MAJOR FOOTBALL COMPETITIONS

The foremost international competition is the World cup, which is organised by FIFA and is held every four years. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying competitions for a place in the finals, involving 32 teams over a 4 week period.

There is also a tournament held at the Olympic Summer Games, but after the World Cup, the most important international competitions are the continental cups, such as: the European Cup, the Asian Cup; The African cup of Nations and The Copa America, all of which are held over a four year cycle.

The next level of international completions involves the club champions and leading clubs of each country who compete in continental competitions, such as the EUFA Champions league in Europe.

There are domestic competitions in each country, where the governing bodies organise various league systems, which would comprise several divisions, and teams gain points throughout the season, depending on the number of wins or draws, and at the end of the football season the top teams are the champions, and typically the top teams from lower divisions are promoted, and bottom teams are relegated.

In most countries, the league system is supplemented by one or more cup competitions, which follow a ‘knock out’ format, whereby a ‘draw’ is made, pitting the teams against each other, and the winners go into the next round, and so on until there are only two left who then contest the cup final.