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| FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the international governing association of the sport of football, or soccer in the United States. In fact, it's the largest sporting governing body in the world. Headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, FIFA is accountable for the organization and management of the major international football tournaments, the most notable being the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup, held every four years, is a competition between men's teams representing various nations. Over two hundred associations are members of FIFA, making it the world's second largest international association, with the United Nations being the largest.
The need for a single association to oversee the worldwide game prompted the founding of
FIFA in Paris on 21 May 1904. Original membership belonged to seven European countries, though within several years membership began to expand beyond the European continent. The first non-European country to join was South Africa, in 1909, followed by Argentina, Chile, and the United States in subsequent years. |