Every four years, the FIFA World Cup captures the global imagination like no other sporting spectacle. With a cumulative television audience of several billion people tuning in to the 2014 World Cup, and an estimated 700 million watching the finals—including more than 25 million in the United States alone—the World Cup is the world’s most-watched sporting event.
The Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available on the history of this incomparable event. An introductory narrative explains the origins and historical progression of the World Cup, while a chronology traces the development of the World Cup since it was first held in 1930. Hundreds of entries cover the players and coaches who have participated in the World Cup and made the most memorable contributions to the event’s history. Additional entries include officials, stadiums, overviews of each major country’s performances, and more. A separate section provides detailed entries for each World Cup finals tournament. Appendixes contain details on every participant in World Cup history, as well as top performers, officials, and World Cup records.
Including an indispensable bibliography on the key World Cup texts, Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup is an essential reference for soccer fans, players, and researchers alike.
Every four years, the FIFA World Cup captures the global imagination like no other sporting spectacle. With a cumulative television audience of several billion people tuning in to the 2014 World Cup, and an estimated 700 million watching the finals—including more than 25 million in the United States alone—the World Cup is the world’s most-watched sporting event.
The Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available on the history of this incomparable event. An introductory narrative explains the origins and historical progression of the World Cup, while a chronology traces the development of the World Cup since it was first held in 1930. Hundreds of entries cover the players and coaches who have participated in the World Cup and made the most memorable contributions to the event’s history. Additional entries include officials, stadiums, overviews of each major country’s performances, and more. A separate section provides detailed entries for each World Cup finals tournament. Appendixes contain details on every participant in World Cup history, as well as top performers, officials, and World Cup records.
Including an indispensable bibliography on the key World Cup texts, Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup is an essential reference for soccer fans, players, and researchers alike.
Chronology
Introduction
Tournament Recaps
THE ENTRIES A TO Z
Appendix A:The FIFA World Cup: Dates, Hosts, Winners and
Runners-Up
Appendix B: The Golden Ball
Appendix C: The Golden Shoe
Appendix D: The Golden Glove Award
Appendix E: The Best Young Player Award
Appendix F: FIFA Fair Play Trophy
Bibliography
About the Author
Tom Dunmore is founder and editor of XI, a North American soccer
quarterly. An Indianapolis-based writer, his books include
Historical Dictionary of Soccer (Scarecrow Press, 2011) and The
Very Best of Pitch Invasion (2011).
Andrew Donaldson is an ex-collegiate and semi-professional soccer
player and a former Physical Activity Course instructor. He now
coaches soccer to kids at the collegiate, high school, club, and
Olympic Development Program levels.
The World Cup, occurring every four years, always brings about the
publication of numerous histories and encyclopedias. This
one, by sports writer Dunmore, author of Historical Dictionary of
Soccer, comes in response to the summer 2014 event in Brazil.
Still, the scope exceeds that one event, covering every World Cup
from 1930 on. Most of the volume consists of alphabetically
arranged entries focusing on players, coaches, stadiums, and event
hosts and summaries of the performance of every country that has
participated in a World Cup. The information contained in
this volume is mainly of the quick-and-dirty variety; the text is
unadorned by photographs, and there are no cross-references or
further readings following the entries. There is, however, an
excellent final bibliography of about 30 resources on World Cup
history. Perhaps the most useful aspect of this encyclopedia
is its ‘Tournament Recaps,’ which gives a succinct summary of each
World Cup followed by a user-friendly chart of game results and
round-by-round progression toward the champion of each event.
This section is preceded by a valuable, six-page introduction
offering an overview of the entire history of this now hugely
popular sporting phenomenon. Best suited for public
libraries, the volume also will appeal to academic readers at
institutions that support soccer programs…Summing Up: Recommended.
All readers.
*CHOICE*
Libraries gearing up for the 2018 World Cup may find this concise
volume a helpful addition for soccer enthusiasts of all ages.
*Booklist*
This encyclopedia is a necessary and thoroughly engaging companion
to the sport that so many around the globe have come to adore.
Prefacing the alphabetical entries is an excellent and concise
history of the tournament. . . .Within the entries are fascinating
facts and exciting moments from games worth reliving, such as
American hero Landon Donovan’s dramatic late goal against Algeria
in the 2010 tournament, or French legend Zinedine Zidane’s
notorious red card received during the 2006 final. The book’s
encyclopedic format makes it easy for readers to track the ebbs and
flows of a favorite player or home team. Including a number of
appendixes to chart individual tournament award winners, the book
offers entertaining, generous information about 'the beautiful
game' and its crowning tournament.
*American Reference Books Annual*
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