The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is France, which won its second title at the 2018 tournament in Russia.
| Founded | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Region | International (FIFA) |
| Number of teams | 32 (finals) |
| Current champions |  France (2nd title)(2018) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Brazil (5 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | List of broadcasters |
| Website | Official website |
The current format involves a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over about a month.
As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, twenty-one final tournaments have been held and a total of 79 national teams have competed. The trophy has been won by eight national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina, France, and inaugural winner Uruguay, with two titles each; and England and Spain, with one title each.
The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.
17 countries have hosted the World Cup. Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, and Mexico have each hosted twice, while Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Chile, England, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Japan and South Korea (jointly), South Africa, and Russia have each hosted once. Qatar will host the 2022 tournament, and 2026 will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups.
Hosts
| Confederation | Total | (Hosts) Years |
|---|---|---|
| AFC | 2 |   2002,  2022 |
| CAF | 1 |  2010 |
| CONCACAF | 4 |  1970, 1986,  1994,  2026 |
| CONMEBOL | 5 |  1930, 1950,  1962,  1978, 2014 |
| OFC | 0 | |
| UEFA | 11 |  1934, 1938,  1954,  1958,  1966, 1974,  1982, 1990, 1998, 2006,  2018 |
- 2018 FIFA World Cup
- 2014 FIFA World Cup
- 2010 FIFA World Cup
- 2006 FIFA World Cup
- 2002 FIFA World Cup
- 1998 FIFA World Cup
- 1994 FIFA World Cup
- 1990 FIFA World Cup
- 1986 FIFA World Cup
- 1982 FIFA World Cup
- 1978 FIFA World Cup
- 1974 FIFA World Cup
- 1970 FIFA World Cup
- 1966 FIFA World Cup
- 1962 FIFA World Cup
- 1958 FIFA World Cup
- 1954 FIFA World Cup
- 1950 FIFA World Cup
- 1938 FIFA World Cup
- 1934 FIFA World Cup
- 1930 FIFA World Cup