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127-483: At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. The Golden Ball award is presented to the best player at each FIFA World Cup finals, with a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee (Technical Study Group) and the winner voted for by representatives of the media. Those who finish as runners-up in
254-401: 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. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within
381-426: A "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition for nations, at the 1920 Summer Olympics , contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium . Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928 . Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924
508-483: A 2–0 win against Liverpool at Anfield whilst also providing the assist for Santi Cazorla to score his first for the Gunners. Podolski scored his second goal for Arsenal in the following game, scoring a free-kick from 25 yards in a 6–1 victory against Southampton . On 18 September 2012, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for the Gunners in a 2–1 away win against Montpellier . In Arsenal's second game in
635-555: A 2–1 lead. However, a last minute own goal by Mathieu Flamini meant the game finished 2–2 and effectively ended Arsenal's hopes of lifting the Premier League title for another season. Arsenal qualified for the FA Cup final on 12 April following a win against Wigan, in which Podolski was substituted after 68 minutes. He scored twice in Arsenal's next game, a 3–1 win against West Ham United at
762-735: A 3–1 league home defeat against Lech Poznań at the Arena Zabrze . On 21 November 2021, he scored his first goal for Górnik Zabrze, in the Ekstraklasa home fixture against Legia Warsaw 3–2. On 19 May 2022, Podolski agreed to a one-year contract extension. On 5 November 2022, he scored a goal from inside his own half in a 4–1 away win against Pogoń Szczecin . On 19 May 2023, he extended his Górnik contract until 2025. In late 2003, after several impressive performances in his first few Bundesliga games, Polish media suggested then-Poland national team coach Paweł Janas should check Podolski out, as he
889-499: A 3–1 win on Boxing Day, scoring the team's third goal in the 79th minute. Podolski netted his first two goals in 2014 with a brace in a 4–0 FA Cup fourth round win over Coventry City . He later scored in a 2–1 FA Cup win over Liverpool in February to send Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the competition. Podolski scored two goals in March as he began to feature more regularly in
1016-399: A dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on 29 May and 3 December. 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. On 4 June 2015, Chuck Blazer while co-operating with
1143-465: 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. There have been occasions where
1270-517: A formula based on the FIFA World Rankings or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups. 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. Each group plays
1397-443: 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). Considering six matches in a group each with three possible outcomes (win, draw, loss), there are 729 (= 3 ) possible final table outcomes for the 40 possible combinations of the four teams' points. However, 14 of the 40 points combinations (or 207 of the 729 possible outcomes) lead to ties between
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#17329025985141524-608: A hat-trick for Spain against Russia . On 12 June, Germany played Croatia in their second Group B match, again in Klagenfurt. Podolski scored the German team's only goal of the game in the 79th minute, by which time the Croatians were already leading 2–0. He did not celebrate this goal either despite it putting him joint first on the Euro 2008 goal-scoring list with David Villa . Podolski's goal
1651-402: A one-and-a-half-year contract. On 6 July 2021, Podolski was announced by the Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze , having signed a one-year contract that comes with the option of another year, and with the club being probably his last club before retiring, after stating it's his dream to finish his footballing career playing for Górnik. He made his debut on 30 July, coming on as a substitute in
1778-504: 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, with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $ 150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over
1905-604: 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. 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 , and
2032-408: 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." In October 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup in 2026. On 10 January 2017, FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup will have 48 finalist teams. By May 2015, the games were under
2159-459: A ranking of the goalscorers, the first time an award was given was in 1982, under the name Golden Shoe. It was rechristened Golden Boot in 2010. FIFA sometimes lists the top goalscorers of previous Cups among the Golden Boot winners. If there is more than one player with the same number of goals, since 1994 the tie-breaker goes to the player with more assists. If there is still more than one player,
2286-452: A revised format of the 2026 tournament, which features 12 groups of four teams each, with the top 8 third-placed teams joining the group winners and runners-up in a new round of 32. 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
2413-506: A striker. Initially, Löw had moved him to the wing in order to accommodate the partnership of Klose and Mario Gómez up front. When this backfired, he resumed his forward position in the UEFA Euro 2008 Final , but was unable to prevent Germany losing 1–0 to Spain . In a controversial incident, Podolski was headbutted by Spanish midfielder David Silva , although this went unnoticed by the referee and his assistants, and went unpenalised. Podolski
