The World Cup, probably the most prestigious footballing event has been played every four years since 1930 with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. The First World Cup was televised in 1954 and has become the most watched sporting event in the world with over 26 billion television viewers tuning in for the 2006 World Cup. It is thought that a ninth of the planets population watched the final, that's a staggering 715.1 million individuals.
Qualification for the World Cup takes place in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Oceania plus North and Central America and Caribbean, these are known as FIFA’s six continental zones. The process can take over two years to complete and will sometimes start nearly three years before the actual tournament. The Final itself feature 32 national teams who compete through two stages, the group stage and the knockout stage and followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match which is played by the losing semi-finalists and the final.
The next World Cup will be held in South Africa in 2010 and the contenders will be Brazil, Argentina, Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Holland, France, Portugal, Russia, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Mexico, Czech Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Turkey, Paraguay, Uruguay, Australia, South Africa, Senegal, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine, USA, Colombia, Poland, Tunisia, Japan, Togo, Romania, Belgium, Greece, South Korea, Rep of Ireland, Egypt, Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, Israel, Angola, Scotland, Canada, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Odds are already being given for each team with Brazil being the favourite at 5/1, England come in at fourth in line with odds of 9/1. However if you fancy a bet that could net you a potential fortune then Wales and Northern Ireland are the definite rank outsiders at 2500/1. Betting on either of these two teams in reality, is highly unlikely to generate you any cash, but then stranger things happen in life.
All odds stated were gathered on 11th December 2008.
