No other sporting event captures①the world’s imagination like the FIFA World Cup. Ever since the first tentative②competition in Uruguay in 1930， FIFA’s flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige③.
A group of visionary French football administrators， led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet， are credited with the original idea of bringing the world’s strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions. The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet’s name and was contested three times in the 1930s， before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.
When it resumed④， the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status⑤as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world. Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas， the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee’s decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.
Since 1930， the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However， the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated⑥by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history—the United States defeating England in 1950， North Korea’s defeat of Italy in 1966， Cameroon’s emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990.
Today， the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France 98 tournament， including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone， while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadia.
After all these years and so many changes， however， the main focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same—the glistening golden trophy， which is the embodiment⑦of every footballer’s ambition.
① capturev. 引起(注意)，迷住
② tentativeadj. 试验性的，尝试的，暂时性的
③ prestigen. 名望，声望，威望
④ resumev. 重新开始，继续，恢复，重返，重新占用
⑤ statusn. 地位，身份
⑥ punctuatev. 不时打断
⑦ embodimentn. 具体化，化身
国际足联世界杯的历史
没有任何一项赛事可以像FIFA世界杯这样神奇。自从第一界比赛于1930年在乌拉圭举办之后，国际足联就成了一种时尚并随着成长威望不断提升。
19世纪20年代创新主义者雷米特领导了一群充满幻想的法国足球管理员，提出了将世界最强的国家队聚集到一起为世界足球冠军而比赛的最原始的意念。最初的冠军金杯由雷米特.朱尔斯的名字命名，并在19世纪30年代举行了三次。二战之前，此赛事被停办了12年。
当世界杯赛事再次举办时，FIFA世界杯就迅猛的以其无可异议的地位成为了当今世界最专业的体育赛事。自从1958年在欧洲和美洲交替举办后，1996年五月当国际足联执行委员会选择韩国和日本作为2002年世界杯的举办国后，世界杯又开创了一个新的区域。
自从1930年以来，16界世界杯的冠军得主只有7个国家队，然而，世界杯冠军队同时也不断的戏剧性的被打破，从而开创了足球又一个历史——1950年，美国打败英格兰，1966年北韩打败意大利，19世纪80年代，喀麦隆的出现更是开创了一个新的比赛记录，1990年喀麦隆打败世界冠军得主阿根廷队。
现在，FIFA世界杯在他的魅力影响下吸引了全球所有大众。98年法国世界杯，观众超过了370亿，包括决赛单独就大约有13亿，同时有超过270万的人聚集在法国的屏幕观看了64场比赛。
在经历了这么多年的发展和改变，然而FIFA世界杯的主旨仍然没有改变，那就是——闪耀的冠军金杯，每个足球选手的雄心的化身。