2540-547: A survey on the Internet for users to choose the "Best Young Player" of the World Cup, between 1958 and 2002, named the best young player of each tournament. With 61% of the overall vote, the winner was Pelé , who finished ahead of the Peruvian Teófilo Cubillas , the best young player at Mexico 1970 , and England's Michael Owen , who reached similar heights at France 98 . The winner of the award has only been part of
2667-466: A winger scored the first goal in Germany's World Cup opening game in a 4–0 win against Australia, before assisting teammate Thomas Müller for the third goal. On 18 June, Podolski missed a second-half penalty after a handling infraction committed by Nemanja Vidić in the 1–0 loss to Serbia. The German team had gone down to 10-men after a second yellow was shown to Miroslav Klose in the 36th minute. Even though
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#17329025985142794-452: A women's version, although a FIFA Women's Club World Cup has been proposed. The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is held biannually, including the year before each Women's World Cup. Both tournaments were awarded in a single bidding process on three occasions, with the U-20 tournament serving as a dress rehearsal for the larger competition each time ( 2010 , 2014 and 2018 ). From 1930 to 1970,
2921-3377: Is a subjectively awarded prize for the team that had done the most to entertain the public with a positive approach to the game, organised through public participation in a poll starting in 1994. The All-Star Team is a team of the best performers at the respective World Cup finals. Since 1994, FIFA decided to add official best squads, chosen by its Technical Study Group under the brand name MasterCard All-Star Team . For 1998, 2002 and 2006, substitute and reserve members were also nominated for full squads. [REDACTED] Michel Preud'homme [REDACTED] Jorginho [REDACTED] Márcio Santos [REDACTED] Paolo Maldini [REDACTED] Dunga [REDACTED] Krasimir Balakov [REDACTED] Gheorghe Hagi [REDACTED] Tomas Brolin [REDACTED] Romário [REDACTED] Hristo Stoichkov [REDACTED] Roberto Baggio [REDACTED] Fabien Barthez [REDACTED] José Luis Chilavert [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Marcel Desailly [REDACTED] Lilian Thuram [REDACTED] Frank de Boer [REDACTED] Carlos Gamarra [REDACTED] Dunga [REDACTED] Rivaldo [REDACTED] Michael Laudrup [REDACTED] Zinedine Zidane [REDACTED] Edgar Davids [REDACTED] Ronaldo [REDACTED] Davor Šuker [REDACTED] Brian Laudrup [REDACTED] Dennis Bergkamp [REDACTED] Edwin van der Sar [REDACTED] Juan Sebastián Verón [REDACTED] Thierry Henry [REDACTED] Jay-Jay Okocha [REDACTED] Michael Owen [REDACTED] Christian Vieri [REDACTED] Oliver Kahn [REDACTED] Rüştü Reçber [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Sol Campbell [REDACTED] Fernando Hierro [REDACTED] Hong Myung-bo [REDACTED] Alpay Özalan [REDACTED] Rivaldo [REDACTED] Ronaldinho [REDACTED] Michael Ballack [REDACTED] Claudio Reyna [REDACTED] Yoo Sang-chul [REDACTED] Ronaldo [REDACTED] Miroslav Klose [REDACTED] El Hadji Diouf [REDACTED] Hasan Şaş [REDACTED] Iker Casillas [REDACTED] Cafu [REDACTED] Dietmar Hamann [REDACTED] Joaquín [REDACTED] Hidetoshi Nakata [REDACTED] Landon Donovan [REDACTED] Marc Wilmots [REDACTED] Gianluigi Buffon [REDACTED] Jens Lehmann [REDACTED] Ricardo [REDACTED] Roberto Ayala [REDACTED] John Terry [REDACTED] Lilian Thuram [REDACTED] Philipp Lahm [REDACTED] Fabio Cannavaro [REDACTED] Gianluca Zambrotta [REDACTED] Ricardo Carvalho [REDACTED] Zé Roberto [REDACTED] Patrick Vieira [REDACTED] Zinedine Zidane [REDACTED] Michael Ballack [REDACTED] Andrea Pirlo [REDACTED] Gennaro Gattuso [REDACTED] Luís Figo [REDACTED] Maniche [REDACTED] Hernán Crespo [REDACTED] Thierry Henry [REDACTED] Miroslav Klose [REDACTED] Luca Toni [REDACTED] Francesco Totti FIFA published
3048-430: Is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. On 10 January 2017, FIFA approved a new format, the 48-team World Cup (to accommodate more teams), which was to consist 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. On 14 March 2023, FIFA approved
3175-525: Is known for his powerful and accurate left foot, explosive shooting, technique and probing attacks from the left side. Podolski joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he made it into the first team in 2003 resulting in 81 appearances for the club before moving to Bayern Munich . With Bayern, Podolski won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2008. Podolski returned to 1. FC Köln in 2009. He later signed for Premier League club Arsenal in 2012, with whom he won
3302-491: 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. 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
3429-480: Is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder. 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. The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held, with 48 teams playing 104 matches. Sixty matches will take place in
3556-593: Is scheduled to expand to 48 teams, starting with the 2026 tournament . As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 22 final tournaments have been held since the event's inception in 1930, and a total of 80 national teams have competed. The trophy has been won by eight national teams. With five wins, Brazil is the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy , with four titles each; Argentina , with three titles; France and inaugural winner Uruguay , each with two titles; and England and Spain , with one title each. The World Cup
3683-536: Is still considered unofficial. [REDACTED] František Plánička [REDACTED] Domingos da Guia [REDACTED] Pietro Rava [REDACTED] Zezé Procópio [REDACTED] Michele Andreolo [REDACTED] Ugo Locatelli [REDACTED] Arne Nyberg [REDACTED] Giuseppe Meazza [REDACTED] Leônidas [REDACTED] György Sárosi [REDACTED] Pál Titkos [REDACTED] Harry Gregg FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup , often called
