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FIFA World Cup 2006
It is the world's most popular sport. And this year the biggest event in that sport is set to start. Oman Today looks at some of the highlights of the beautiful game

It all started in 1930 in the Latin American country of Uruguay. In the 1920s, a group of French football administrators led by an enthusiastic Jules Rimet came up with the idea that we now know as the FIFA World Cup. Since then the tournament has survived the ravages of World War II, the Cold War, the disintegration of the once mighty Soviet Union and is now poised to take place even as conflicts fail to resolve themselves in various parts of the planet.

The FIFA World Cup 2006 is scheduled to start on the ninth of this month and will carry on for the next 30 days, with the all-important final set to take place on July 9. Held every four years, the most significant of tournaments for the world's most popular sport has generated enormous viewership through the years. This time too, the atmosphere is charged as the 32 teams from around the world that have qualified for participating in the event train themselves to battle it out on the playing fields of Germany.

While every World Cup has seen 32 teams, some remain more memorable than others. Teams like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, Germany, France and England remain memorable because they are the ones who have won the coveted trophy. Others like Netherlands, Hungary, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and Portugal – among many others – are remembered for their style. Reflections and reminiscing aside, there is something or the other to be said about every team that has ever participated in this great tournament. Space being a constraint, here are some teams that have won the most times in this most prized of all football tournaments.

Brazil
Record: 5 World Cup wins (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Current FIFA ranking: 1
Brazil has undoubtedly been the most consistent of all teams to take part in the FIFA World Cup. Year after year this team has produced footballers of phenomenal capabilities. Names like Pele, Garincha, Zico, Socrates, Careca and in later years Romario and Bebeto leap out from memory at the mention of this team. This also happens to be the only nation that has the honours of keeping the old Jules Rimet trophy, having won it thrice – in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

This year too the defending champions are strong contenders for winning the Cup. With a line up that boasts players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos being led under the able captaincy of Cafu, Brazil will be one of the favourites to win the trophy this year as well. Brazil's lowest World Cup performances have been in 1966 and 1990 when the team exited the tournaments in the early rounds. Their display of a brilliant fast paced style of play has meant that the team holds the record for the highest spectator turnout since 1950 when they defeated Hungary on home soil in front of 200,000 people. Eight years later they were steered to their first World Cup triumph that also marked the emergence of Edson Arantes do Nascimento – the player the world called Pele.

Germany
Record: 3 World Cup wins (1954, 1974, 1990)
Current FIFA ranking: 19
The name Germany, or West Germany in previous years, conjures one image before all others – Franz ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauer. He led the Germans to a 3-2 victory against a fantastic squad from the Netherlands in 1974. In 1990, with Jürgen Klinsmann by his side and the Kaiser as coach, Lothar Matheus led the German team to their third World Cup triumph – the first being won against Hungary in 1954 when Helmut Rahn scored the winning goal with only six minutes left on the clock.

This year, the players to watch out for would be striker Lukas Podolski and midfielders Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Podolski scored 10 goals in 19 matches with Cologne. In 43 years of German football, Podolski has the best tally of goals by an 18-year-old.

Traditionally, the German squad has always played a methodical and almost mathematical game, making a fast match seem almost boring. Yet it remains one of the few teams to have made it at least to the quarter-finals in almost every World Cup tournament.

Italy
Record: 3 World Cup wins (1934, 1938, 1982)
Current FIFA ranking: 14
Giuseppe Meazza, Orsi, Paolo Rossi, Salvatore Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Del Piero are names that pop up when we think of Squadra Azzurra – literally, the Blue Squad. When they were led by the 40-year-old Dino Zoff to victory they became the only team to have won the tournament thrice, after Brazil. Two of Squadra Azzurra's lowest points in World Cup football came in 1990 on home ground when the talented Roberto Baggio missed a crucial penalty in the semi-final against Argentina, and in 1994 when he missed a penalty against Brazil in the final of the 1994 World Cup.

This year, the blue line includes Del Piero, Francesco Totti and Luca Toni, among others. Although some have already predicted that Italy will reach the final of the 2006 World Cup, the road to the final is not going to be easy for anyone. The number 20 blue shirt, made famous by Rossi in 1982, will be worn by midfielder Simone Perrotta while Del Piero and Totti will sport numbers seven and ten respectively – like they did at the last World Cup in 2002.

Argentina
Record: 2 World Cup wins (1978, 1986)
Current FIFA ranking: 8
Argentina is the nation that produced the ‘Hand of God,’ and the man who created history by almost single handedly leading the Argentine team to lift the Cup in 1986. Diego Armando Maradona scored the most fantastic goal in football history when he dribbled six England players before he scored. Although Maradona's glory outshines all other Argentinean players, Mario Kempes – the man who led the blue and white squad to victory in 1978 – was another great player who scored no less than six times. Since Maradona there have been some great players to come from Argentina but none have been able to recreate the history of 1978 and 1986.

This year, the Argentinean squad has a strong team that is expected to take the fight to the opponents. With Hernan Crespo and Lionel Messi as strikers and a strong midfield including Pablo Aimar and Luis Gonzalez, Argentina will be a team to watch out for this World Cup. The team will play its opening match against Ivory Coast on June 10.