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The World Cup Takes You Overseas
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 17:03
This awesome article was brought to you by Andrew Dunkle
Andrew studied Chinese and Art History at the University of Colorado - Boulder. He loves to travel, and has so far called Colorado, Australia, Taiwan, and California home. Follow me on Twitter: @AndrewOverseas and Google+: Andrew Dunkle.
Unless you have just returned from vacation on a remote island, you have no doubt noticed the news headlines dominated by the World Cup. The ‘beautiful game’ has finally returned to the world stage after four long years.
Those readers lucky enough to attend matches in Germany in 2006 witnessed firsthand the excitement of a World Cup. To say the world loves soccer would be an understatement of epic proportions. Soccer is the only truly global sport. The rules are simple, and yet to watch it played well is akin to watching a masterpiece unfold before your eyes. Since 1930 that masterpiece has been on display to the world every four years in the form of the World Cup.
The World Cup rivals the Olympics in popularity, and brings together many of the world's best athletes. In 2006 an estimated 715 million fans watched the final match, and by all accounts this record will be broken during the current World Cup. This astonishing figure represents the true glory of the World Cup and what soccer has come to represent: the fans. This is an event that brings fans together to sing, to cry, and to cheer on their national heroes.
To help you achieve your travel dreams, the rest of this post will highlight each of the countries represented in the World Cup. We’ll share some trivia from each country’s World Cup history and then point you in the direction of some outstanding teach, study, and volunteer opportunities abroad.
Enjoy watching the rest of the games!
Group A
France
Trivia: France won the World Cup in 1998 and made it to the finals in 2006.
+ Teach in France
+ Study in France
+ Volunteer in France
Mexico
Trivia: Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals 14 times. South Africa 2010 represents their fifth appearance in a row.
+ Teach in Mexico
+ Study in Mexico
+ Volunteer in Mexico
South Africa
Trivia: To date, the host country has always made it through the group stage to qualify for the second round. Many hope that this is the year South Africa makes it even further.
+ Teach in South Africa
+ Study in South Africa
+ Volunteer in South Africa
Uruguay
Trivia: Uruguay have won the World Cup twice. In 1930, the first World Cup, and in 1950 when they dramatically beat Brazil 2-1 in the final.
+ Teach in Uruguay
+ Study in Uruguay
+ Volunteer in Uruguay
Group B
Argentina
Trivia: Argentina is coached by legendary player Diego Maradona, infamous for the Hand of God in the 1986 World Cup.
+ Teach in Argentina
+ Study in Argentina
+ Volunteer in Argentina
Nigeria
Trivia: Nicknamed the Super Eagles
+ Teach in Nigeria
+ Study in Nigeria
+ Volunteer in Nigeria
Greece
Trivia: The Greeks' win over Nigeria was their first World Cup victory.
+ Teach in Greece
+ Study in Greece
+ Volunteer in Greece
South Korea
Trivia: South Korea is the most successful country from Asia in the World Cup. This will mark their eighth appearance in the tournament.
+ Teach in South Korea
+ Study in South Korea
+ Volunteer in South Korea
Group C
Slovenia
Trivia: With a population of just 2 million people, Slovenia is one of the smallest nations represented in this year's World Cup.
United States
Trivia: The United States' 2-0 victory over Spain at South Africa 2009 prevented La Roja from extending a 35-game unbeaten run.
+ Teach in United States
+ Study in United States
+ Volunteer in United States
England
Trivia: England won the World Cup on home soil in 1966. The burden to win again weighs heavily on the current squad.
+ Teach in England
+ Study in England
+ Volunteer in England
Algeria
Trivia: Nicknamed Les Fennecs (the Desert Foxes), this will mark Algeria's first World Cup appearance in 24 years.
Group D
Ghana
Trivia: Ghana scored the fastest goal of the 2006 World Cup after 68 seconds in their 2-1 win over Czech Republic.
+ Teach in Ghana
+ Study in Ghana
+ Volunteer in Ghana
Germany
Trivia: Apart from the 1930 and 1950 tournaments, which they did not enter, Germany have contested every FIFA World Cup final.