3810-449: Is the most prestigious association football competition in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The viewership of the 2018 World Cup was estimated to be 3.57 billion, close to half of the global population, while the engagement with the 2022 World Cup was estimated to be 5 billion, with about 1.5 billion people watching the final match . Seventeen countries have hosted
3937-544: 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
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4064-657: The 1906 Intercalated Games . 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 unsuccessful. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London , football became an official Olympic sport. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body,
4191-650: The 1936 Summer Olympics , but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup. 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, were cancelled due to World War II . The 1950 World Cup , held in Brazil ,
4318-558: The 1990 tournament in Italy. In 1998, the Argentinian newspaper Clarín provided a brief description of each star player dating back to 1930. Some are controversial decisions as is the case with retrospective awards. The 1998 winner was awarded after the tournament ended. The Golden Boot or Golden Shoe award goes to the top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup. While every World Cup had
4445-422: The 2. Bundesliga , Podolski scored 18 goals in 29 league Bundesliga appearances. Out of respect for his loyalty and achievements for the club, 1. FC Köln chose to retire his famous No. 10 shirt as long as he is an active football player. However, Köln began assigning the number 10 shirt again at the start of the 2014–15 Bundesliga season. Podolski was linked with Premier League club Arsenal throughout
4572-426: 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. Since 2006, winners of the competition are also awarded
4699-411: The 2007–08 season by winning a league and cup double , giving Podolski the first major silverware of his career. Despite former national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann taking charge of Bayern for the 2008–09 season , Podolski again failed to break into the team's regular first choice line-up. After a rather unhappy spell at Bayern, he returned to former club Köln on 1 July 2009. After Podolski
4826-443: The 2014 Community Shield , which they won 3–0 against Manchester City . In November, Podolski spoke about his unrest with his current role with Arsenal and his lack of game time, saying: "Of course I am not happy with my situation right now. I can't be satisfied with that. It is hard when you can't do what you love." On 5 January 2015, Arsenal announced that Podolski had completed a move to Serie A club Inter Milan on loan for
4953-406: The 2022 tournament . The contest starts with the qualification phase , which takes place over the preceding three years to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over the course of about a month. The host nation(s) automatically qualify for the group stage of the tournament. The competition
5080-678: 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 . 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
5207-404: The Bundesliga . First team boss Marcel Koller , working on a shoestring budget, invited Podolski to train with the senior players and he made his top flight debut shortly afterwards on 22 November 2003. Even though Köln failed to avoid a drop to the 2nd division , Podolski had shown what he could do, scoring 10 goals in his first 19 senior appearances. This was the best tally by an 18-year-old in
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5334-650: The Caribbean Football Union 's region a position in the World Cup. 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
5461-561: The Emirates Stadium and followed that display up with another brace in Arsenal's next game, a 3–0 win away to Hull City . He started in the 2014 FA Cup Final against Hull City and left the pitch for Yaya Sanogo after 61 minutes as Hull led Arsenal 1–2. Arsenal went on to win the game 3–2 after extra time, thereby ending the club's nine-year trophy drought. After winning the World Cup for Germany, Podolski and compatriots Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil were excused by Arsenal from
5588-661: The FA Cup in 2014 . He then moved on loan to Serie A club Inter Milan in January 2015, before signing six months later for Galatasaray where he also won the Turkish Cup of 2016 . Born in Poland, Podolski was eligible to play for both Poland and Germany (due to his Silesian paternal grandparents having been born in then- Imperial Germany ), and he was open to playing for the Polish team but
5715-506: 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. On 10 June 2015, Swiss authorities seized computer data from the offices of Sepp Blatter . 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
5842-525: The Germany national team . When his full potential was finally unveiled, he had already decided to represent Germany. At the end of the season Köln were relegated, but Podolski impressed so much, that he held his debut for Rudi Völler 's Germany on 6 June 2004, at age 19, in Kaiserslautern against Hungary with a late substitute appearance. He had become the first second-division player since 1975 to break into
5969-581: The World Cup , is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930 , with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War . The reigning champions are Argentina , who won their third title at
