Halkan kala soco
Wararka ciyaaraha kubada cagta
Caalamaka,
iyo
gaara ahaan
Ciyaaraha xagaaga
ee
Stockholm
Sweden
World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious and well recognized football (soccer) competition in the world. The international competition consists exclusively of national teams from member countries of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The World Cup has competitions for both men’s and women’s clubs and both take place every four years; the competition also rotates between different hosts every four years. The men’s competition has existed since 1930 while the women first began play in 1991. The World Cup is one of the most popular sporting events in the entire world with a consistently massive viewing audience; both at the games and on television. Some consider it to be the world’s greatest sporting event.
Each country does not automatically get a birth for their national club in the World Cup. Each club has to go through a qualification process (the qualification phase) that usually occurs in the three years leading up to the final phase, the World Cup Finals. Clubs qualify out of the six zones that FIFA has established: Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe. The Finals, as can be expected, is the final phase of the World Cup where the qualified teams compete for the title.
The World Cup Finals differs between the men and women competitions. For the men, the Finals take place for an entire month and features 32 clubs. However, the women’s Finals takes only three weeks and contains 16 clubs. Both competitions consist of a group stage that occurs in a round-robin format. Wins during the group stage earn a club three points, a tie one point, and a loss zero points. Based on points earned, 16 men’s clubs advance to the next stage while 8 clubs advance in the women’s. The next stage, the final stage, is single elimination with the World Cup champion being crowned at the end.
Premier League
The Premier League is the foremost football (soccer) league in England. In fact, it is the most watched sports league in the entire world. The Premier League (also known as The Premiership) first began play in 1992 when the top level of The Football League (FL), the Football League First Division, decided to separate itself from the FL. Since its beginning, The Premiership has been nearly completely dominated by four clubs: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Blackburn Rovers.
The league is composed of 20 clubs with each club playing each other two times; one match at home and one match away for a total of 38 matches. As is typical in international leagues, victories are worth three points, ties one point, and losses zero points. The club with the most points at the end of the season is named league champion. Also typical of international leagues, The Premiership employs a system of relegation and promotion; the league swaps three clubs with the Football League Championship at the end of each season.
Compared with the MLS of the United States which employs various rules regarding players, The Premiership has very little restrictions when it comes to players. This includes the absence of a salary cap, no limit to number of players on a team, no age limitation, and no restrictions on foreign players.
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League comprises of three qualifying rounds, a group stage, and four knockout rounds.
Qualifying
In matches in the three qualifying rounds, clubs play two matches against each other on a home and away basis, with the club scoring the greater aggregate of goals qualifying for the next round. In the event of both teams scoring the same number of goals, the team which scores more goals away qualifies.
Group stage
The 16 winners of the third qualifying round ties join a similar number of automatic entrants in the 32-team group stage. The clubs are split into eight groups of four teams, who play home and away against each of their pool opponents between September and December to decide which two teams from each pool advance to the first knockout round. The third-place finishers in each pool enter the UEFA Cup Round of 32.
Knockout phase
From the last 16 until the semi-finals, clubs play two matches against each other on a home and away basis with the same rules as the qualifying rounds applied. In the last 16, group winners play runners-up other than teams from their own pool or nation, while from the quarter-finals on the draw is free.
Final
The final is decided by a single match - which this year will be played in Rome.
European Cup
"European Cup" redirects here. For the trophy, see European Champion Clubs' Cup. For other uses, see European Cup (disambiguation).
UEFA Champions League
Founded 1955 (1992 in its current format)
Region UEFA
Number of teams 32 (group stage)
76 or 77 (total)
Current champions Manchester United (3rd title)
Most successful club Real Madrid (9 titles)
Television broadcasters List of broadcasters
Website Official website
2008–09 Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (usually referred to as simply the Champions League or less frequently as the European Cup) is an annual football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It is the most prestigious club trophy in European football.
Prior to 1992 the tournament was officially called the European Champion Clubs' Cup but was usually referred to as simply the European Cup or European Champions' Cup. The competition was initially a straight knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s the tournament began to be expanded, incorporating a round-robin group phase and more teams. Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams each for the competition. The UEFA Champions League is not to be confused with the UEFA Cup.
The tournament consists of several stages. In the present format it begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds. The 16 surviving teams join 16 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout phase, which ends with the final match in May.
The title has been won by 21 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holder is Real Madrid, who have won the competition nine times, including the first five seasons it was contested. Since Milan successfully retained the trophy in 1990, no club has managed consecutive wins.