+ Teach in Germany
+ Study in Germany
+ Volunteer in Germany
Australia
Trivia: Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer claimed a national record as the team maintained a cleansheet for seven consecutive World Cup qualifiers.
+ Teach in Australia
+ Study in Australia
+ Volunteer in Australia
Serbia
Trivia: Serbia will be appearing at the World Cup independently for the first time in South Africa.
Group E
Netherlands
Trivia: The Netherlands brought 'total football' to the World Cup in 1974 when, in beating both Brazil and Argentina in the second group stage, they made it to their first World Cup final.
+ Teach in Netherlands
+ Study in Netherlands
+ Volunteer in Netherlands
Japan
Trivia: Japan's first appearance in the World Cup was in 1998, but they have qualified for every tournament since.
+ Teach in Japan
+ Study in Japan
+ Volunteer in Japan
Denmark
Trivia: This is Denmark's 4th appearance in the World Cup. Their best result was in 1998 when they reached the quarterfinals, eventually losing to Brazil 3-2.
+ Study in Denmark
+ Volunteer in Denmark
Cameroon
Trivia: The 1990 World Cup saw Cameroon become one of the most successful African sides in the tournaments history. On the way to the quarterfinals they beat Argentina, Romania, and Colombia before eventually losing to England 3-2.
+ Teach in Cameroon
+ Study in Cameroon
+ Volunteer in Cameroon
Group F
Paraguay
Trivia: The Paraguayan team was present at the first World Cup in 1930 and have since qualified for the tournament seven more times. However, they have never advanced past the second round.
+ Teach in Paraguay
+ Study in Paraguay
+ Volunteer in Paraguay
Slovakia
Trivia: This will be Slovakia's first appearance at a major international tournament as an independent nation (was previously part of the former Czechoslovakia).
+ Teach in Slovakia
+ Study in Slovakia
+ Volunteer in Slovakia
New Zealand
Trivia: This team is known as the 'All Whites,' as opposed to New Zealand's famous rugby team, the All Blacks.
+ Teach in New Zealand
+ Study in New Zealand
+ Volunteer in New Zealand
Italy
Trivia: Italy is one of the most successful nations in World Cup history, having won the tournament on four occasions. Only Brazil, on five, have claimed the title on more occasions.
Group G
Brazil
Trivia: Brazil is the only team to have played in all 19 tournaments and their non-participation is almost unthinkable.
+ Teach in Brazil
+ Study in Brazil
+ Volunteer in Brazil
Portugal
Trivia: Although this marks only the 5th appearance of the Portuguese team in the World Cup, they already have an impressive record with two semi-final appearances.
+ Teach in Portugal
+ Study in Portugal
+ Volunteer in Portugal
Ivory Coast
Trivia: Their team name is the 'Elephants' and this is only their second appearance in the World Cup. Nonetheless, with the likes of Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, and a host of other international stars, they are hopeful to be the first African team to finally win the tournament.
+ Teach in Ivory Coast
+ Volunteer in Ivory Coast
North Korea
Trivia: North Korea's 1-0 win over Italy to secure progress to the quarterfinals in 1966 is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in football history and is the subject of a documentary, The Game of Their Lives.
Currently GO! Overseas does not have any programs listed in North Korea. The links here will take you to our programs in South Korea.
+ Teach in South Korea
+ Study in South Korea
+ Volunteer in South Korea
Group H
Spain
Trivia: Despite a long history of soccer excellence, La Furia Roja have never progressed past the quarterfinals. They won the European Championship in 2008; will this be the year they finally lift World Cup gold?
+ Teach in Spain
+ Study in Spain
+ Volunteer in Spain
Chile
Trivia: Chile was banned from the 1994 World Cup after goalkeeper Roberto Rojas faked injury during a qualifing match against Brazil.
+ Teach in Chile
+ Study in Chile
+ Volunteer in Chile
Switzerland
Trivia: Switzerland own the World Cup record of playing 551 consecutive minutes of soccer without allowing a goal.
+ Teach in Switzerland
+ Study in Switzerland
+ Volunteer in Switzerland
Honduras
Trivia: This will be Honduras's second appearance in the World Cup, the last one in 1982. They have yet to win a game.
+ Teach in Honduras
+ Study in Honduras
+ Volunteer in Honduras
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