6096-712: The equaliser , levelling the match at 1–1. On 14 October 2006, with his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern, Podolski helped to secure the club's 4–2 win over Hertha BSC . On 26 October 2006, Podolski suffered a serious injury to his right ankle joint caused by teammate, Mark van Bommel , during a training session. Consequently, Podolski missed more than five match weeks. He returned from this injury and scored against Alemannia Aachen . After Bayern bought in Italian striker Luca Toni in 2007, Podolski received less playing time due to coach Ottmar Hitzfeld 's preference to partner Miroslav Klose and Toni together instead. However, Bayern ended
6223-674: The first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. 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 . Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup , to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began
6350-481: The third-highest goalscorer in German history, having scored 49 times. On 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in Germany national team history at that time, after just nine seconds of the 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador . It was at that time the second fastest international goal in history, second only to San Marino 's Davide Gualtieri 's 8.3-second strike against England in 1993. Podolski retired from international football on 22 March 2017 after scoring
6477-447: The 2012 winter transfer window but no deal materialised. However, on 30 April 2012, it was officially announced that Podolski had signed for Arsenal on a long-term deal, for an undisclosed fee. On 12 August 2012, Podolski started for Arsenal in a pre-season match against his former club, Köln, scoring twice, once from a penalty in a 4–0 victory. Podolski took the number 9 from Park Chu-Young , who had been loaned out to Celta Vigo , after
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#17329025985146604-453: 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." 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. On 3 December 2015 two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested on suspicion of bribery in
6731-553: The 2–0 win over Sweden in the round of 16. He became the first player since 1962 to score two goals in the first 12 minutes of a World Cup match and only the third player ever to accomplish the feat. Germany finished third in the tournament, and while his teammate Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot competition , Podolski's three goals tied him for second place with Ronaldo , Thierry Henry , Fernando Torres , David Villa , Maxi Rodríguez , Hernán Crespo and Zinedine Zidane . Podolski
6858-527: The Champions League, Podolski scored again as Arsenal defeated Greek champions Olympiacos 3–1 on 3 October. Podolski then scored his first goal in more than a month against Fulham in a thrilling 3–3 draw. On 17 November, Podolski scored his fourth League goal as Arsenal defeated Tottenham 5–2 in the North London derby . He then helped Arsenal qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League by scoring
6985-536: The German international. On 28 April 2015, Podolski scored his only goal with Inter to win the match 2–1 in the 65th minute against Udinese . Podolski signed a three-year contract with Turkish club Galatasaray on 4 July 2015 for an initial fee of £1.8 million, after which the Süper Lig champions will pay Arsenal £2.1 million for three consecutive seasons thereafter. He instantly won the Turkish Super Cup . In
7112-455: The Germans played with 10-men throughout the rest of the game, Podolski had numerous chances on goal. However, he was unable to capitalize, and the game ended in a surprise defeat for the Germans. However, he managed to score against England in the last 16, giving Germany a 2–0 advantage in the first half. They went on to beat England 4–1. In the quarter-final against Argentina , Podolski provided
7239-614: The Gunners starting line-up. His first was a goal against his former club, FC Bayern Munich , in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16 tie. Podolski's goal proved nothing more than a consolation, as Arsenal crashed out of Europe, losing 3–1 on aggregate to the defending champions. His second goal in March was an equaliser against Swansea City in the Premier League clash. A minute after scoring, Podolski provided an assist for teammate Olivier Giroud, who gave Arsenal
7366-596: The J1 League in a 2–1 win over Jubilo Iwata . On 8 December 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Júbilo Iwata . It was his first hat-trick in the J1 League. On 1 January 2020, Podolski won his first trophy in Japan, starting in Vissel Kobe's 2–0 victory over Kashima Antlers in the final of the 2019 Emperor's Cup ; it was also the club's first ever major trophy. On 23 January 2020, Podolski joined Antalyaspor on
7493-526: The Match (POTM) award picks the outstanding player in every match of the tournament. The award was introduced with the name "Man of the Match" in 2002. It was rechristened "Player of the Match" in 2022. While the inaugural two editions were chosen by the technical group, since 2010, Player of the Match is picked by an online poll on FIFA's website. Total awards As of 18 December 2022 By country As of 18 December 2022 The Most Entertaining Team award
7620-489: The Premier League. Podolski ended his first season in Arsenal with a total of 16 goals and 11 assists. On 24 August 2013, Podolski netted his first goals of the 2013–14 season , scoring twice for Arsenal away at Fulham in a 3–1 win. However, he was injured in his next match in the Champions League qualifier against Fenerbahçe and was ruled out for 10 weeks. Podolski returned for Arsenal against West Ham United in
7747-467: The US, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each. Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski ( German: [ˈluːkas poˈdɔlskiː] ; born Łukasz Józef Podolski , Polish: [ˈwukaʂ pɔˈdɔlskʲi] , 4 June 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze . He
