FIFA World Cup from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as "The First World Cup", and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup World Cup. After the first twenty-one World Cups, all top 2 finishes, and all but two top 4 finishes, have been achieved by European (UEFA) and South American (CONMEBOL) countries. The other four football regions together have got just one third place, won by the United States in the inaugural 1930 tournament, and one fourth place, won by South Korea on home soil in 2002. National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Federation of Association Football