document_title: Washington, D.C.

question_text: where's washington dc located on a map

question_tokens: where 's washington dc located on a map

text: Washington, D.C.

text: History

text: Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people (also known as the Conoy) inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century. One group known as the Nacotchtank (also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries) maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland.[5]

text: In his Federalist No. 43, published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety.[6] Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia. Known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security.[7]

text: Article One, Section Eight, of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States".[8] However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In what is now known as the Compromise of 1790, Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson came to an agreement that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the Southern United States.[9][a]

text: Foundation

text: On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who signed the bill into law on July 16. Formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (259 km2).[10][b]

text: Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory: the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751,[11] and the city of Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1749.[12] During 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including a free African American astronomer named Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point.[13] Many of the stones are still standing.[14]

text: A new federal city was then constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The federal district was named Columbia, which was a poetic name for the United States commonly in use at that time.[15][16] Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.[17]

text: Congress passed the Organic Act of 1801, which officially organized the District and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal government. Further, the unincorporated area within the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west.[18] After the passage of this Act, citizens living in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which therefore ended their representation in Congress.[19]

text: On August 24–25, 1814, in a raid known as the Burning of Washington, British forces invaded the capital during the War of 1812. The Capitol, Treasury, and White House were burned and gutted during the attack.[20] Most government buildings were repaired quickly; however, the Capitol was largely under construction at the time and was not completed in its current form until 1868.[21]

text: Retrocession and the Civil War

text: In the 1830s, the District's southern territory of Alexandria went into economic decline partly due to neglect by Congress.[22] The city of Alexandria was a major market in the American slave trade, and pro-slavery residents feared that abolitionists in Congress would end slavery in the District, further depressing the economy. Alexandria's citizens petitioned Virginia to take back the land it had donated to form the District, through a process known as retrocession.[23]

text: The Virginia General Assembly voted in February 1846 to accept the return of Alexandria and on July 9, 1846, Congress agreed to return all the territory that had been ceded by Virginia. Therefore, the District's current area consists only of the portion originally donated by Maryland.[22] Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, although not slavery itself.[24]

text: The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to expansion of the federal government and notable growth in the District's population, including a large influx of freed slaves.[25] President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and freed about 3,100 enslaved persons, nine months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.[26] In 1868, Congress granted the District's African American male residents the right to vote in municipal elections.[25]

text: Growth and redevelopment

text: By 1870, the District's population had grown 75% from the previous census to nearly 132,000 residents.[27] Despite the city's growth, Washington still had dirt roads and lacked basic sanitation. Some members of Congress suggested moving the capital further west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider such a proposal.[28]

text: Congress passed the Organic Act of 1871, which repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and created a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia.[29] President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd to the position of governor in 1873. Shepherd authorized large-scale projects that greatly modernized Washington, but ultimately bankrupted the District government. In 1874, Congress replaced the territorial government with an appointed three-member Board of Commissioners.[30]

text: The city's first motorized streetcars began service in 1888 and generated growth in areas of the District beyond the City of Washington's original boundaries. Washington's urban plan was expanded throughout the District in the following decades.[31] Georgetown was formally annexed by the City of Washington in 1895.[32] However, the city had poor housing conditions and strained public works. Washington was the first city in the nation to undergo urban renewal projects as part of the "City Beautiful movement" in the early 1900s.[33]

text: Increased federal spending as a result of the New Deal in the 1930s led to the construction of new government buildings, memorials, and museums in Washington.[34] World War II further increased government activity, adding to the number of federal employees in the capital;[35] by 1950, the District's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents.[27]

text: Civil rights and home rule era

text: The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the District three votes in the Electoral College for the election of president and vice president, but still no voting representation in Congress.[36]

text: After the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the District, primarily in the U Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, centers of black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until more than 13,600 federal troops stopped the violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned; rebuilding was not completed until the late 1990s.[37]

text: In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, providing for an elected mayor and 13-member council for the District.[38] In 1975, Walter Washington became the first elected and first black mayor of the District.[39]

text: On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and deliberately crashed the plane into the Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Virginia. United Airlines Flight 93, believed to be destined for Washington, D.C., crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to recover control of the plane from hijackers.[40][41]

text: Geography

text: Washington, D.C., is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. East Coast. Due to the District of Columbia retrocession, the city has a total area of 68.34 square miles (177.0 km2), of which 61.05 square miles (158.1 km2) is land and 7.29 square miles (18.9 km2) (10.67%) is water.[43] The District is bordered by Montgomery County, Maryland, to the northwest; Prince George's County, Maryland, to the east; and Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, to the south and west.

text: The south bank of the Potomac River forms the District's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries: the Anacostia River and Rock Creek.[44] Tiber Creek, a natural watercourse that once passed through the National Mall, was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s.[45] The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled Washington City Canal, which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until the 1850s.[46] The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of Washington at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line.[47]

text: The highest natural elevation in the District is 409 feet (125 m) above sea level at Fort Reno Park in upper northwest Washington.[48] The lowest point is sea level at the Potomac River.[49] The geographic center of Washington is near the intersection of 4th and L Streets NW.[50] Contrary to the urban legend, Washington was not built on a reclaimed swamp, but wetlands did cover areas along the water.[51][52]

text: The District has 7,464 acres (30.21 km2) of parkland, about 19% of the city's total area and the second-highest percentage among high-density U.S. cities.[53] The National Park Service manages most of the 9,122 acres (36.92 km2) of city land owned by the U.S. government.[54] Rock Creek Park is a 1,754-acre (7.10 km2) urban forest in Northwest Washington, which extends 9.3 miles (15.0 km) through a stream valley that bisects the city. Established in 1890, it is the country's fourth-oldest national park and is home to a variety of plant and animal species including raccoon, deer, owls, and coyotes.[55] Other National Park Service properties include the C&O Canal National Historical Park, the National Mall and Memorial Parks, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Columbia Island, Fort Dupont Park, Meridian Hill Park, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, and Anacostia Park.[56] The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the city's 900 acres (3.6 km2) of athletic fields and playgrounds, 40 swimming pools, and 68 recreation centers.[57] The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates the 446-acre (1.80 km2) U.S. National Arboretum in Northeast Washington.[58]

text: Climate

text: Washington is in the northern part of the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen: Cfa)[59] However, under the Trewartha climate classification, the city has a temperate maritime climate (Do).[60] Winters are usually chilly with light snow, and summers are hot and humid. The District is in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city, indicating a humid subtropical climate.[61]

text: Spring and fall are mild to warm, while winter is chilly with annual snowfall averaging 15.5 inches (39 cm). Winter temperatures average around 38 °F (3.3 °C) from mid-December to mid-February.[62] Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of 79.8 °F (26.6 °C) and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause moderate personal discomfort.[63] The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in the area.[64]

text: Blizzards affect Washington on average once every four to six years. The most violent storms are called "nor'easters", which often affect large sections of the East Coast.[65] From January 27 to 28, 1922, the city officially received 28 inches (71 cm) of snowfall, the largest snowstorm since official measurements began in 1885.[66] According to notes kept at the time, the city received between 30 and 36 inches (76 and 91 cm) from a snowstorm on January 1772.[67]

text: Hurricanes (or their remnants) occasionally track through the area in late summer and early fall, but are often weak by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location.[68] Flooding of the Potomac River, however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in the neighborhood of Georgetown.[69]

text: Precipitation occurs throughout the year.[70]

text: The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 6, 1918, and on July 20, 1930.[71] while the lowest recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 11, 1899, during the Great Blizzard of 1899.[65] During a typical year, the city averages about 37 days at or above 90 °F (32.2 °C) and 64 nights at or below freezing.[62]

text:
[show]

v
t
e

Climate data for Washington, D.C. (Reagan National Airport), 1981−2010 normals,[c] extremes 1871−present[d]

Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year

Record high °F (°C)
79
(26)
84
(29)
93
(34)
95
(35)
99
(37)
104
(40)
106
(41)
106
(41)
104
(40)
96
(36)
86
(30)
79
(26)
106
(41)

