The New Football Forum (?)

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by August

So how does a team get into the world cup? Is it a regular team that first wins a national championship, thereby winning the right to compete in the cup, or are the teams made up of players picked from several teams like the US olympic basketball "dream team"?

National teams are made up by the players of that country that the national trainer considers to be the best. the are usually the top players in the club teams that are forming the international elite of club teams.

National teams need to qualify for the world championship by local tournaments, usually focussing on a continental basis. Each global zone is allowed to send so much national teams, and not more. the number of teams is based on FIFA's evaluation of how important and representative for international soccer action that zone is. That's why you see relatively many teams fromeurope and south America, since these two continents are the major hotspots of international soccer.

FIFA's homepage probably has more precsie information on the qualification and tournament mode. The world championship actually is only the final round of a global tournament that already has started with the qualification matches for the final round. Seen that way the world championship in soccer does not last four weeks, but four years.