As Brazil and the United States prepare to do battle for the FIFA Confederations Cup this evening in what will be the biggest dress rehearsal until the finals actually start next June – we bring you the facts about the tournament.
The tournament was founded in 1992 by Saudi Arabia and was originally called ‘King Fahd Cup’. The tournament pitted Saudi Arabia against a number of the continental champions. FIFA took over the tournament in 1997 and renamed the championship the ‘FIFA Confederations Cup’. The original timescale was to have the tournament ever two years – however since 2005 the tournament has taken the usual four year route – being held in the host country a year prior to the finals.
The winners of the continental tournaments qualify for the ‘FIFA Confederations Cup’ – however sometimes its not always that straight forward. Germany (winners of Euro 96), France (winners of the World Cup in 1998) and Germany again (this time finishing runners up in 2002) have all opted out of the participating in the tournament to be replaced by the runner up or the team that finished 3rd (Turkey in Korea/Japan for example).
Brazil (1997, 2005) and France (2001, 2003) have won the tournament the most times – two apiece – with Argentina (1992), Denmark (1995) and Mexico (1999) making up the remaining winners. Ronaldinho of AC Milan has scored the most goals (9) alongside Cuauhtémoc Blanco who have us is traded mark Cuauhtemiña in World Cup 1998.
So can Brazil win a record third title to their name or can the United States cause another upset? We look forward in finding out!