Mean maximum °F (°C)
65.5
(18.6)
67.5
(19.7)
78.0
(25.6)
85.8
(29.9)
90.3
(32.4)
95.2
(35.1)
97.5
(36.4)
96.5
(35.8)
91.6
(33.1)
83.7
(28.7)
74.9
(23.8)
66.4
(19.1)
98.8
(37.1)

Average high °F (°C)
43.4
(6.3)
47.1
(8.4)
55.9
(13.3)
66.6
(19.2)
75.4
(24.1)
84.2
(29)
88.4
(31.3)
86.5
(30.3)
79.5
(26.4)
68.4
(20.2)
57.9
(14.4)
46.8
(8.2)
66.8
(19.3)

Daily mean °F (°C)
36.1
(2.3)
39.1
(3.9)
46.9
(8.3)
56.9
(13.8)
66.1
(18.9)
75.3
(24.1)
79.8
(26.6)
78.2
(25.7)
71.1
(21.7)
59.6
(15.3)
49.6
(9.8)
39.8
(4.3)
58.21
(14.56)

Average low °F (°C)
28.6
(−1.9)
30.9
(−0.6)
37.6
(3.1)
47.0
(8.3)
56.5
(13.6)
66.3
(19.1)
71.1
(21.7)
69.7
(20.9)
62.4
(16.9)
50.6
(10.3)
41.2
(5.1)
32.5
(0.3)
49.6
(9.8)

Mean minimum °F (°C)
12.9
(−10.6)
16.6
(−8.6)
22.9
(−5.1)
33.9
(1.1)
44.6
(7)
54.8
(12.7)
62.1
(16.7)
60.1
(15.6)
49.7
(9.8)
38.0
(3.3)
28.7
(−1.8)
18.2
(−7.7)
9.9
(−12.3)

Record low °F (°C)
−14
(−26)
−15
(−26)
4
(−16)
15
(−9)
33
(1)
43
(6)
52
(11)
49
(9)
36
(2)
26
(−3)
11
(−12)
−13
(−25)
−15
(−26)

Average precipitation inches (mm)
2.81
(71.4)
2.62
(66.5)
3.48
(88.4)
3.06
(77.7)
3.99
(101.3)
3.78
(96)
3.73
(94.7)
2.93
(74.4)
3.72
(94.5)
3.40
(86.4)
3.17
(80.5)
3.05
(77.5)
39.74
(1,009.4)

Average snowfall inches (cm)
5.6
(14.2)
5.7
(14.5)
1.3
(3.3)
trace
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0.5
(1.3)
2.3
(5.8)
15.4
(39.1)

Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)
9.6
9.0
10.5
10.4
11.1
10.7
10.3
8.2
8.3
7.7
8.6
9.7
114.1

Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)
3.0
2.4
0.9
0.1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.2
1.5
8.1

Average relative humidity (%)
62.1
60.5
58.6
58.0
64.5
65.8
66.9
69.3
69.7
67.4
64.7
64.1
64.3

Mean monthly sunshine hours
144.6
151.8
204.0
228.2
260.5
283.2
280.5
263.1
225.0
203.6
150.2
133.0
2,527.7

Percent possible sunshine
48
50
55
57
59
64
62
62
60
59
50
45
57

Source: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961−1990)[62][73][70][74]

text: Cityscape

text: Washington, D.C., is a planned city. In 1791, President Washington commissioned Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, a French-born architect and city planner, to design the new capital. He enlisted Scottish surveyor Alexander Ralston helped layout the city plan.[75] The L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping.[76] He based his design on plans of cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Karlsruhe, and Milan that Thomas Jefferson had sent to him.[77] L'Enfant's design also envisioned a garden-lined "grand avenue" approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) in length and 400 feet (120 m) wide in the area that is now the National Mall.[78]

text: President Washington dismissed L'Enfant in March 1792 due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott, who had worked with L'Enfant surveying the city, was then tasked with completing the design. Though Ellicott made revisions to the original plans, including changes to some street patterns, L'Enfant is still credited with the overall design of the city.[79]

text: By the early 1900s, L'Enfant's vision of a grand national capital had become marred by slums and randomly placed buildings, including a railroad station on the National Mall. Congress formed a special committee charged with beautifying Washington's ceremonial core.[33] What became known as the McMillan Plan was finalized in 1901 and included re-landscaping the Capitol grounds and the National Mall, clearing slums, and establishing a new citywide park system. The plan is thought to have largely preserved L'Enfant's intended design.[76]

text: By law, Washington's skyline is low and sprawling. The federal Heights of Buildings Act of 1910 allows buildings that are no taller than the width of the adjacent street, plus 20 feet (6.1 m).[80] Despite popular belief, no law has ever limited buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument,[52] which remains the District's tallest structure. City leaders have criticized the height restriction as a primary reason why the District has limited affordable housing and traffic problems caused by urban sprawl.[80]

text: The District is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW). The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol building.[81] All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location and house numbers generally correspond with the number of blocks away from the Capitol. Most streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW), north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW), and diagonal avenues, many of which are named after states.[81]

text: The City of Washington was bordered by Boundary Street to the north (renamed Florida Avenue in 1890), Rock Creek to the west, and the Anacostia River to the east.[31][76] Washington's street grid was extended, where possible, throughout the District starting in 1888.[82] Georgetown's streets were renamed in 1895.[32] Some streets are particularly noteworthy, such as Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the White House to the Capitol and K Street, which houses the offices of many lobbying groups.[83] Washington hosts 177 foreign embassies, constituting approximately 297 buildings beyond the more than 1,600 residential properties owned by foreign countries, many of which are on a section of Massachusetts Avenue informally known as Embassy Row.[84]

text: Architecture

text: The architecture of Washington varies greatly. Six of the top 10 buildings in the American Institute of Architects' 2007 ranking of "America's Favorite Architecture" are in the District of Columbia:[85] the White House; the Washington National Cathedral; the Thomas Jefferson Memorial; the United States Capitol; the Lincoln Memorial; and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The neoclassical, Georgian, gothic, and modern architectural styles are all reflected among those six structures and many other prominent edifices in Washington. Notable exceptions include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire style such as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.[86]

text: Outside downtown Washington, architectural styles are even more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne, Châteauesque, Richardsonian Romanesque, Georgian revival, Beaux-Arts, and a variety of Victorian styles. Rowhouses are especially prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federalist and late Victorian designs.[87] Georgetown's Old Stone House was built in 1765, making it the oldest-standing original building in the city.[88] Founded in 1789, Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture.[86] The Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in the District with a total area of approximately 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m2).[89]

text: Demographics

text:
Historical population

Census
Pop.

%±

1800
8,144

—

1810
15,471

90.0%

1820
23,336

50.8%

1830
30,261

29.7%

1840
33,745

11.5%

1850
51,687

53.2%

1860
75,080

45.3%

1870
131,700

75.4%

1880
177,624

34.9%

1890
230,392

29.7%

1900
278,718

21.0%

1910
331,069

18.8%

1920
437,571

32.2%

1930
486,869

11.3%

1940
663,091

36.2%

1950
802,178

21.0%

1960
763,956

−4.8%

1970
756,510

−1.0%

1980
638,333

−15.6%

1990
606,900

−4.9%

2000
572,059

−5.7%

2010
601,723

5.2%

Est. 2016
681,170
[90]
13.2%

Source:[27][91] Note:[e]

text: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the District's population was 681,170 on July 1, 2016, an 13.2% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[3] The increase continues a growth trend since 2000, following a half-century of population decline.[93] The city was the 24th most populous place in the United States as of 2010[update].[94] According to data from 2010, commuters from the suburbs increase the District's daytime population to over one million people.[95] If the District were a state it would rank 49th in population, ahead of Vermont and Wyoming.[3]

text: The Washington Metropolitan Area, which includes the District and surrounding suburbs, is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States with an estimated 6 million residents in 2014.[4] When the Washington area is included with Baltimore and its suburbs, the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area had a population exceeding 9.5 million residents in 2014, the fourth-largest combined statistical area in the country.[96]

