READING

Reading Comprehension -World Cup Tournaments

Develop your reading skills. Study the following table about previous world cup tournaments and do the comprehension questions

The World Cup

The World Cup, is an international association football competition organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

Previous World Cup tournaments

Year Host Final Third Place Match
Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Score Fourth Place
1930
 Uruguay Uruguay 4–2 Argentina United States Note1 Yugoslavia
1934
 Italy Italy 2–1
(a.e.t.)		 Czechoslovakia Germany 3–2 Austria
1938
 France Italy 4–2 Hungary Brazil 4–2 Sweden
1950
 Brazil Uruguay [note 2] Brazil Sweden Note2 Spain
1954
 Switzerland West Germany 3–2 Hungary Austria 3–1 Uruguay
1958
 Sweden Brazil 5–2 Sweden France 6–3 West Germany
1962
 Chile Brazil 3–1 Czechoslovakia Chile 1–0 Yugoslavia
1966
 England England 4–2
(a.e.t.)		 West Germany Portugal 2–1 Soviet Union
1970
 Mexico Brazil 4–1 Italy West Germany 1–0 Uruguay
1974
 West Germany West Germany 2–1 Netherlands Poland 1–0 Brazil
1978
 Argentina Argentina 3–1
(a.e.t.)		 Netherlands Brazil 2–1 Italy
1982
 Spain Italy 3–1 West Germany Poland 3–2 France
1986
 Mexico Argentina 3–2 West Germany France 4–2
(a.e.t.)		 Belgium
1990
 Italy West Germany 1–0 Argentina Italy 2–1 England
1994
 United States Brazil 0–0
(a.e.t.)
(3–2 pens.)		 Italy Sweden 4–0 Bulgaria
1998
 France France 3–0 Brazil Croatia 2–1 Netherlands
2002
 Korea Republic
& Japan		 Brazil 2–0 Germany Turkey 3–2 Korea Republic
2006
 Germany Italy 1–1
(a.e.t.)
(5–3 pens.)		 France Germany 3–1 Portugal
2010
  South Africa Spain

1–0
(a.e.t.)

 Netherlands Germany 3–2 Uruguay

a.e.t = after extra time

pens. = after penalty shoot-out

Note 1
There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. FIFA now recognizes the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the tournament

Note 2
There was no official World Cup final match in 1950. The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). However, Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil was the decisive match (and also coincidentally one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensured that they finished top of the group as world champions. Therefore, this match is often considered the final of the 1950 World Cup. Likewise, Sweden's 3–1 victory over Spain (played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil) ensured that they finished third.

Source: Wikipedia

Comprehension:

  1. The first world cup tournament was organized by a European country
    a. True.
    b. False.
  2. There was no world cup tournament during the first world war
    a. True.
    b. False.
  3. Which country won the most titles?
    a. Italy.
    b. Brazil.
    c. Germany.
  4. Which country have made the most appearances in the top four?
    a. Italy.
    b. Brazil.
    c. Germany.

 

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