World cup
A world cup is a sporting competition held on a global level by club teams . World cups are usually held by the world association of the respective sport. The athletic qualification of the participating teams usually takes place on a continental, sometimes on a national level.
term
The German name Weltpokal is derived from the term Europapokal . Abroad, the competition is primarily referred to as the International Cup , for example in the Italian Coppa Internazionale or the English Intercontinental Cup . The counterpart of the World Cup for national teams is the World Cup . The World Cup should not be confused with the World Cup in individual sports.
meaning
After a large number of World Cup competitions in almost all major team sports in the 1990s, there are only a few regularly held competitions. The reasons for this are primarily logistical and financial. In addition, the competition in regularly held national and continental competitions is usually overwhelming. In football, for example, the public perception of Europe is almost exclusively focused on the continental UEFA Champions League , since, unlike the World Cup , it is played throughout the season.
The world cup in different sports
basketball
The world cup competitions in basketball between 1966 and 1999 were organized by various organizers:
The first was played by the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA). North American, South American and European national but also continental champions took part in this FIBA Intercontinental Cup . This ended in 1987. The first winners here were Ignis Varèse from the Italian league. The record winner was the Spanish club Real Madrid .
This competition was followed by the McDonald's Open, which was played with interruptions from 1987 to 1999. It was held in cooperation between the NBA and FIBA and can be viewed as a semi-official world cup. Here the NBA teams dominated, the first winner was the Milwaukee Bucks , the last winner was the San Antonio Spurs .
The competition was not played in 1992, 1994 and 1998. In 1998 the reigning winner of the highest European Cup from Greece Panathinaikos Athens organized an alternative world cup against the winner of the highest South American Cup in basketball. You won the game.
Today there is no World Cup, the NBA Europe Live Tour , which was held for the first time in 2006 , is the closest to it. On this tour, in which several NBA teams are on the road in Europe and play friendly games - so-called pre-season games - there was also a tournament in which the finalists of the ULEB Euroleague competed against two NBA teams.
ice Hockey
In October 2008 the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will host the Victoria Cup for the first time between the winner of the Champions Hockey League and a representative of the National Hockey League . The winner receives prize money of one million Swiss francs (approx. 0.6 million euros). The trophy is named after the Victoria Ice Stadium in Montréal, which the IIHF regards as the birthplace of ice hockey, as an indoor ice hockey game was held there in 1875. The Victoria Cup cannot yet be considered a World Cup because the Stanley Cup winner (NHL champion) does not automatically compete. In the long term, the IIHF wants to play the cup between the European and North American champions.
For national teams there is a competition called the World Cup of Hockey , which is played irregularly. The World Cup is the successor to the Canada Cup and, in contrast to the annual ice hockey world championship , is characterized by the fact that all NHL professionals can take part in the competition.
Fistball
The International Fistball Association (IFA) is the host of the Fistball World Cup :
The world cup in fistball is mostly played between the European and South American cup winners, who then play two (less often three) games against each other in the same place, with home rights changing annually between the two continents. In a few years the SK Windhoek from Namibia also played as Africa representative . In this case, everyone competed twice. In 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2010 the competition was held in Windhoek , Namibia .
- The men's trophy was held for the first time in 1975 and has been held regularly (with three interruptions - 1987, 1991 and 1993) since 1986. The record winner is SOGIPA Porto Alegre from Brazil with nine titles.
- The women's competition has been taking place since 1997. Most of the titles (namely two each) were achieved by TV Jahn Schneverdingen , Telekom-Post SG Cologne and Ahlhorner SV , all from Germany.
Soccer
The first competition of the Intercontinental Cup (in German World Cup ), which was played from 1960 to 2004, was just a duel between the best teams in Europe and South America. The first winner was the Spanish team Real Madrid , the last winner was the Portuguese team from FC Porto .
A “real” world cup with the champions of all confederations took place for the first time in January 2000, was dormant between 2001 and 2004 and has been held annually since 2005. This world cup in football bears the official name FIFA Club World Cup (in German FIFA Club World Cup ). The host is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ). The seven participants (since 2007) qualify as winners of the highest continental competitions or, if they do not, the second of the competitions; in addition, the master of the host country is represented. The game is usually played in mid-December. The competition takes place in different countries and begins with an elimination game, followed by two quarter-finals, the representatives of South America and Europe each have a bye. You enter the competition in the semi-finals, the competition is decided with a final . There are also placement games for third and fifth place.
Furthermore, the title World Cup appeared in 1930 as the official name of the 1st FIFA World Cup .
Handball
The corresponding competition in indoor handball took place every five years under the name Super Globe in tournament form until 2007 , with the continental associations of the International Handball Federation sending their representatives: In 1997 in Austria the team from TEKA Cantabria Santander from Spain won, in 2002 in Qatar the Club Al Sadd from the host country. The winner in Cairo in 2007 was the Spanish club BM Ciudad Real ahead of the host Al Ahly . The tournament has been held annually in Qatar since 2010.
In addition, there are two tournaments for national teams , which are known as the World Cup (also known as the World Cup in German-speaking countries ):
- For men the Statoil World Cup . It takes place every two years in Sweden .
- For women the GF World Cup . This has been held annually in Denmark since 2005 .
rugby
The current Rugby League World Cup competition is organized by the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League :
The World Cup in Rugby League is the World Club Challenge, in which the winner of the National Rugby League and the winner of the Super League take part. 2008 are the Melbourne Storm and the Leeds Rhinos . The game is usually played at the end of February. The competition was decided with a single meeting on February 29, 2008 in Leeds . The competition was held for the first time in 1976. Between 1977 and 1986 the competition was then idle until it was resumed in 1987 with a few interruptions in the following years: 1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999. 1997 was a worldwide tournament with 22 teams from the European and Australasian Super League held. The record champions are the English clubs Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls with three titles.
volleyball
The world cup in volleyball is called FIVB Club World Championship . The competition, which took place between 1989 and 1992 and was relaunched in 2009, is organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIBV). The winners of the six continental associations take part in it, with a team from Europe always winning. The first winner was Maxicono Parma in 1989. Record world cup winners are Mediolanum Milano and Trentino BetClic , each with two titles.