text: According to 2016 Census Bureau data, the population of Washington, D.C., was 47.7% Black or African American, 44.6% White (36.4% non-Hispanic White), 4.1% Asian, 0.6% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.2% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Individuals from two or more races made up 2.7% of the population. Hispanics of any race made up 10.9% of the District's population.[97]

text: Washington has had a significant African American population since the city's foundation.[98] African American residents composed about 30% of the District's total population between 1800 and 1940.[27] The black population reached a peak of 70% by 1970, but has since steadily declined due to many African Americans moving to the surrounding suburbs. Partly as a result of gentrification, there was a 31.4% increase in the non-Hispanic white population and an 11.5% decrease in the black population between 2000 and 2010.[99]

text: About 17% of D.C. residents were age 18 or younger in 2010; lower than the U.S. average of 24%. However, at 34 years old, the District had the lowest median age compared to the 50 states.[100] As of 2010[update], there were an estimated 81,734 immigrants living in Washington, D.C.[101] Major sources of immigration include El Salvador, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, with a concentration of Salvadorans in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.[102]

text: Researchers found that there were 4,822 same-sex couples in the District of Columbia in 2010; about 2% of total households.[103] Legislation authorizing same-sex marriage passed in 2009 and the District began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in March 2010.[104]

text: A 2007 report found that about one-third of District residents were functionally illiterate, compared to a national rate of about one in five. This is attributed in part to immigrants who are not proficient in English.[105] As of 2011[update], 85% of D.C. residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language.[106] Half of residents had at least a four-year college degree in 2006.[101] D.C. residents had a personal income per capita of $55,755; higher than any of the 50 states.[107] However, 19% of residents were below the poverty level in 2005, higher than any state except Mississippi.[108]

text: Of the District's population, 17% is Baptist, 13% is Catholic, 6% is Evangelical Protestant, 4% is Methodist, 3% is Episcopalian/Anglican, 3% is Jewish, 2% is Eastern Orthodox, 1% is Pentecostal, 1% is Buddhist, 1% is Adventist, 1% is Lutheran, 1% is Muslim, 1% is Presbyterian, 1% is Mormon, and 1% is Hindu.[109][f]

text: Over 90% of D.C. residents have health insurance coverage, the second-highest rate in the nation. This is due in part to city programs that help provide insurance to low-income individuals who do not qualify for other types of coverage.[110] A 2009 report found that at least 3% of District residents have HIV or AIDS, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) characterizes as a "generalized and severe" epidemic.[111]

text: Crime

text: Crime in Washington, D.C., is concentrated in areas associated with poverty, drug abuse, and gangs. A 2010 study found that 5% of city blocks accounted for over one-quarter of the District's total crime.[112] The more affluent neighborhoods of Northwest Washington are typically safe, but reports of violent crime increase in poorer neighborhoods generally concentrated in the eastern portion of the city.[112] Approximately 60,000 residents are ex-convicts.[113]

text: Washington was often described as the "murder capital" of the United States during the early 1990s.[114] The number of murders peaked in 1991 at 479, but the level of violence then began to decline significantly.[115] By 2012, Washington's annual murder count had dropped to 88, the lowest total since 1961.[116] The murder rate has since risen from that historic low, though it remains close to half the rate of the early 2000s.[117] In 2016, the District's Metropolitan Police Department tallied 135 homicides, a 53% increase from 2012 but a 17% decrease from 2015.[118] Many neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and Logan Circle are becoming safer and vibrant. However, incidents of robberies and thefts have remained higher in these areas because of increased nightlife activity and greater numbers of affluent residents.[119] Even still, citywide reports of both property and violent crimes have declined by nearly half since their most recent highs in the mid-1990s.[120]

text: On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the city's 1976 handgun ban violated the right to keep and bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment.[121] However, the ruling does not prohibit all forms of gun control; laws requiring firearm registration remain in place, as does the city's assault weapon ban.[122] In addition to the District's own Metropolitan Police Department, many federal law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction in the city as well; most visibly the U.S. Park Police, founded in 1791.[123]

text: Economy

text: Washington has a growing, diversified economy with an increasing percentage of professional and business service jobs.[124] The gross state product of the District in 2010 was $103.3 billion, which would rank it No. 34 compared to the 50 states.[125] The gross product of the Washington Metropolitan Area was $435 billion in 2014, making it the sixth-largest metropolitan economy in the United States.[126] Between 2009 and 2016, GDP per capita in Washington, D.C has consistently ranked on the very top among US states.[127] In 2016, at $160,472, its GDP per capita is almost three times as high as that of Massachusetts, which ranked second place in the country.[127] As of June 2011, the Washington Metropolitan Area had an unemployment rate of 6.2%; the second-lowest rate among the 49 largest metro areas in the nation.[128] The District of Columbia itself had an unemployment rate of 9.8% during the same time period.[129]

text: In 2012, the federal government accounted for about 29% of the jobs in Washington, D.C.[130] This is thought to immunize Washington to national economic downturns because the federal government continues operations even during recessions.[131] Many organizations such as law firms, independent contractors (both defense and civilian), non-profit organizations, lobbying firms, trade unions, industry trade groups, and professional associations have their headquarters in or near D.C. to be close to the federal government.[83]

text: Tourism is Washington's second largest industry. Approximately 18.9 million visitors contributed an estimated $4.8 billion to the local economy in 2012.[132] The District also hosts nearly 200 foreign embassies and international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization. In 2008, the foreign diplomatic corps in Washington employed about 10,000 people and contributed an estimated $400 million annually to the local economy.[84]

text: The District has growing industries not directly related to government, especially in the areas of education, finance, public policy, and scientific research. Georgetown University, George Washington University, Washington Hospital Center, Children's National Medical Center and Howard University are the top five non-government-related employers in the city as of 2009[update].[133] According to statistics compiled in 2011, four of the largest 500 companies in the country were headquartered in the District.[134] In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Washington was ranked as having the 12th most competitive financial center in the world, and fifth most competitive in the United States (after New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston).[135]

text: Culture

text: Historic sites and museums

text: The National Mall is a large, open park in downtown Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol. Given its prominence, the mall is often the location of political protests, concerts, festivals, and presidential inaugurations. The Washington Monument and the Jefferson Pier are near the center of the mall, south of the White House. Also on the mall are the National World War II Memorial at the east end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.[136]

text: Directly south of the mall, the Tidal Basin features rows of Japanese cherry blossom trees that originated as gifts from the nation of Japan.[137] The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the District of Columbia War Memorial are around the Tidal Basin.[136]

text: The National Archives houses thousands of documents important to American history including the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.[138] Located in three buildings on Capitol Hill, the Library of Congress is the largest library complex in the world with a collection of over 147 million books, manuscripts, and other materials.[139] The United States Supreme Court Building was completed in 1935; before then, the court held sessions in the Old Senate Chamber of the Capitol.[140]

text: The Smithsonian Institution is an educational foundation chartered by Congress in 1846 that maintains most of the nation's official museums and galleries in Washington, D.C. The U.S. government partially funds the Smithsonian and its collections open to the public free of charge.[141] The Smithsonian's locations had a combined total of 30 million visits in 2013. The most visited museum is the National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall.[142] Other Smithsonian Institution museums and galleries on the mall are: the National Air and Space Museum; the National Museum of African Art; the National Museum of American History; the National Museum of the American Indian; the Sackler and Freer galleries, which both focus on Asian art and culture; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the Arts and Industries Building; the S. Dillon Ripley Center; and the Smithsonian Institution Building (also known as "The Castle"), which serves as the institution's headquarters.[143]

text: The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery are housed in the Old Patent Office Building, near Washington's Chinatown.[144] The Renwick Gallery is officially part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum but is in a separate building near the White House. Other Smithsonian museums and galleries include: the Anacostia Community Museum in Southeast Washington; the National Postal Museum near Union Station; and the National Zoo in Woodley Park.[143]

