General knowledge

World Cup Cricket
The idea of organising a World Cup of cricket was mooted and agreed to in principle in 1971 when such a proposal was discussed at a meeting of the International Cricket Conference in London. However, due to various commitments the tournaments could not be staged until 1975 when the original plan of a South African team's visit to England fell through following opposition to the country's racial policy. England's Prudential Assurance Company came forward with sponsorship and for three consecutive years— 1975, 1979 and 1983—the one-day limited overs cricket tournament was held in England. It became famous as the Prudential Cup. In the first two tournaments, apart from the six full members of the International Cricket Conference (England, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, India and Pakistan), Sri Lanka, before being elevated to Test status in 1981, had joined East Africa in 1975 and Canada in 1979 (two top teams among the associate members) to complete the groups in the tournaments proper. The West Indies, under Clive Lloyd, not only won the first two tournaments in 1975 and 1979 but in true Calypso style they produced sparkling cricket and confirmed I heir unassailable supremacy in this game. India broke the West Indian stranglehold in 1983 to open a new chapter in the brief annals of this prestigious tournament. Apiirt from some sparkling individual performances, the competition witnessed thrills and upsets. India with a poor total of 183 bowled themselves back into the game and became memorable winners by 43 runs at the sensational final at Lord's. When India managed a total of 183 in the final with useful contributions from Srikkanth (38), Amarnath (26) and Sandeep Patil (27), it seemed an easy total for the West Indies to overcome, but they surprisingly folded up for 140 runs and India pulled off one of the cricket's greatest upsets. Amarnath's performance earned him the coveted Man of the Match award.
WORLD CUP CRICKET HISTORY Year Venue Result 1975 UK West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs 1979 UK West Indies beat England by 92 runs 1983 UK India beat west Indies by 43 runs 1987 India & Pakistan Australia beat England by 7 runs. 1992 Australia Pakistan beat England by 22 runs. 1996 India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka Sri Lanka beat Australia by 7 wickets 1999 UK Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets. 2003 South Africa, Kenya & Zimbabwe Australia beat India by 125 runs 2007 West Indies, Bermuda Australia beat Sri Lanka World Cup Football
The World Cup football tournament is organised by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) once in four years since 1930. It was on July 18, 1930 that the first-ever World Cup match was played between Uruguay and Chile, at the newly built Centenary Stadium in Montevideo (Uruguay). The World Cup now officially designated as Jules-Rimet Cup, named after the French lawyer who was the President of FIFA from 1921 to 1953, is 12 inch high and made of solid gold.
WORLD CUP FOOTBALL AT A GLANCE Year Venue Winner Runner Others awards related to this event 2006 Germany Italy France Adidas Golden Ball: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) Adidas Golden Shoe: Miroslav KLOSE (GER) Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Gianluigi BUFFON (ITA) Best Young Player Award: Lukas PODOLSKI (GER) FIFA Fair Play award: Spain, Brazil FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Portugal 2002 Korea/Japan Brazil Germany Adidas Golden Ball: Oliver KAHN (GER) Adidas Golden Shoe: RONALDO (BRA) Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Oliver KAHN (GER) FIFA Fair Play award: Belgium FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Korea Republic 1998 France France Brazil Adidas Golden Ball: RONALDO (BRA) Adidas Golden Shoe: Davor SUKER (CRO) Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Fabien BARTHEZ (FRA) FIFA Fair Play award: England, France FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: France 1994 USA Brazil Italy Adidas Golden Ball: ROMARIO (BRA) Adidas Golden Shoe: Oleg SALENKO (RUS), Hristo STOICHKOV (BUL) Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Michel PREUDHOMME (BEL) FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Brazil 1990 Italy Germany FR Argentina Adidas Golden Ball: Salvatore SCHILLACI (ITA) Adidas Golden Shoe: Salvatore SCHILLACI (ITA) FIFA Fair Play award: England 1986 Mexico Argentina Germany FR Adidas Golden Ball: Diego MARADONA (ARG) Adidas Golden Shoe: Gary LINEKER (ENG) FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil 1982 Spain Italy Germany FR Adidas Golden Ball: Paolo ROSSI (ITA) Adidas Golden Shoe: Paolo ROSSI (ITA) FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil 1978 Argentina Argentina Netherlands Golden Shoe: Mario KEMPES (ARG) FIFA Fair Play award: Argentina 1974 Germany Germany FR Netherlands Golden Shoe: Grzegorz LATO (POL) 1970 Mexico Brazil Italy Golden Shoe: Gerd MUELLER (GER) 1966 England England Germany FR Golden Shoe: EUSEBIO (POR) 1962 Chile Brazil Czechoslovakia Golden Shoe: Florian ALBERT (HUN), Valentin IVANOV (URS), Drazen JERKOVIC (YUG), Leonel SANCHEZ (CHI), VAVA (BRA), GARRINCHA (BRA) 1958 Sweden Brazil Sweden Golden Shoe: Just FONTAINE (FRA) 1954 Switzerland Germany FR Hungary Golden Shoe: Sandor KOCSIS (HUN) 1950 Brazil Uruguay Brazil Golden Shoe: ADEMIR (BRA) 1938 France Italy Hungary Golden Shoe: LEONIDAS (BRA) 1934 Italy Italy Czechoslovakia Golden Shoe: Oldrich NEJEDLY (TCH) 1930 Uruguay Uruguay Argentina Golden Shoe: Guillermo STABILE (ARG)

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