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#17329025985147874-482: The World Cup, most recently Qatar , who hosted the 2022 event. The 2026 tournament will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups. The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England . The first international tournament for nations,
8001-460: The assist for the first of Klose's two goals, bringing the score to 2–0. The Germans won the match 4–0. During qualification , Podolski provided assists for three goals and scored three times, helping Germany to win all ten matches of their qualification campaign. During Euro 2012 , Podolski started all three of Germany's Group B games, the third being his 100th appearance for Germany; a game in which he also scored. Podolski's last game at Euro 2012
8128-461: The award was originally a certificate. From 1982 to 1990, it was a golden trophy based on Sport Billy , a football-playing cartoon character from 1982 who became an icon for FIFA Fair play. Ever since 1994, it is simply a trophy with an elegant footballer figure. Peru was the first nation to win the award after receiving no yellow or red cards in the 1970 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico. The Player of
8255-410: The bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 . 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." This new trophy
8382-503: 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. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and the United States , who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history
8509-419: The deal were not immediately available, but the transfer fee was speculated to be around €10 million. He made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern on 11 August 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute of a 2–0 victory against Borussia Dortmund . On 9 September 2006, he came on as a second-half substitute in a DFB-Pokal game versus FC St. Pauli . Only 26 seconds after the second half started, he scored
8636-460: The edge of the penalty area, before unleashing a powerful shot past Russia's goalkeeper Akinfeev . He finished the qualification campaign second highest scorer of Group 4 with six goals, behind teammate Miroslav Klose's 7. During one of the qualifying matches, he was involved in a bust-up with team captain Michael Ballack. On 13 June 2010, Podolski, who had become accustomed to his position as
8763-413: The entire season. One of his goals however, came from a free kick against his former club to salvage a draw. In the 2010–11 season, Podolski scored his 50th Bundesliga goal in the match against Hannover 96 in March 2011. Throughout the entire season, Podolski scored 13 goals and made seven assists. The 2011–12 season was the final season in his second spell for Köln. Despite the team's relegation to
8890-683: 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 . With the Olympic event continuing to be a contest between amateur teams only, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament
9017-423: The fee Bayern paid to sign him in 2006. Köln created a website where people were able to buy pixels of an image of Podolski for €25 per 8x8 pixel square, in order to gather €1 million to reduce the cost of the transfer; Formula One driver and Köln supporter Michael Schumacher bought several pixels for €875. Having just moved from Bayern Munich, Podolski had a poor first season at Köln, scoring just three times
9144-551: The final of the Turkish Cup on 26 May 2016, he scored the decisive goal for Galatasaray in the 1–0 win over Fenerbahçe . On 2 March 2017, Podolski announced his transfer to Japanese club Vissel Kobe after the completion of the Turkish season. On 29 July 2017, he played his first match for Vissel Kobe and scored two goals in a 3–1 win over Omiya Ardija in the J1 League . On 11 August 2018, he assisted Andrés Iniesta 's first goal in
9271-468: The first All-Star Team in 1938, but it never made All-Star Team again until 1990 due to ensuing complaints. In January 1959, the host of 1958 tournament Swedish Federation published an All-Star Team based on 720 answers out of 1,200 experts. In 1990 there was an All-Star Team announced in combination with the Golden Ball ceremony. It was chosen by the same journalists who chose the best player, but this team
9398-431: The first and the last German goal, both on assists by Miroslav Klose. He has continued to score goals at an astonishing rate. On 17 November 2007, in a Euro qualifier match against Cyprus , Podolski was involved in every goal in Germany's 4–0 victory. This was one of Podolski's best performances for the national team. Even though he played out of his natural position, playing at left midfield, he netted one goal himself and
9525-419: The first defending champions to play qualifying matches. The final tournament format since 1998 has had 32 national teams competing over the course of a month in the host nations. There are two stages: the group stage, followed by the knockout stage. 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
9652-514: The first player to win a second Golden Ball. The following players are recognised as best players by the FIFA website. FIFA recognizes the Golden Ball award prior to 1982 only in 1978; it does not recognize Golden Ball awards from 1930 to 1974. Authoritative football historian and statistician Ejikeme Ikwunze , popularly called "Mr. Football", published a list of the best players in his book World Cup (1930-2010): A Statistical Summary , and it gained
9779-535: The history of the Bundesliga until Florian Wirtz overtook the record in 2021. Though his call up to the German Euro 2004 squad brought along interest from several top clubs, Podolski stayed at Köln to help the club gain promotion in the 2004–05 season . With 24 goals, Podolski advanced to become the league's best scorer. Somewhat unusually, Podolski remained part of the Germany squad, even though he did not play in