text: The National Gallery of Art is on the National Mall near the Capitol and features works of American and European art. The gallery and its collections are owned by the U.S. government but are not a part of the Smithsonian Institution.[145] The National Building Museum, which occupies the former Pension Building near Judiciary Square, was chartered by Congress and hosts exhibits on architecture, urban planning, and design.[146]

text: There are many private art museums in the District of Columbia, which house major collections and exhibits open to the public such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the largest private museum in Washington;[147] and The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle, the first museum of modern art in the United States.[148] Other private museums in Washington include the Newseum, the O Street Museum Foundation, the International Spy Museum, the National Geographic Society Museum, and the Marian Koshland Science Museum. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum near the National Mall maintains exhibits, documentation, and artifacts related to the Holocaust.[149]

text: Arts

text: Washington, D.C., is a national center for the arts. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is home to the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, and the Washington Ballet. The Kennedy Center Honors are awarded each year to those in the performing arts who have contributed greatly to the cultural life of the United States.[150] The historic Ford's Theatre, site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, continues to operate as a functioning performance space as well as museum.[151]

text: The Marine Barracks near Capitol Hill houses the United States Marine Band; founded in 1798, it is the country's oldest professional musical organization.[152] American march composer and Washington-native John Philip Sousa led the Marine Band from 1880 until 1892.[153] Founded in 1925, the United States Navy Band has its headquarters at the Washington Navy Yard and performs at official events and public concerts around the city.[154]

text: Washington has a strong local theater tradition. Founded in 1950, Arena Stage achieved national attention and spurred growth in the city's independent theater movement that now includes organizations such as the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and the Studio Theatre.[155] Arena Stage opened its newly renovated home in the city's emerging Southwest waterfront area in 2010.[156] The GALA Hispanic Theatre, now housed in the historic Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights, was founded in 1976 and is a National Center for the Latino Performing Arts.[157]

text: The U Street Corridor in Northwest D.C., known as "Washington's Black Broadway", is home to institutions like the Howard Theatre, Bohemian Caverns, and the Lincoln Theatre, which hosted music legends such as Washington-native Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis.[158] Washington has its own native music genre called go-go; a post-funk, percussion-driven flavor of rhythm and blues that was popularized in the late 1970s by D.C. band leader Chuck Brown.[159]

text: The District is an important center for indie culture and music in the United States. The label Dischord Records, formed by Ian MacKaye, was one of the most crucial independent labels in the genesis of 1980s punk and eventually indie rock in the 1990s.[160] Modern alternative and indie music venues like The Black Cat and the 9:30 Club bring popular acts to the U Street area.[161]

text: Sports

text: Washington is one of 13 cities in the United States with teams from all four major professional men's sports and is home to one major professional women's team. The Washington Wizards (National Basketball Association), the Washington Capitals (National Hockey League), and the Washington Mystics (Women's National Basketball Association), play at the Capital One Arena in Chinatown. Nationals Park, which opened in Southeast D.C. in 2008, is home to the Washington Nationals (Major League Baseball). D.C. United (Major League Soccer) plays at RFK Stadium. The Washington Redskins (National Football League) play at FedExField in nearby Landover, Maryland.

text: Current D.C. teams have won a combined ten professional league championships: the Washington Redskins have won five;[162] D.C. United has won four;[163] and the Washington Wizards (then the Washington Bullets) have won a single championship.[164]

text: Other professional and semi-professional teams in Washington include: the Washington Kastles (World TeamTennis); the Washington D.C. Slayers (USA Rugby League); the Baltimore Washington Eagles (U.S. Australian Football League); the D.C. Divas (Independent Women's Football League); and the Potomac Athletic Club RFC (Rugby Super League). The William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park hosts the Citi Open. Washington is also home to two major annual marathon races: the Marine Corps Marathon, which is held every autumn, and the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon held in the spring. The Marine Corps Marathon began in 1976 and is sometimes called "The People's Marathon" because it is the largest marathon that does not offer prize money to participants.[165]

text: The District's four NCAA Division I teams, American Eagles, George Washington Colonials, Georgetown Hoyas and Howard Bison and Lady Bison, have a broad following. The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team is the most notable and also plays at the Capital One Arena. From 2008 to 2012, the District hosted an annual college football bowl game at RFK Stadium, called the Military Bowl.[166] The D.C. area is home to one regional sports television network, Comcast SportsNet (CSN), based in Bethesda, Maryland.

text: Media

text: Washington, D.C., is a prominent center for national and international media. The Washington Post, founded in 1877, is the oldest and most-read local daily newspaper in Washington.[167] It is probably most notable for its coverage of national and international politics and for exposing the Watergate scandal.[168] "The Post", as it is popularly called, had the sixth-highest readership of all news dailies in the country in 2011.[169] The Washington Post Company also publishes a daily free commuter newspaper called the Express, which summarizes events, sports and entertainment, as well as the Spanish-language paper El Tiempo Latino.

text: Another popular local daily is The Washington Times, the city's second general interest broadsheet and also an influential paper in political circles.[170] The alternative weekly Washington City Paper also have substantial readership in the Washington area.[171][172]

text: Some community and specialty papers focus on neighborhood and cultural issues, including the weekly Washington Blade and Metro Weekly, which focus on LGBT issues; the Washington Informer and The Washington Afro American, which highlight topics of interest to the black community; and neighborhood newspapers published by The Current Newspapers. Congressional Quarterly, The Hill, Politico and Roll Call newspapers focus exclusively on issues related to Congress and the federal government. Other publications based in Washington include the National Geographic magazine and political publications such as The Washington Examiner, The New Republic and Washington Monthly.[173]

text: The Washington Metropolitan Area is the ninth-largest television media market in the nation, with two million homes, approximately 2% of the country's population.[174] Several media companies and cable television channels have their headquarters in the area, including C-SPAN; Black Entertainment Television (BET); Radio One; the National Geographic Channel; Smithsonian Networks; National Public Radio (NPR); Travel Channel (in Chevy Chase, Maryland); Discovery Communications (in Silver Spring, Maryland); and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (in Arlington, Virginia). The headquarters of Voice of America, the U.S. government's international news service, is near the Capitol in Southwest Washington.[175]

text: Government and politics

text: Politics

text:
Mayoral election results[176]

Year
Democratic
Republican

1974
82.5% 79,065
3.7% 3,501

1978
70.2% 68,354
28.1% 27,366

1982
81.0% 95,007
14.1% 16,502

1986
61.4% 79,142
32.8% 42,354

1990
86.2% 140,011
11.5% 18,653

1994
56.0% 102,884
41.9% 76,902

1998
66.2% 92,504
30.2% 42,280

2002
60.6% 79,841
34.5% 45,407

2006
89.7% 98,740
6.1% 6,744

2010
74.2% 97,978

2014
54.5% 96,666
[g]

text:
Presidential election results[176][178]

