2014 FIFA World Cup consecutive title won by a European team, after Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010. In March 2003, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South America for the first time since 1978, in line with its then-active policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup among different confederations. With the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa, it would be the second consecutive World Cup outside Europe, which was a first for the tournament. It was also second in the Southern Hemisphere. Only Brazil and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to standardise the participants to 16 countries. It was then that the "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifiers" were also established, that would take place throughout the year. Again this decision was a successful one and more countries became interested in a now standard FIFA competition. By the end of the 2007 World Cup, the tournament had become very popular throughout the world, with the FIFA board taking over the competition, driving more countries to recognize beach soccer as a major sport. Since the World Cup had become a success worldwide, FIFA decided to have a change of venue. It