Soccer Timeline

It is difficult to mention all the events that took place in the soccer world so far, however, some of the important ones are given below.

The Old Soccer Timeline:

1. Around third century BC the Chinese believed to start a game as a Chinese military sport, played with the help of a ball made up of animal skin, filled with feather.

2. 14th century AD the game started to become popular among masses in England and other European countries like France.

3. 1331, King Edward III of England passed the law in order to ban the game from the English streets.

4. 1424, the similar steps were taken by the Scottish king James I who issued the order that “No man shall ever play football” (Soccer).

European Soccer Timeline:

The soccer timeline in Europe is believed to begin from England, where it first took shape as a war game. However, after becoming too popular among the masses and surviving many bans from the monarchs in different time periods, soccer finally took its present shape when the game got split from rugby.

1. 1863, as soccer became independent from rugby; an organization was created with the name of ‘Association football’. The association later set a charter deciding the laws of the game, still followed in soccer.

2. In 885, the FA, legalized professionalism in soccer.

3. In 1900, Olympics included a soccer touranment match whose winners were considered as the wold champions.

4. 1904, on May 21st France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlads, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland met in Paris and organizaed a governing body for football, known by the name of "Federation International Football Association" (FIFA).

5. 1934 & 1938, Italy won World Cup titles.

6. 1954, UEFA is founded in Basel, Switzerland

7. West Germany won the 1954 FIFA World Cup, coming back from 0-2 to win the final game 3-2.

8. In 1958, 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, died in the Munich air disaster.

9. 1963, Lev Yashin becomes the first goalkeeper to win European Footballer of the Year award.

10. England won the 1966 World Cup. Geoff Hurst scored a hat trick and became the first one to do so in a final.

11. 1974, Hosts West Germany won the 1974 World Cup.

12. 1982, Italy won their third World Cup title after a wait of 44 years, defeating West Germany 3-1 in the final.

13. 1990, West Germany won the FIFA World Cup in Rome knocking out the defending champions Argentine.

The South American Soccer Timeline:

1. 1930, the most crucial year for the South American soccer, as first ever FIFA Wold Cup was organized in Uruguay. The cup kicled off a craze for the game all round the continent, giving birth to professionalism in South American countries.

2. 1930, Uruguay won the first World Cup.

3. The professional soccer era started in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

4. In 1950, Uruguay won the second title of World Cup defeating Brazil in final.

5. In 1958, 62 & 70 Brazil won three world cup titles of the five world cup titles they have won to date. Pele emerged as a star, becoming the first player to won three world cup medals.

6. In 1969, 2000 die when El Salvador and Honduras declare war on each other following a World Cup qualifying match.

7. 1978, Argentina won the World Cup title, beating the Netherlands 3–1 in the final.

8. The 1986 World Cup finals were played for the second time in Mexico. The tournament saw the dominance of Argentinian player Diego Maradona, scoring the infamous ‘Hand of God goal’, before his "Goal of the Century" a solo dribble second goal. Both goals were scored against England in the quarter final.

Modern Soccer Timeline:

1. In 1991, the first ever Women's World Cup, USA defeated Norway 2-1; after a six years ban, English clubs once again started to participate in competitions sponsored by UEFA; Diego Maradona was banned for 15 months from international soccer after testing positive drug test for cocaine.

2. Olympique de Marseille, the first French club to win the European Cup, later called the UEFA Champions League, defeated AC Milan. Marseille also won Ligue 1, but were stripped of the title due to a corruption scandal; 18 members of the Zambia national team died in a plane crash.

3. In the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Brazil won their fourth title, defeating Italy on penalties.

4. 1996, Germany defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff in Euro 96; Nigeria became the first African team who won the Olympic Tournament.

5. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup final, France won 3-0 over Brazil.

6. 1999, Manchester United won the Champions League, FA Cup and Premiership to cap off a historical "Treble"; the USA defeated China in a penalty shootout and won the Women's World Cup in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a women's sporting event.

7. In 2000, Brazil set up a record fifth title in World Cup competition, defeating Germany 2-0.

8. 2003, Germany won the Women's World Cup final against Sweden 2-1 in extra time.

9. 2006, FIFA World Cup won by Italy on a penalty kick shootout; a major match-fixing scandal erupted in Italy before the world cup, with five Serie A teams being implicated; Egypt won for the fifth time in the African Cup.

10. 2007, FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 is held in China.

11. FIFA 2010 Football World Cup will held for first time in an African country, in South Africa.