Year
Democratic
Republican

1964
85.5% 169,796
14.5% 28,801

1968
81.8% 139,566
18.2% 31,012

1972
78.1% 127,627
21.6% 35,226

1976
81.6% 137,818
16.5% 27,873

1980
74.9% 130,231
13.4% 26,218

1984
85.4% 180,408
13.7% 29,009

1988
82.6% 159,407
14.3% 27,590

1992
84.6% 192,619
9.1% 20,698

1996
85.2% 158,220
9.3% 17,339

2000
85.2% 171,923
9.0% 18,073

2004
89.0% 202,970
9.3% 21,256

2008
92.5% 245,800
6.5% 17,367

2012
90.9% 267,070
7.3% 21,381

2016
90.5% 282,830
4.1% 12,723

text: Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution grants the United States Congress "exclusive jurisdiction" over the city. The District did not have an elected local government until the passage of the 1973 Home Rule Act. The Act devolved certain Congressional powers to an elected mayor, currently Muriel Bowser, and the thirteen-member Council of the District of Columbia. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.[179]

text: Each of the city's eight wards elects a single member of the council and residents elect four at-large members to represent the District as a whole. The council chair is also elected at-large.[180] There are 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) elected by small neighborhood districts. ANCs can issue recommendations on all issues that affect residents; government agencies take their advice under careful consideration.[181] The Attorney General of the District of Columbia, currently Karl Racine, is elected to a four-year term.[182]

text: Washington, D.C., observes all federal holidays and also celebrates Emancipation Day on April 16, which commemorates the end of slavery in the District.[26] The flag of Washington, D.C., was adopted in 1938 and is a variation on George Washington's family coat of arms.[183]

text: Budgetary issues

text: The mayor and council set local taxes and a budget, which must be approved by Congress. The Government Accountability Office and other analysts have estimated that the city's high percentage of tax-exempt property and the Congressional prohibition of commuter taxes create a structural deficit in the District's local budget of anywhere between $470 million and over $1 billion per year. Congress typically provides additional grants for federal programs such as Medicaid and the operation of the local justice system; however, analysts claim that the payments do not fully resolve the imbalance.[184][185]

text: The city's local government, particularly during the mayoralty of Marion Barry, was criticized for mismanagement and waste.[186] During his administration in 1989, The Washington Monthly magazine claimed that the District had "the worst city government in America."[187] In 1995, at the start of Barry's fourth term, Congress created the District of Columbia Financial Control Board to oversee all municipal spending.[188] Mayor Anthony Williams won election in 1998 and oversaw a period of urban renewal and budget surpluses. The District regained control over its finances in 2001 and the oversight board's operations were suspended.[189]

text: Voting rights debate

text: The District is not a state and therefore has no voting representation in the Congress. D.C. residents elect a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, currently Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C. At-Large), who may sit on committees, participate in debate, and introduce legislation, but cannot vote on the House floor. The District has no official representation in the United States Senate. Neither chamber seats the District's elected "shadow" representative or senators. Unlike residents of U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico or Guam, which also have non-voting delegates, D.C., residents are subject to all federal taxes.[190] In the financial year 2012, D.C., residents and businesses paid $20.7 billion in federal taxes; more than the taxes collected from 19 states and the highest federal taxes per capita.[191]

text: A 2005 poll found that 78% of Americans did not know that residents of the District of Columbia have less representation in Congress than residents of the 50 states.[192] Efforts to raise awareness about the issue have included campaigns by grassroots organizations and featuring the city's unofficial motto, "Taxation Without Representation", on D.C. vehicle license plates.[193] There is evidence of nationwide approval for D.C. voting rights; various polls indicate that 61 to 82% of Americans believe that D.C. should have voting representation in Congress.[192][194] Despite public support, attempts to grant the District voting representation, including the D.C. statehood movement and the proposed District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, have been unsuccessful.

text: Opponents of D.C. voting rights propose that the Founding Fathers never intended for District residents to have a vote in Congress since the Constitution makes clear that representation must come from the states. Those opposed to making D.C. a state claim that such a move would destroy the notion of a separate national capital and that statehood would unfairly grant Senate representation to a single city.[195]

text: Sister cities

text: Washington, D.C., has fourteen official sister city agreements. Listed in the order each agreement was first established, they are: Bangkok, Thailand (1962, renewed 2002); Dakar, Senegal (1980, renewed 2006); Beijing, China (1984, renewed 2004); Brussels, Belgium (1985, renewed 2002); Athens, Greece (2000); Paris, France (2000 as a friendship and cooperation agreement, renewed 2005);[196] Pretoria, South Africa (2002, renewed 2008); Seoul, South Korea (2006); Accra, Ghana (2006); Sunderland, United Kingdom (2006); Rome, Italy (2011); Ankara, Turkey (2011); Brasília, Brazil (2013); and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2013).[197] Each of the listed cities is a national capital except for Sunderland, which includes the town of Washington, the ancestral home of George Washington's family.[198] Paris and Rome are each formally recognized as a "partner city" due to their special one sister city policy.[199]

text: Education

text: District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) operates the city's 123 public schools.[200] The number of students in DCPS steadily decreased for 39 years until 2009. In the 2010–11 school year, 46,191 students were enrolled in the public school system.[201] DCPS has one of the highest-cost yet lowest-performing school systems in the country, both in terms of infrastructure and student achievement.[202] Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration made sweeping changes to the system by closing schools, replacing teachers, firing principals, and using private education firms to aid curriculum development.[203]

text: The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board monitors the 52 public charter schools in the city.[204] Due to the perceived problems with the traditional public school system, enrollment in public charter schools has steadily increased.[205] As of fall 2010, D.C., charter schools had a total enrollment of about 32,000, a 9% increase from the prior year.[201] The District is also home to 92 private schools, which enrolled approximately 18,000 students in 2008.[206] The District of Columbia Public Library operates 25 neighborhood locations including the landmark Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.[207]

text: Private universities include American University (AU), the Catholic University of America (CUA), Gallaudet University, George Washington University (GW), Georgetown University (GU), Howard University, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and Trinity Washington University. The Corcoran College of Art and Design provides specialized arts instruction and other higher-education institutions offer continuing, distance and adult education. The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public university providing undergraduate and graduate education. D.C. residents may also be eligible for a grant of up to $10,000 per year to offset the cost of tuition at any public university in the country.[208]

text: The District is known for its medical research institutions such as Washington Hospital Center and the Children's National Medical Center, as well as the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition, the city is home to three medical schools and associated teaching hospitals at George Washington, Georgetown, and Howard universities.[209]

text: Infrastructure

text: Transportation

text: There are 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of streets, parkways, and avenues in the District.[210] Due to the freeway revolts of the 1960s, much of the proposed interstate highway system through the middle of Washington was never built. Interstate 95 (I-95), the nation's major east coast highway, therefore bends around the District to form the eastern portion of the Capital Beltway. A portion of the proposed highway funding was directed to the region's public transportation infrastructure instead.[211] The interstate highways that continue into Washington, including I-66 and I-395, both terminate shortly after entering the city.[212]

text: The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) operates the Washington Metro, the city's rapid transit system, as well as Metrobus. Both systems serve the District and its suburbs. Metro opened on March 27, 1976 and, as of July 2014[update], consists of 91 stations and 117 miles (188 km) of track.[213] With an average of about one million trips each weekday, Metro is the second-busiest rapid transit system in the country. Metrobus serves over 400,000 riders each weekday and is the nation's fifth-largest bus system.[214] The city also operates its own DC Circulator bus system, which connects commercial areas within central Washington.[215]

text: Union Station is the city's main train station and services approximately 70,000 people each day. It is Amtrak's second-busiest station with 4.6 million passengers annually and is the southern terminus for the Northeast Corridor and Acela Express routes. Maryland's MARC and Virginia's VRE commuter trains and the Metrorail Red Line also provide service into Union Station.[216] Following renovations in 2011, Union Station became Washington's primary intercity bus transit center.[217]

text: Three major airports serve the District. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is across the Potomac River from downtown Washington in Arlington, Virginia and primarily handles domestic flights. Major international flights arrive and depart from Washington Dulles International Airport, 26.3 miles (42.3 km) west of the District in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is 31.7 miles (51.0 km) northeast of the District in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

text: According to a 2010 study, Washington-area commuters spent 70 hours a year in traffic delays, which tied with Chicago for having the nation's worst road congestion.[218] However, 37% of Washington-area commuters take public transportation to work, the second-highest rate in the country.[219] An additional 12% of D.C. commuters walked to work, 6% carpooled, and 3% traveled by bicycle in 2010.[220] A 2011 study by Walk Score found that Washington was the seventh-most walkable city in the country with 80% of residents living in neighborhoods that are not car dependent.[221]

text: An expected 32% increase in transit usage within the District by 2030 has spurred construction of a new DC Streetcar system to interconnect the city's neighborhoods.[222] Construction has also started on an additional Metro line that will connect Washington to Dulles airport.[223] The District is part of the regional Capital Bikeshare program. Started in 2010, it is currently one of the largest bicycle sharing systems in the country with over 4,351 bicycles and more than 395 stations[224] all provided by PBSC Urban Solutions. By 2012, the city's network of marked bicycle lanes covered 56 miles (90 km) of streets.[225]

