The
2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th
FIFA World Cup, the tournament for the
association football
world championship, which took place at several venues across Brazil.
It began on 12 June, with a
group stage, and concluded on 13 July with
the final. It was the
second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in
1950. Brazil was
elected unchallenged as host nation in 2007 after the international football
federation,
FIFA, decreed that the tournament would be staged in South
America for the first time since
1978 in Argentina, and
the fifth time overall.
The national teams of 31 countries advanced through
qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation
Brazil in the final tournament. A total of 64 matches were being played in 12
cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums. For the first time
at a World Cup finals, match officials used
goal-line technology,
as well as
vanishing foam for
free kicks.
All world champion teams since the
first World Cup in 1930
–
Argentina,
Brazil,
England,
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Spain and
Uruguay –
qualified for this competition. The title holders, Spain, were eliminated at
the group stage, along with previous winners England and Italy. Uruguay were
eliminated in the Round of 16 and France were eliminated at the quarter-finals.
In
the final between two
former champions Argentina and Germany, Germany won the title by defeating
Argentina 1–0 after
extra time, thus becoming the first
European team to win a World Cup in the Americas. This result marked the first
time that sides from the same continent had won three successive World Cups
(following Italy in
2006 and Spain in
2010).
Despite the hosts Brazil finishing in the last four,
their tournament was overshadowed by
their record-shattering 7–1
semi-finals loss, to eventual champions,
Germany.