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Football is not only the world’s most watched sport but also the most recognised game that triggers passion and emotion inside a fan-a thing that just a small number of sports can replicate. From all over the globe, we have witnessed an enormous variety of football tournaments, both national and international ones. In the article below, we will run through 5 greatest knockout prizes, along with their own uniqueness and importance which prove their mettle in front of the football lovers.
FIFA World Cup
Talking about football cups, there is no greater and more glorious competition than the FIFA World Cup. FIFA stands for Federation Internationale de Football, which takes place every four years for a huge number of football clubs around the globe.
The FIFA World Cup was first played in 1930 with the only exception being the break during World War II. The team ruling this prestigious football tournament is Brazil since they played in a total of 21 FIFA World Cups, with 7 times coming to finals and 5 times holding the FIFA Cup titles.
Fontaine is the most successful player in the history of the FIFA Cup due to his record of goal scoring in a single tournament. In fact, he scored 13 times in the FIFA Cup in 1950). Meanwhile, The Brazilian player Ronaldo scored 18 goals in 4 World Cups, making him one of the stars of football.
Talking about football cups, there is no greater and more glorious competition than the FIFA World Cup/ Ph: trtworld.com
FIFA Club World Cup
Unlike the previous tournament, this FIFA Club World Cup was started in 2000 by the Federation Internationale de Football Association but was not held for 4 years in a row (from 2001 to 2004). Since 2005, it has taken place smoothly every year. The tournament in 2021 will be hosted by Japan-the country also hosted the competition between 2005 and 2008.
The leader of the tournament is Spain who won the title seven times in a row: Real Madrid won 4 times and Barcelona won 3 times. However, in 2020, Bayern Munich from Germany got the first prize.
UEFA Champions League
Almost every European Football Club looks for the prestigious UEFA Champions League, which gains a lot of popularity among fans not only in Europe but also all over the world. It resembles the FIFA World Cup quite a lot because it also includes an early phase of group play and a knockout phase.
The most successful teams of this tournament is Real Madrid with 7 titles, followed by Bayern Munich and Barcelona with 4 titles each. In the season 2019-2020, the winner belongs to Bayern.
Hence, there is no doubt to say that Cristiano Ronaldo is the king of the tournament. He plays for Real Madrid and has scored more than 130 goals. In the season 2013-2014, he broke the record with 17 goals in a single season.
Almost every European Football Club looks for the prestigious UEFA Champions League, which gains a lot of popularity among fans not only in Europe but also all over the world/ Ph: congdongfifa.com
UEFA European Championship
Similar to the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship also takes place every 4 years. The tournament began in 1960 and has grown from 4 to 24 clubs participating. People often call it the EURO so as not to make mistakes with the European Cup.
Spain and Germany are known as the most successful sides in the history of the UEFA European Championship. In 12 UEFA EUROs that Germany took part in, they reached 6 finals and won 3 of them. Meanwhile, during 10 times of playing, Spain reached 4 finals and won 3 times.
Nevertheless, Portugal won the 2016 UEFA EURO against France with the final result of 1-0. And we all may have known that Cristiano Ronaldo played such an important part in the victory of the team. On the other hand, Michel Platini also scored 9 goals in the league.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UEFA EURO, the 2020 UEFA EURO was first planned to be held in 11 cities of 11 UEFA host nations. However, it was postponed to the following year due to the severe condition of the global pandemic. But it would still retain the name and the host venues.
Spain and Germany are known as the most successful sides in the history of the UEFA European Championship/ Ph: news.cgtn.com
UEFA Europa League
UEFA Europa League, shortened as the UEL, is the European club football’s second-tier tournament and is organized annually. It is ranked just after the UEFA EUROs.
It is quite tricky to understand the way they choose a qualified soccer team to join the UEL. They are usually the ones who get the highest positions but are unfortunate to get a place at the UEFA Champions League. Nonetheless, a lot of nations send in other clubs. Belgium represents this situation.
Spain is one more time the king of this tournament who has won a total of 12 titles of the whole competition. At the moment, Sevilla is the current winner. Apart from that, they are also the most successful team in the history of UEL with 6 times achieving the victory.
Until now, there are 28 soccer teams having won this competition, 13 of which have gotten first place more than once.
In conclusion, the aforementioned football tournaments are of the greatest ones with exclusive titles and prizes. They are awaited and enjoyed by football fans all over the world. They include different requirements for soccer clubs to be qualified to play in. Therefore, a team winning any of them could confidently brag their rights over the others. So, have you found your favorite tournaments to look for in the upcoming years?