text: Utilities

text: The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (i.e. WASA or D.C. Water) is an independent authority of the D.C. government that provides drinking water and wastewater collection in Washington. WASA purchases water from the historic Washington Aqueduct, which is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. The water, sourced from the Potomac River, is treated and stored in the city's Dalecarlia, Georgetown, and McMillan reservoirs. The aqueduct provides drinking water for a total of 1.1 million people in the District and Virginia, including Arlington, Falls Church, and a portion of Fairfax County.[226] The authority also provides sewage treatment services for an additional 1.6 million people in four surrounding Maryland and Virginia counties.[227]

text: Pepco is the city's electric utility and services 793,000 customers in the District and suburban Maryland.[228] An 1889 law prohibits overhead wires within much of the historic City of Washington. As a result, all power lines and telecommunication cables are located underground in downtown Washington, and traffic signals are placed at the edge of the street.[229] A plan announced in 2013 would bury an additional 60 miles (97 km) of primary power lines throughout the District.[230]

text: Washington Gas is the city's natural gas utility and serves over one million customers in the District and its suburbs. Incorporated by Congress in 1848, the company installed the city's first gas lights in the Capitol, the White House, and along Pennsylvania Avenue.[231]


document_title: FIFA World Cup

question_text: who got second place on the world cup

question_tokens: who got second place on the world cup

root

text: FIFA World Cup

text: History

text: Previous international competitions

text: The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,[5] which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the inaugural British Home Championship, took place in 1884.[6] As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the start of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.[7]

tag: p

text: After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.[8]

text: At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.

text: With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,[9] and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title.

text: In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event.[10] This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium.[11] Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era.

text: World Cups before World War II

text: Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet as the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship itself.[12] With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.

text: The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total, 13 nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

text: The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and the USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.[13] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win the World Cup.[14] After the creation of the World Cup, FIFA and the IOC disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the 1932 Summer Olympics.[15] Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.

text: The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 World Cup and all North and South American nations except Brazil and Cuba boycotted the 1938 tournament. Brazil was the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Germany and Brazil sought to host,[16] were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

text: World Cups after World War II

text: The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,[17] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation.[18] The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called "Maracanazo" (Portuguese: Maracanaço).

text: In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland, and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.[19] Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.

text: Expansion to 32 teams

text: The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,[20] and then to 32 in 1998,[21] also allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. Since then, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, with several having reached the quarter-finals: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; South Korea, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; Ghana, quarter-finalists in 2010; and Costa Rica, quarter-finalists in 2014. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g., the quarter-finalists in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2018 were all from Europe or South America and so were the finalists of all tournaments so far.

text: Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[22]

text: Expansion to 48 teams

text: In October 2013, Sepp Blatter spoke of guaranteeing the Caribbean Football Union's region a position in the World Cup.[23] In the edition of 25 October 2013 of the FIFA Weekly Blatter wrote that: "From a purely sporting perspective, I would like to see globalisation finally taken seriously, and the African and Asian national associations accorded the status they deserve at the FIFA World Cup. It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to the majority of the berths at the World Cup."[24] Those two remarks suggested to commentators that Blatter could be putting himself forward for re-election to the FIFA Presidency.[25]

text: Following the magazine's publication, Blatter's would-be opponent for the FIFA Presidency, UEFA President Michel Platini, responded that he intended to extend the World Cup to 40 national associations, increasing the number of participants by eight. Platini said that he would allocate an additional berth to UEFA, two to the Asian Football Confederation and the Confederation of African Football, two shared between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, and a guaranteed place for the Oceania Football Confederation.[26] Platini was clear about why he wanted to expand the World Cup. He said: "[The World Cup is] not based on the quality of the teams because you don't have the best 32 at the World Cup ... but it's a good compromise. ... It's a political matter so why not have more Africans? The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don't give the possibility to participate, they don't improve."[26]

text: In October 2016 FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup in 2026.[27] On 10 January 2017, FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup will have 48 finalist teams.[28]

text: 2015 FIFA corruption case

text: By May 2015, the games were under a particularly dark cloud because of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, allegations and criminal charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights (rigged bids) for FIFA games,[29] with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Justice Department announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over a dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on 29 May and 3 December.[30] By the end of May 2015, a total of nine FIFA officials and five executives of sports and broadcasting markets had already been charged on corruption. At the time, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would relinquish his position in February 2016.[31]

text: On 4 June 2015 Chuck Blazer while co-operating with the FBI and the Swiss authorities admitted that he and the other members of FIFA's then-executive committee were bribed in order to promote the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.[32] On 10 June 2015 Swiss authorities seized computer data from the offices of Sepp Blatter.[33] The same day, FIFA postponed the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in light of the allegations surrounding bribery in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Then-secretary general Jérôme Valcke stated, "Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being."[34] On 28 October 2015, Blatter and FIFA VP Michel Platini, a potential candidate for presidency, were suspended for 90 days; both maintained their innocence in statements made to the news media.[35]

text: On 3 December 2015 two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested on suspicion of bribery in the same Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May.[36] An additional 16 indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice were announced on the same day.[37]

text: Other FIFA tournaments

text: An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in China.[38] The women's tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men's, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.[39]

text: Men's football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men's football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.[40] Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996.

text: The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country.[41]

text: FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup). The latter three do not have a women's version, although a FIFA Women's Club World Cup has been proposed.[42]

text: The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is held the year before each Women's World Cup and both tournaments are awarded in a single bidding process. The U-20 tournament serves as a dress rehearsal for the larger competition.[43]

text: Trophy

text: From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winning team. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983 and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.[44]

text: After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb).[45] The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974.[45] The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory."[46]

text: This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy only until the post-match celebration is finished. They are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original immediately afterwards.[47]

text: Currently, all members (players, coaches, and managers) of the top three teams receive medals with an insignia of the World Cup Trophy; winners' (gold), runners-up' (silver), and third-place (bronze). In the 2002 edition, fourth-place medals were awarded to hosts South Korea. Before the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals.[48][49][50]

text: Format

text: Qualification

text: Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.[51] They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.

text: The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup.[52] From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations receive automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play qualifying matches.[53]

text: Final tournament

text: The current final tournament has been used since 1998 and features 32 national teams competing over the course of a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.[54]

text: In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.[55] The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.[56]

text: Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of six matches are played within a group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.[57] The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).

text: If one considers all possible outcomes (win, draw, loss) for all six matches in a group, there are 729 (= 36) outcome combinations possible. However, 207 of these combinations lead to ties between the second and third places. In such case, the ranking among these teams is determined as follows:[58]

text:
Greatest combined goal difference in all group matches
Greatest combined number of goals scored in all group matches
If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:
Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams
Fair play points, defined by the number of yellow and red cards received in the group stage:
Yellow card: minus 1 point
Indirect red card (as a result of a second yellow card): minus 3 points
Direct red card: minus 4 points
Yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots

tag: ol

text: The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16 (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.[54]

text: On 10 January 2017, FIFA approved a new format, the 48-team World Cup (to accommodate more teams), which consists of 16 groups of three teams each, with two teams qualifying from each group, to form a round of 32 knockout stage, to be implemented by 2026.[59]

text: Hosts

text: Selection process

text: Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.[60] The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup.[61]

text: Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the first tournament with multiple hosts.[62] South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since Argentina 1978,[63] and was the first occasion where consecutive World Cups were held outside Europe.

text: The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar, with Qatar becoming the first Middle Eastern country to host the tournament.[64][65]

text: For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.[66] This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.[67]

text: The 2026 FIFA World Cup was chosen to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations.[68] The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held, with 48 teams playing 80 matches. Sixty matches will take place in the US, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.[68]

text: Performances

text:
Six of the eight champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exceptions being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 and lost their semi-final against Germany in 2014, and Spain, which reached the second round on home soil in 1982. England (1966) won its only title while playing as a host nation. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), Argentina (1978) and
France (1998) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.[69]

text: Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Switzerland (quarter-finals 1954), Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), South Korea (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) has been the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first round.[70]

text: Attendance

text:
Year

Hosts

Venues/Cities

Totalattendance

Matches

Avg.attendance

Highest attendances †

Number

Venue

Game(s)

