ALTERNATOR BOOKS SOCCER SUPER STATS JEFF SAVAGE Lerner Publications Minneapolis
INTRODUCTION SPANNING THE GLOBE n 1930 Uruguay hosted soccer's first ever World Cup About 60 000 fans attended the championship match won by Uruguay In 1950 Uruguay won the World Cup crown again That tournament's final match in Brazil drew 199 854 fans By then soccer had become the most popular sport in the world The game on the field hasn't changed much since its early days What has changed are the statistics or stats available to fans What are soccer's greatest and most revealing statistics First you should know more about the biggest leagues and tournaments UNITED STATES AND CANADA Major League Soccer MLS is the top professional league in the United States Average attendance at soccer only stadiums is higher than that of the National Basketball Association NBA and the National Hockey League NHL Youth soccer in North America is booming Even in hockey loving Canada soccer is the most popular sport among children As the sport's popularity grows more and more fans will turn to stats to tell soccer's stories 2016 COLORADO RAPIDS
WORLDWIDE Soccer is called football everywhere except the United States and Canada There are more than 3 5 billion soccer fans worldwide The oldest soccer competition in the world is the Football Association Challenge Cup FA Cup played in England since 1872 Other European leagues host popular yearly contests that draw millions of fans The Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA governs soccer around the world The FIFA World Cup is held in a different country every four years The tournament is the top prize in international soccer Soccer has been an official sport of the Olympic Games since 1900 Since the early 1990s women have had their own World Cup and Olympic tournaments 1930 WORLD CUP
