EXPLAINER - First World Cup kicked off today in 1930: What has changed since?

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its final week across the US, Canada and Mexico, July 13 marks the 96th anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup. That inaugural tournament, which opened in Uruguay on July 13, 1930, modest by today’s standards, laid the foundation for what has become the planet’s most-watched sporting event. Nearly a century later, the anniversary offers a look at how football’s biggest competition evolved from a modest experiment into a major sporting, economi