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The World Cup is Underway! |
by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
June 27, 2010
Every four years, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (World Football Association), or FIFA, holds a soccer (football) tournament known as The World Cup! This tournament is one of the most watched and most loved sporting events in the world, and is watched by billions of people internationally!
This year’s World Cup games began on June 11th and are being held in South Africa, the first African country to ever host the games! The games began with 32 teams competing against each other in eight groups of four to earn points: Three for a win, one for a tie, and zero for a loss. The two teams from each group with the highest number of points have now moved on to what is known as “The Round of 16”!
The sixteen countries playing in the current round are: Uruguay, South Korea, the U.S., Ghana, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Paraguay, Japan, Spain, and Portugal. These sixteen teams will play eight games, and the winners of those matches will then move on to the quarter-finals, followed by the semi-finals, and eventually… the finals!
So far, four of the eight games have been played (Uruguay vs. South Korea, U.S. vs. Ghana, Argentina vs. Mexico, and Germany vs. England) in a batch of very exciting matches! The winners (Uruguay, Ghana, Argentina, and Germany) will compete with each other in the next round, starting on July 2nd.
In the mean time, the whole world will be watching while the other four games of this round are played!
Who are you rooting for??
If you watch any World Cup games, here are some neat things to think about!
- Find out what the flags of the competing countries look like. Do the colors of the players’ uniforms seem to coordinate in any way to that country’s flag? How do the players’ uniforms and gear protect them and help them to play?
- Think about all of the different languages being spoken on the field by the players! Do you know the names of the languages spoken in the countries that are competing? How do you think this might affect the game?
- Where are the competing players from? Have a grown-up help you find these countries on a map and look up a cool fact about that place!
