Content As Brazil 2014 will yet again show, the FIFA World Cup is a mega-event followed by billions of spectators around the globe. This volume is the first scholarly attempt to capture the history of the FIFA World Cup in its entirety. From the first World Cup in 1930 to the one in 2010 the tournament has exerted strong influences and acted as an important indicator of political, economic, social and cultural developments. In bringing together contributions by international experts from history, cultural studies, sociology and politics this volume explores some crucial issues linked to the World Cup: from the political exploitation of the tournament for domestic purposes to its economic ramifications for the host nation and beyond; from its role for national identity and national self-representation to its potential to realize transnational modes of identity and interdependence; from its role as a global media event to its impact on the commercialization of football on the national an