1930
 Uruguay
3/1
590,549
18
32,808
93,000
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Uruguay 6–1 Yugoslavia, Semi-final

1934
 Italy
8/8
363,000
17
21,353
55,000
Stadio Nazionale PNF, Rome
Italy 2–1 Czechoslovakia, Final

1938
 France
10/9
375,700
18
20,872
58,455
Olympique de Colombes, Paris
France 1–3 Italy, Quarter-final

1950
 Brazil
6/6
1,045,246
22
47,511
173,850[71]
Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 1–2 Uruguay, Deciding match

1954
  Switzerland
6/6
768,607
26
29,562
63,000
Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
West Germany 3–2 Hungary, Final

1958
 Sweden
12/12
819,810
35
23,423
50,928
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Brazil 2–0 Soviet Union, Group stage

1962
 Chile
4/4
893,172
32
27,912
68,679
Estadio Nacional, Santiago
Brazil 4–2 Chile, Semi-final

1966
 England
8/7
1,563,135
32
48,848
98,270
Wembley Stadium, London
England 4–2 West Germany, Final

1970
 Mexico
5/5
1,603,975
32
50,124
108,192
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Mexico 1–0 Belgium, Group stage

1974
 West Germany
9/9
1,865,753
38
49,099
83,168
Olympiastadion, West Berlin
West Germany 1–0 Chile, Group stage

1978
 Argentina
6/5
1,545,791
38
40,679
71,712
River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires
Italy 1–0 Argentina, Group stage

1982
 Spain
17/14
2,109,723
52
40,572
95,500
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Argentina 0–1 Belgium, Opening match

1986
 Mexico
12/11
2,394,031
52
46,039
114,600
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Mexico 1–1 Paraguay, Group stageArgentina 3–2 West Germany, Final

1990
 Italy
12/12
2,516,215
52
48,389
74,765
San Siro, Milan
West Germany 4–1 Yugoslavia, Group stage

1994
 United States
9/9
3,587,538
52
68,991
94,194
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Brazil 0(3)–(2)0 Italy, Final

1998
 France
10/10
2,785,100
64
43,517
80,000
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Brazil 0–3 France, Final

2002
 South Korea Japan
10/1010/10
2,705,197
64
42,269
69,029
International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan
Brazil 2–0 Germany, Final

2006
 Germany
12/12
3,359,439
64
52,491
72,000
Olympiastadion, Berlin
Germany 1(4)–(2)1 Argentina, Quarter-final

2010
 South Africa
10/9
3,178,856
64
49,670
84,490
Soccer City, Johannesburg
Spain 1–0 Netherlands, Final

2014
 Brazil
12/12
3,429,873
64
53,592
74,738
Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
Germany 1–0 Argentina, Final

2018
 Russia
12/11
3,031,768
64
47,371
78,011
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Seven matches at the Luzhniki, including France 4–2 Croatia, Final

Overall
40,532,478
900
45,036
171,772
Maracanã Stadium, Rio (1950)

tag: table

text: The best-attended single match, shown in the last three columns, has been the final in half of the 20 World Cups as of 2014. Another match or matches drew more attendance than the final in 1930, 1938, 1958, 1962, 1970–1982, 1990 and 2006.

text: Source: FIFA[72]

tag: ul

text: Broadcasting and promotion

text:
The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26.29 billion.[1] 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.[73] The World Cup attracts many sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas. For these companies and many more, being a sponsor strongly impacts their global brands. Host countries typically experience a multimillion-dollar revenue increase from the month-long event.
The governing body of the sport, FIFA, generated $4.8 billion in revenue from the 2014 tournament.[74]

text: Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.[75] World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each tournament.[76]

text: The World Cup even has a statistically significant effect on birth rates, the male/female sex ratio of newborns, and heart attacks in nations whose national teams are competing.[77][78][79]

text: Results

text:
#

Year

Hosts

Champions

Score and Venue

Runners-up

Third place

Score and Venue

Fourth place

Number of Teams

1

1930  Details

 Uruguay

Uruguay

4–2 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Argentina

United States

[note 1]

Yugoslavia

13

2

1934  Details

 Italy

Italy

2–1 (a.e.t.) Stadio Nazionale PNF, Rome

Czechoslovakia

Germany

3–2 Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli, Naples

Austria

16

3

1938  Details

 France

Italy

4–2 Stade de Colombes, Paris

Hungary

Brazil

4–2 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Sweden

15

1942

Editions not organized because of World War II.

1946

4

1950  Details

 Brazil

Uruguay

[note 2]2–1 Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

Sweden

[note 2]3–1 Pacaembu, São Paulo

Spain

13

5

1954  Details

  Switzerland

West Germany

3–2 Wankdorfstadion, Bern

Hungary

Austria

3–1 Hardturm, Zürich

Uruguay

16

6

1958  Details

 Sweden

Brazil

5–2 Råsundastadion, Solna

Sweden

France

6–3 Ullevi, Gothenburg

West Germany

16

7

1962  Details

 Chile

Brazil

3–1 Estadio Nacional, Santiago

Czechoslovakia

Chile

1–0 Estadio Nacional, Santiago

Yugoslavia

16

8

1966  Details

 England

England

4–2 (a.e.t.) Wembley Stadium, London

West Germany

Portugal

2–1 Wembley Stadium, London

Soviet Union

16

9

1970  Details

 Mexico

Brazil

4–1 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Italy

West Germany

1–0 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Uruguay

16

10

1974  Details

 West Germany

West Germany

2–1 Olympiastadion, Munich

Netherlands

Poland

1–0 Olympiastadion, Munich

Brazil

16

11

1978  Details

 Argentina

Argentina

3–1 (a.e.t.) Monumental de Núñez, Buenos Aires

Netherlands

Brazil

2–1 Monumental de Núñez, Buenos Aires

Italy

16

12

1982  Details

 Spain

Italy

3–1 Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid

West Germany

Poland

3–2 Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante

France

24

13

1986  Details

 Mexico

Argentina

3–2 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

West Germany

France

4–2 (a.e.t.) Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Belgium

24

14

1990  Details

 Italy

West Germany

1–0 Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Argentina

Italy

2–1 Stadio San Nicola, Bari

England

24

15

1994  Details

 United States

Brazil

0–0 (a.e.t.)(3–2 PSO) Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Italy

Sweden

4–0 Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Bulgaria

24

16

1998  Details

 France

France

3–0 Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Brazil

Croatia

2–1 Parc des Princes, Paris

Netherlands

32

17

2002  Details

 South Korea Japan

Brazil

2–0 International Stadium, Yokohama

Germany

Turkey

3–2 Daegu Stadium, Daegu

South Korea

32

18

2006  Details

 Germany

Italy

1–1 (a.e.t.)(5–3 PSO) Olympiastadion, Berlin

France

Germany

3–1 Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart

Portugal

32

19

2010  Details

 South Africa

Spain

1–0 (a.e.t.) Soccer City, Johannesburg

Netherlands

Germany

3–2 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Uruguay

32

20

2014  Details

 Brazil

Germany

1–0 (a.e.t.) Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Argentina

Netherlands

3–0 Estádio Nacional, Brasília

Brazil

32

21

2018  Details

 Russia

France

4–2 Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Croatia

Belgium

2–0 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

England

32

text:
a.e.t.: after extra time
PSO: after penalty shoot-out
TBD: to be determined

text:
Jump up ^ There was no third place match in 1930; the United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. FIFA now recognises the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the tournament.[80]

^ Jump up to: a b There was no official World Cup final match in 1950.[81] The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). Coincidentally, one of the last two matches of the tournament pitted the two top ranked teams against each other, with Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil thus often being considered as the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup.[82] Likewise, the game between the lowest ranked teams, played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil, can be considered equal to a 3rd place match, with Sweden's 3–1 victory over Spain ensuring that they finished third.

