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The 2014 World Cup - From Your TV to Your Backyard

Learn more about the world's most watched sporting event and plan your own tournament!

By Melissa Hucal June 19, 2014
Soccer is the world's most popular sport. (Although soccer facts reveal that only the United States and Canada actually call soccer “soccer.” In other countries, the sport is referred to as "football.") It's estimated that there are over 265 million soccer players worldwide. That's nearly 4 percent of the world's population!

Now through  July 13th, even more people will be involved with the sport as billions are watching teams from 32 countries compete for the FIFA World Cup, the most prestigious soccer tournament ever. (Just a side note, more people watch the World Cup than  watch the Olympics!)

This is the 20th World Cup competition, which is being held in Brazil this year.  (The United States last hosted the Wold Cup in 1994.) It began in 1930 and in 1954 became the world's most broadly broadcasted sports event.

Only eight nations have won a World Cup. Brazil is on top of the list with 5 wins, followed closely by Italy and Germany with 4 and 3 wins respectively. Argentina and Uruguay have 2 titles each and England, France and Spain each have one.

Who will win this year? That is still to be determined, but host Brazil has been picked as a favorite.

After you've watched a few World Cup games, you can get into the soccer action, too, by hosting your own "Neighborhood Cup" soccer tournament!

Invite some friends over or head out to the park and try out these soccer-related challenges. All of these activities can be modified for both the age and ability of your players.
  1. Go for the goal. Take turns scoring a goal by kicking the ball into your designated goal area. It could be between two trees, under a picnic table or into a laundry basket turned on its side. The older the players, the more challenging you can make the goal. You can even add a goalie (someone to block the goal) to make it more challenging.
  2. Dribble while you race. Have two players run the length of the yard while keeping control of the soccer ball using only their feet (that's dribbling in soccer). Add a few cones or people in the path for the payers to navigate around.
  3. Play a game of "catch" (no hands allowed). In soccer, players can't use their hands to move the ball. Practice this skill by pairing up players and see how long (and how consistently) they can keep passing the ball back and forth, using only their feet.
When you finish your tournament, give an award to the "Neighborhood Cup" winner(s) and celebrate your accomplishments ... Just like the winning team will do in a few weeks!