FIFA (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is an international self-regulatory governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer. … See more

The first official match between representatives of two nations was conducted between England and Scotland in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, Glasgow, finishing in a 0–0 draw. The … See more

International football was rare during World War One and FIFA nearly collapsed after Woolfall's death in 1918; It was Hirschmann, almost acting alone, who kept FIFA alive, and in 1919 convened an assembly in Brussels. However, the British associations … See more

In 1946 the four British nations returned. On 10 May 1947 a "Match of the Century" between Great Britain and "Rest of Europe XI" was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow before 135,000 spectators – Britain won 6–1. The proceeds from the match, coming to … See more

In 1954, Jules Rimet was replaced by Rodolphe William Seeldrayers of Belgium; Seeldrayers died the next year and was succeeded by Englishman, Arthur Drewry. He again had a short presidency and was replaced upon his death in 1961 by Sir Stanley Rous, … See more

Rous was replaced in 1974 by the Brazilian João Havelange. FIFA became a more commercial institution at this time. He increased the number of teams in the World Cup to 24 for the 1982 World Cup and then to 32 at the 1998 World Cup. He also brought See more

The next president, Sepp Blatter, maintained this policy; he promised the 2010 World Cup to Africa, for example. He oversaw a federation that was a massive corporate body and whose actions have a global economic and political impact.
In 2006, after the … See more