9906-522: The host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament . 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, especially in the midst of the Great Depression . As such, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of
10033-450: 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. For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament was rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host
10160-520: The inaugural British Home Championship , took place in 1884 and included games between England, Scotland, Wales , and Ireland . 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 International Olympic Committee has retroactively upgraded their status to official events, as well as
10287-570: The majority of the berths at the World Cup." Those two remarks suggested to commentators that Blatter could be putting himself forward for re-election to the FIFA Presidency. 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 each to
10414-451: 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. Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996 . The FIFA Confederations Cup was 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
10541-428: The most attention among experts' selections about the best players until 1978. This work is part of the official FIFA library, and received public recognition from his former presidents Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter . A considerable number of other media agreed with him. On 2 August 1950, Dr. Friedebert Becker [ de ] , the editor-in-chief of Kicker (then Sport-Magazin ), chose his best players of
10668-511: The national team. In 2006, clubs such as Liverpool , Bayern Munich , Hamburger SV , Werder Bremen , and Real Madrid manifested their interest in Podolski, even though he had a contract with 1. FC Köln through 2007. On 1 June 2006, Podolski announced that a transfer agreement had been reached with Bayern Munich, allowing him to join the Bavarian side for the 2006–07 season . Financial details of
10795-545: The national team. Podolski played for Germany at Euro 2004 , where he was the squad's youngest player. He made one substitute appearance in the game against the Czech Republic , when he came on for Torsten Frings at half-time. Podolski was selected in the Germany squad for the 2006 World Cup , where he partnered Miroslav Klose as the attack duo in the starting lineup. He scored his first World Cup goal in Germany's third group match against Ecuador , and both goals in
10922-404: The national top-tier league. After Köln were promoted, the pressure was on Podolski to keep the club in the Bundesliga practically singlehandedly. Podolski managed to score 12 goals in the 2005–06 season , but eventually, Köln were relegated again. It became clear that Podolski would not stay again to push them through the 2006–07 season —even more so, as Podolski was becoming an integral part of
11049-409: The number 10 shirt vacated by Robin van Persie was given to Jack Wilshere . Podolski then started in his first official match for Arsenal against Sunderland on the opening day of the Premier League on 18 August 2012. He played 63 minutes before being subbed off for another 2012 summer signing, Olivier Giroud , in the match which finished 0–0. He scored his first goal for Arsenal on 2 September in
11176-446: The number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. 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,
11303-501: The only goal via a deflected free-kick to earn the Gunners a 1–0 victory over Stoke City . On 13 April, Podolski sealed a 3–1 win over Norwich City by scoring his first goal since February. After Giroud's three-game ban appeal was rejected, Podolski began playing as a centre forward, starting with the 1–1 draw against Manchester United . Podolski then scored twice in a 4–1 victory over Wigan Athletic , resulting in Wigan's relegation from
11430-603: The plan but, in total, the idea is supported by 166 of the 210 member associations of FIFA. An equivalent tournament for women's football , the FIFA Women's World Cup , was first held in 1991 in China . 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. Men's football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports,
11557-436: The previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called " Maracanazo " (Portuguese: Maracanaço ). 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
11684-412: 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. Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds. 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup . A record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup . In October 2013, Sepp Blatter spoke of guaranteeing
11811-600: The remainder of the 2014–15 season . He joined the side for training after the deal was finalised ahead of their league match away to Juventus on 6 January. In the 1–1 draw at the Juventus Stadium , he came on as a substitute for Zdravko Kuzmanović after 54 minutes. Podolski was not named in Inter's squad list for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League with coach Roberto Mancini preferring Xherdan Shaqiri over
11938-541: The right to wear the FIFA Champions Badge , up until the time at which the winner of the next competition is decided. Since the second World Cup in 1934 , qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. 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
12065-714: The same Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May. An additional 16 indictments by the US Department of Justice were announced on the same day. A biennial World Cup plan was first proposed by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation at the 71st FIFA Congress on 21 May 2021 and prominently backed by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and national federations in Africa and Asia. Continental confederations such as UEFA and CONMEBOL are not on board with
