The first Football World Cup was played in Uruguay in 1930 to celebrate the country's centenary of independence, but the global showpiece has come a long way since then.

In total just 13 nations took part in the inuagural event with a trip to the host nation considered a touch too pricey for many of the European nations. Only four teams from Europe made the trip, with seven from South America and another two from North America making up the remainder of the teams.

Indeed travel, and war, caused plenty of problems for the initial tournaments. Few of the South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were, of course, cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II and its aftermath.

The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams had withdrawn from FIFA in 1920, but rejoined in 1946. The 1950 tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again by defeating Brazil in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the "Maracanazo".

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria were absorbed into Germany after qualifying, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.

Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semifinalists in 1930; Cuba, quarterfinalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarterfinalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarterfinalists in 1970.

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982, and then to 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. The one exception is Oceania, who have never had a guaranteed spot in the tournament.

198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and a record 204 attempted to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Bafana Bafana, of course, will be waiting for them with the host nation awarded automatic qualification.