FIFA World Cup hosts second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the South American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament. The first tournament following World War II, held in Brazil in 1950, had three teams withdraw for either financial problems or disagreements with the organization. To avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Asia. The system evolved so that the host
Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Brazil participated for the 18th time in the event. The country remained as the only national team to have participated in every installment of the FIFA World Cup. The Brazilian team played until the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by France, finishing the tournament in the fifth place — for the third time in history (1954 and 1986 were the previous instances). Brazil's qualifying for the event marked the first time in history in which a returning champion (the country had won the 2002 World Cup) had