greater revenue. Some 2.7 million spectators filled the stadiums for the 64 matches held in French stadia in 1998. An estimated audience of 1.3 billion saw France crush Brazil 3-0 in the final.

And the World Cup is no longer a Europe vs. the Americas affair. The decision to hold the 2002 tournament in Japan/Korea, along with the 32-team format, opened the way for even more diverse participation, with five representatives from Africa as well as four from Asia.

Read More >> The World Cup – A True Global Event

As fate would have it, the 1966 FIFA World Cup started off badly for England in Group 1; they fought to a scoreless draw in their first match against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium. This was followed by a lackluster win over Mexico 2-0. Apparently, the Wingless Wonders needed some help to advance, and they got it when Mexico drew with both Uruguay and France. A 2-0 win over France was then all it took to propel England into the quarters once again.

Elsewhere, things were not going much better for other highly touted teams. Brazil was bumped off by Portugal and Hungary. Italy was left out by two communist powers, the Soviet Union and surprising North Korea, who had shocked the European veterans 1-0. Even West Germany and Argentina had played to a scoreless draw en route to the quarter finals. No team was able to dominate early play.

It only took a single goal by Geoff Hurst to lift England to their first-ever semi-finals. Goalkeeper Gordon Banks had not allowed a single score in the round-robin matches, and for 90 minutes he kept Argentina from finding the net, too.

Banks would have maintained a perfect shut-out record after facing Portugal in the final four, but a penalty kick at 82 minutes by Eusebio da Silva Ferreira cracked the goose egg. Fortunately for England, forward Bobby Charlton had already tucked away two goals of his own by then, and 2-1 was good enough to reach the finals against a team that had never beaten the Wonders—West Germany.

Read More >> The 1966 FIFA World Cup

Learning from each event, FIFA began developing the format that would serve the World Cup for half a century. Decisions were taken to allow the host nation and the previous World Champion to qualify automatically. Tournaments would be held alternately between Europe and the Americas. Three years of qualifying would determine the 16 teams to play in four round-robin groups. And the top two teams from each group would compete in knock-out brackets to determine the ultimate winner—no more Brazilian-style finishes.

The 1954 World Cup in Switzerland was memorable for its inclusion of the first Asian team (Korea), England’s triumphant assent to the quarter finals, and defending Uruguay’s loss after extra time in the semis, giving winner Hungary an incredible record of 31-0 in international play. But the biggest surprise came when the Federal Republic of Germany rallied from two goals behind to defeat Hungary 3-2 in the finals, remembered ever after as the “Miracle of Berne.”

Four years later, Northern Ireland made the quarter finals in Stockholm before succumbing to the eventual third-place finisher, France. Sweden hosted with a powerful team, but lost in the finals to a South American side set on redemption. Brazil won its first World Cup in 1958, led by a 17-year old named Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to fans as “Pelé.”

Read More >> FIFA Moves Forward

A dozen long years went by before FIFA could reorganise for a fourth World Cup. In 1946, the first post-war FIFA Congress was held in Luxembourg, where potential host countries and a date for the next World Cup were discussed. But most of Europe lay in ruins. Football was a low priority as nations faced the task of rebuilding. Germany had been under consideration as the 1942 venue, but now it was out of the question. War-neutral Switzerland agreed to host the fifth meeting, if the next Cup matches were played somewhere else.

Then, the Brazilian Association stepped forward. Less affected by the ravages of war, the South Americans offered to host the event, but they had some conditions. First, the tournament could not take place until 1950; they needed time to prepare a new stadium. Second, they wanted to do away with the tournament’s knock-out format and replace it with preliminary qualifying “pools” of four teams each, followed by a four-team mini-league made up of the pool winners.

Not all FIFA members were satisfied with these arrangements. The Eastern European associations decided they could not afford to travel so far and pulled out their support en masse. Then several high-profile withdrawals occurred. For example, four-time Copa America winner Argentina had seen their stars move to Colombia and Mexico for greater rewards; rather than face humiliating defeats in round-robins, they begged off.

Read More >> Football – Difficult Recovery Post-War