text: In all, 79 nations have played in at least one World Cup.[83] Of these, eight national teams have won the World Cup, and they have added stars to their badges, with each star representing a World Cup victory. (Uruguay, however, choose to display four stars on their badge, representing their two gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics and their two World Cup titles in 1930 and 1950).

text: With five titles, Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup (21) to date.[84] Brazil were also the first team to win the World Cup for the third (1970), fourth (1994) and fifth (2002) time. Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. West Germany (1982–1990) and Brazil (1994–2002) are the only nations to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals. Germany has made the most top-four finishes (13), medals (12), as well as the most finals (8).

text: Teams reaching the top four

text:
Teams reaching the top four

Team
Titles
Runners-up
Third place
Fourth place
Top 4 Finishes
Top 3 Finishes
Top 2 Finishes

 Brazil

5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)

2 (1950*, 1998)

2 (1938, 1978)

2 (1974, 2014*)

11
9
7

 Germany^

4 (1954, 1974*, 1990, 2014)

4 (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002)

4 (1934, 1970, 2006*, 2010)

1 (1958)

13
12
8

 Italy

4 (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006)

2 (1970, 1994)

1 (1990*)

1 (1978)

8
7
6

 Argentina

2 (1978*, 1986)

3 (1930, 1990, 2014)

5
5
5

 France

2 (1998*, 2018)

1 (2006)

2 (1958, 1986)

1 (1982)

6
5
3

 Uruguay

2 (1930*, 1950)

3 (1954, 1970, 2010)

5
2
2

 England

1 (1966*)

2 (1990, 2018)

3
1
1

 Spain

1 (2010)

1 (1950)

2
1
1

 Netherlands

3 (1974, 1978, 2010)

1 (2014)

1 (1998)

5
4
3

 Hungary

2 (1938, 1954)

2
2
2

 Czechoslovakia#

2 (1934, 1962)

2
2
2

 Sweden

1 (1958*)

2 (1950, 1994)

1 (1938)

4
3
1

 Croatia

1 (2018)

1 (1998)

2
2
1

 Poland

2 (1974, 1982)

2
2

 Austria

1 (1954)

1 (1934)

2
1

 Portugal

1 (1966)

1 (2006)

2
1

 Belgium

1 (2018)

1 (1986)

2
1

 United States

1 (1930)

1
1

 Chile

1 (1962*)

1
1

 Turkey

1 (2002)

1
1

 Yugoslavia#

2 (1930, 1962)

2

 Soviet Union#

1 (1966)

1

 Bulgaria

1 (1994)

1

 South Korea

1 (2002*)

1

text: Best performances by continental zones

text: To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by teams from the UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) confederations. European nations have won twelve titles, while South American have won nine. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: United States (North, Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and South Korea (Asia) in 2002. The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Only one Oceanian qualifier, Australia in 2006, has advanced to the second round.[85]

text: Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany are the only teams to win a World Cup outside their continental confederation; Brazil came out victorious in Europe (1958), North America (1970 and 1994) and Asia (2002). Argentina won a World Cup in North America in 1986, while Spain won in Africa in 2010. In 2014, Germany became the first European team to win in the Americas. Only on five occasions have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent, and currently it is the first time with four champions in a row from the same continental confederation. Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively, while Italy's triumph in 2006 has been followed by wins for Spain in 2010, Germany in 2014 and France in 2018. Currently, it is also the first time that one of the currently winning continents (Europe) is ahead of the other (South America) by more than one championship.

text:
Total times teams qualified by confederation

Confederation

AFC

CAF

CONCACAF

CONMEBOL

OFC

UEFA

Total

Teams
37
44
42
85
4
245
457

Top 16
6
9
14
35
1
91
156

Top 8
2
3
5
34
0
100
144

Top 4
1
0
1
22
0
60
84

Top 2
0
0
0
14
0
28
42

1st
0
0
0
9
0
12
21

2nd
0
0
0
5
0
16
21

3rd
0
0
1
3
0
17
21

4th
1
0
0
5
0
15
21

text: Awards

text: At the end of each World Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament. There are currently six awards:[86]

text:
The Golden Ball for the best player, determined by a vote of media members (first awarded in 1982); the Silver Ball and the Bronze Ball are awarded to the players finishing second and third in the voting respectively;[87]
The Golden Boot (sometimes called the Golden Shoe) for the top goalscorer (first awarded in 1982, but retrospectively applied to all tournaments from 1930); most recently, the Silver Boot and the Bronze Boot have been awarded to the second and third top goalscorers respectively;[88]
The Golden Glove Award (formerly the Yashin Award) for the best goalkeeper, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 1994);[89]
The Best Young Player Award for the best player aged 21 or younger at the start of the calendar year, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 2006);[90]
The FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team with the best record of fair play, according to the points system and criteria established by the FIFA Fair Play Committee (first awarded in 1978);[90]
The Most Entertaining Team for the team that has entertained the public the most during the World Cup, determined by a poll of the general public (first awarded in 1994);[90]

text: An All-Star Team consisting of the best players of the tournament has also been announced for each tournament since 1998.

text: Records and statistics

text: Three players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Rafael Márquez (2002-2018); and Germany's Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) all played in five tournaments.[91] Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.[92] Brazil's Djalma Santos (1954–1962), West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer (1966–1974) and Germany's Philipp Lahm (2006–2014) are the only players to be named to three Finals All-Star Teams.[93]

text: Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) is the all-time top scorer at the finals, with 16 goals. He broke Ronaldo of Brazil's record of 15 goals (1998–2006) during the 2014 semi-final match against Brazil. West Germany's Gerd Müller (1970–1974) is third, with 14 goals.[94] The fourth placed goalscorer, France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup; all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.[95]

text: In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals.[48] This made Brazil's Pelé the only player to have won three World Cup winners' medals (1958, 1962, and 1970, although he did not play in the 1962 final due to injury),[96] with 20 other players who have won two winners' medals. Seven players have collected all three types of World Cup medals (winners', runner- ups', and third-place); five players were from West Germany's squad of 1966–1974 including Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Grabowski, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Sepp Maier and Wolfgang Overath (1966–1974), Italy's Franco Baresi (1982, 1990, 1994) and the most recent has been Miroslav Klose of Germany (2002–2014) with four consecutive medals.[97]

text: Brazil's Mário Zagallo, West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer and France's Didier Deschamps are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach.[98] Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach,[99] and Deschamps repeated the feat in 2018, after having won in 1998 as captain.[100] Italy's Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups (1934 and 1938).[101] All World Cup-winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.[102]

text: Among the national teams, Germany and Brazil have played the most World Cup matches (109), Germany appeared in the most finals (8), semi-finals (13), quarter-finals (16), while Brazil has appeared in the most World Cups (21), has the most wins (73) and has scored the most goals (229).[103][104] The two teams have played each other twice in the World Cup, in the 2002 final and in the 2014 semi-final.[105]

text: Top goalscorers

text:
Players with more than 10 goals at World Cup tournaments

Rank

Nation

Player

Goals scored

1

Miroslav Klose

16

2

Ronaldo

15

3

Gerd Müller

14

4

Just Fontaine

13

5

Pelé

12

6

Jürgen Klinsmann

11

Sándor Kocsis

11

text: All-time table for champions

text:
Position

Name of Team

Participations

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts

AvgPts

Trophies

1

 Brazil

21

109

73

18

18

229

105

124

237

2.17

5

2

 Germany[106]

19

109

67

20

22

226

125

101

221

2.03

4

3

 Italy

18

83

45

21

17

128

77

51

156

1.88

4

4

 Argentina

17

81

43

15

23

137

93

44

144

1.78

2

5

 France

15

66

34

13

19

120

77

43

115

1.74

2

6

 England

15

69

29

21

19

91

64

27

108

1.59

1

7

 Spain

15

63

30

15

18

99

72

27

105

1.67

1

8

 Uruguay

13

56

24

12

20

87

74

13

84

1.50

2