12192-420: The second and third places. In such case, the ranking among these teams is determined by: 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
12319-464: The second goal as Arsenal beat Montpellier 2–0. Podolski then played a pivotal part in an impressive 5–2 win away from home against Reading at the Madejski Stadium , scoring the first goal and assisting 2 more, which had helped teammate Santi Cazorla to score his first ever hat-trick. On 30 December 2012, Podolski played an integral part of the team that beat Newcastle 7–3. His first contribution
12446-507: The thieves. 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). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while
12573-470: The tie (since 2006) is decided by minutes played in the tournament, with the player playing fewest minutes ranked first. A Silver Boot and a Bronze Boot are also awarded for the second and third-highest goalscorers respectively. The Golden Glove award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The award was introduced with the name " Lev Yashin Award" in 1994, in honor of the late Soviet goalkeeper. It
12700-571: The tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. Prior to the Lipton competition, from 1876 to 1904, games that were considered to be the " football world championship " were meetings between leading English and Scottish clubs, such as the 1895 game between Sunderland A.F.C. and the Heart of Midlothian F.C. , which Sunderland won. In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as
12827-537: The tournament with 13 teams. 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: United States , semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba , quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea , quarter-finalists in 1966 ; and Mexico , quarter-finalists in 1970 . The tournament
12954-512: The tournament. France Football , the sponsor of Golden Ball and Ballon d'Or , selected the best player of the 1966 FIFA World Cup at that time with L'Équipe , and Bobby Charlton became the winner. After the 1978 World Cup , Argentinian magazine El Gráfico held a survey for the best player of the tournament. This was different from the unofficial Golden Ball which is recognised by FIFA. Guerin Sportivo chose their top ten players for
13081-401: 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 did 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 . This
13208-460: The vote receive the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as the second and third most outstanding players in the tournament respectively. The current award was introduced in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, sponsored by Adidas and France Football . Oliver Kahn is to date the only goalkeeper to have won the award, which he did in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi became
13335-425: The winner as captain in a friendly against England. Podolski began playing football at the age of six in the youth team of FC 07 Bergheim, where he played until he joined 1. FC Köln at the age of ten. It was there that Podolski's talents were first noticed. In 2003, at the age of 18, Podolski was still part of the club's youth side. At this time the club found itself in dire straits battling to avoid relegation from
13462-542: 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 . 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
13589-768: The winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country. The first edition took place in 1992 and the last edition was played in 2017 . In March 2019, FIFA confirmed that the tournament would no longer be active owing to an expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021. 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
13716-584: The winning country three times. Pelé in 1958 , Kylian Mbappé in 2018 , and Enzo Fernández in 2022 . The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is given to the team with the best record of fair play during the World Cup final tournament since 1970. Only teams that qualified for the second round are considered. The winners of this award earn the FIFA Fair Play Trophy, a diploma, a fair play medal for each player and official, and $ 50,000 worth of football equipment to be used for youth development. The appearance of
13843-401: The winning goal. Podolski possesses an explosive and accurate shot, reaching speeds of nearly 100 mph (160 km/h). Arsene Wenger described Podolski saying "He's certainly one of the best finishers I've ever seen...If there's one you want to see in front of the goal in a shooting position, it's him". In his early years, Podolski possessed explosive speed with great acceleration which
13970-576: Was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup , 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
14097-432: Was an incisive pass to Theo Walcott for Arsenal's first goal. In addition, due to Newcastle's failure to clear the ball off their line, Podolski pounced on a header for his last goal of 2012. He was substituted for Aaron Ramsey to a standing ovation. On 23 January 2013, Podolski produced an impressive performance as Arsenal beat West Ham 5–1, scoring one goal and setting up three others. On 2 February 2013, Podolski scored
14224-423: Was assured by national team coach Joachim Löw that a return to FC Köln would not harm his chances of international football, an agreement to sign him was agreed between Bayern Munich and Köln in January 2009, although he would not return to Köln until the start of the summer transfer window. On 1 July, Podolski returned to Köln on a four-year contract, at a reported fee of around €10 million, equivalent to
