FISA World Cup (Napoleon's World)

The FISA (Federation Internationale de Soccer Association) World Soccer Championships are a soccer tournament held every four years since 1932 (with the exception of 1940 due to the French Civil War) in different host countries to hand out the World Cup (the tournament is sometimes referred to as the World Cup). The tournament occurs for one month in the summer every four years - in 2008, the most recent World Cup, the tournament was hosted in Oceania, and will be hosted by China in 2012. 32 countries are accepted to the tournament, and after initial "group play," 16 teams advance to the knockout rounds. The 2008 championship match between Ireland and Jamaica was the most-watched program in television history.

Membership
The FISA is comprised of four leagues, based on geographic location. There is the Eurasian League, composed of the member-teams of the French Empire in Europe, other European nations as well as Siberia; the Asian League, composed of Middle Eastern, South Asian and East Asian teams, as well as Oceania; African League, which is the continent of Africa, and the Americas League, composed of North and South America, as well as Hawai'i.

The most interesting nation to watch in the FISA tourneys is the French Empire, which in fact fields four separate teams - a team for France proper, a team for the vague boundaries of Germany, a team for the East (Russia) and a team for their Scandinavian territories. In turn, they also administrate each of their major colonies (Canada, Algeria, Hindustan, French West Africa) as an independent team. While often a criticized move in that it allows one single government to field eight separate teams, it allows for culturally distinct regions of the French Empire to be properly represented. Additionally, this has allowed France and Germany to separately host the World Cup, as has been done before.

1932
Site: France