RESEARCH PAPER: WORLD CUP 2006

The FIFA World Cup, also known as football World Cup, is a worldwide football

competition and it’s the biggest single-event sporting competition contested by the senior men’s

national teams form the Member associations of FIFA. At first soccer was part of the Olympics

but the success of the tournament intensified FIFA’s wish for its own world championship so

questionnaires were sent to the affiliated associations asking whether they agreed to the

organisation of a tournament and under what conditions. Following a remarkable proposal by

the executive committee, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam on 28 May 1928 decided to stage a

world championship.The event is held every four years since it started in the year 1930 except

in 1942 and 1946 because of the World War II. 32 different teams participate in the current

format of the World cup tournament in a certain nation which is chosen by votes, this lasts for

about a month and the final stage is called the World Cup finals. But to be able to participate,

the teams have to compete to book a place in the tournament at least three years before it

starts and this stage is called the “qualification stage”. This is a really special event for the

history of modern sport which links together not only the single countries or nations but also the

world’s population as a whole.

Sixteen different countries have been FIFA World Cup hosts since the inaugural competition in

1930 and they developed a new system according to which the host country is chosen in a vote

by FIFA’s council and this is done under an exhausted ballot system.

In 1998 it was already decided that the next World Cup in 2002 would take place in Japan and

South Korea so the first possibility for one in Africa would be in 2006: South Africa and Morocco

wanted to host but also Germany and England did and in the end, it was the German Football

association that (DFB) that for the third time in history had been awarded a major international

tournament.
The first time Germany hosted this event, only 16 teams took part in the final but still more than

1.8 million people watched the 38 games.

But why Germany and not England or Africa? With over 10 million spectators attending German

national Bundesliga it is clear that Germans have a special love for this sport, in addition

Germany has excellent infrastructures, transportations system and a high number of attractions.

A country that has the privilege to host such an important event has to make a lot of efforts and

invest a lot of money to succeed and satisfy FIFA congress’s standards.

At the same time the World cup had a very positive effect on the country’s economy and helped

improve its image internationally, in fact the four-week tournament earned Germany’s tourism

industry an extra 300 million euros in revenue, added 2 billion euros to retail sales and provided

50,000 new jobs.

Germany also earned 40 million euros through ticket sales so in general the FIFA World Cup,

as one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, is often assumed by potential host

countries as highly profitable, but current research, however, suggests that the economic growth

experienced by the host nations due to the World Cup event is lower than expectations.

Specifically, a number of economists assert that no observable short-term economic growth

exists within the tourism, retailing accommodation and employment sectors of the host

countries.

After explaining what this main event is and how it works i wanted to consider the final match in

FIFA World Cup 2006 that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion,Berlin,Germany to

determine the winner of the World Cup. Italy beat France on penalties after the match finished

1-1 after extra time. The match started with each side scoring within the first 20 minutes, Zidane

from the French team was the one who opened the scoring by converting a seventh-minute

penalty kick, concerned by Materazzi.

This final is also known for the argument the last two football players mentioned got into: some

video evidence suggested that Materazzi had verbally provoked Zidane after he showed an

arrogant behavior towards him.

Italy won their fourth World Cup title , following victories in 1934,1938 and 1982, Fabio Grosso

was the one who scored the winning penalty after France’s David Trezeguet missed. This

victory was a testament to the value of teamwork, the Italian team’s success was achieved

through hard work and unwavering commitment.

In conclusion, I decided to pick this theme as subject for my research because in my opinion,

football is one of the main aspects of modern european culture,so as a consequence it is a

remarkable historic event that keeps developing through the years and give emotions to a lot of

people. Soccer s the world’s most popular sport and it’s played every corner of the planet and

the world cup is is the biggest and most-watched sport event in the whole world so no matter

how you call it, if soccer or football, no other sport comes close to matching the worldwide

passion for the beautiful game, it is global. Commented [1]: Works Cited or in-text citation?