14351-433: Was awarded for the first time at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and given to Germany's Lukas Podolski . The award is given to the best player in the tournament who is at most 21 years old. For the 2022 World Cup , this meant that the player had to have been born on or after 1 January 2001. In 2006, the election took place on FIFA's official World Cup website with the help of The FIFA Technical Study Group. FIFA organised
14478-627: Was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 , and then to 32 in 1998 , 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; Costa Rica , quarter-finalists in 2014; and Morocco , finishing in fourth place in 2022. European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g.,
14605-427: Was included in the squad for UEFA Euro 2016 . He made a substitute appearance against Slovakia during the tournament. After the tournament, on 15 August, he announced his retirement from international football (effective 23 March 2017) saying he wants to shift his focus and spend more time with his family. He was given his last ever international appearance for Germany against England on 22 March 2017 where he scored
14732-480: Was named in the 23-man squad as one of the players of the tournament along with countrymen Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm . On 6 September 2008, Podolski scored the opening two goals in Germany's first 2010 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Vaduz ; a match that ended in a 6–0 victory for the Germans. He scored the opener in the 2–1 home win over Russia on 11 October, when he turned Vasili Berezutski on
14859-649: Was named the World Cup's Best Young Player ahead of players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo . In a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying game against San Marino in Serravalle Podolski netted four goals in Germany's record 13–0 thrashing. He is one of only four German players to score four goals in an international match. He was the third after Gerd Müller and Michael Ballack , and since this, Mario Gómez has accomplished this feat. In Germany's 4–1 win against Slovakia in Bratislava on 11 October 2006, he scored
14986-519: Was not enough to snatch a draw, with Croatia holding out for a 2–1 victory over Germany. On 19 June, Germany played Portugal in the quarterfinal in Basel , Podolski was instrumental in the first goal, whipping a cross into the penalty box that was slotted home by Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 22nd minute to give Germany a 1–0 lead. On the international scene, Podolski seemed to be gravitating towards an attacking left midfield role from his traditional place as
15113-417: Was rechristened "Golden Glove" in 2010. The FIFA Technical Study Group recognises the top goalkeeper of the tournament based on the player's performance throughout the final competition. Although goalkeepers have this specific award for their position, they are still eligible for the Golden Ball as well, as when Oliver Kahn was awarded in 2002. The FIFA Young Player Award ("Best Young Player Award" 2006–2010)
15240-404: Was rejected by the then Polish coach Paweł Janas in 2003, having already appeared for Germany at youth level. After making his first appearance for the senior team in 2004, Podolski enjoyed great success with the Germany national team. He was part of the squad in seven major tournaments, winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup . He is the fourth most-capped player in German history, with 130 caps, and
15367-574: Was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final , Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 spectators in Montevideo , and became the first nation to win the World Cup. After the creation of the World Cup, FIFA and the IOC disagreed over the status of amateur players; football was dropped from the 1932 Summer Olympics . After the IOC and FIFA worked out their differences, Olympic football returned at
15494-508: Was still eligible to play for Poland. Janas ignored the request stating in one of the press interviews that "as for today we have much better strikers in Poland and I don't see a reason to call up a player just because he played one or two good matches in the Bundesliga. He's not even a regular starter at his club." By that time Podolski was still interested in representing Poland , but as the season progressed German media increasingly highlighted his performances to suggest he should be called up to
15621-423: Was the first occasion where consecutive World Cups were held outside Europe. 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
15748-431: Was the first to include British football associations. Scotland , England , Wales , and Northern Ireland had withdrawn 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. The teams rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay , who had boycotted
15875-653: Was the start of FIFA's professional era, and is the reason why Uruguay is allowed to wear 4 stars . 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. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as
16002-456: Was the successful Italy national team in the semi-finals against Germany, 2–1. Podolski was part of Germany's 2014 World Cup campaign. Prior to the tournament, he played in five qualification matches. In the World Cup finals in Brazil, he appeared in the victories over USA and Portugal in the group stages, but did not play the full 90 minutes. Germany went on to become World Champions. Podolski
16129-507: Was voted Man of the Match. On 8 June 2008, Podolski made his Euro 2008 entrance against debutants Poland in a Group B match in Klagenfurt , Austria. He scored both goals in a 2–0 victory. He avoided celebrating his goals , however, to show respect for his country of birth. After the game he gave an emotional interview on Polish television. The goals put him in the lead in the Euro 2008 goal-scoring list for two days until David Villa scored
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