Celebrating soccer THIS summer is exciting for many people on the planet--- the World Cup take place in Brazil from June 12 to July 13. Among the world's most widely watched sporting events, the World Cup makes the world turn around a moving ball. Many businesses, including banks and shops in some countries, change their hours according to the games so that people don't miss any of the action. But why is this sporting event so popular? Soccer can be played by anybody almost anywhere, without too much and expensive equipment. The universal attraction of the sport is down to being simple, according to Kevin Alavy from a sports research organization. FIFA , which has organized the World Cup since 1930, has helped make the event more popular. FIFA makes a habit of taking the World Cup to many new markets, such as South Korea and Japan in 2002 and South Africa in 2010. This has expanded the sport's reach beyond Europe and South America, according to CNN. Brazil is seen by many as the home of soccer, so it is a bit surprising that this is just the second time that the World Cup is held in the country after the fourth one was held there back in 1950. Soccer writer Jonsthan Wilson believes that the challenge of achieving success at the World Cup has also increased its magical attraction. Although FIFA has more than 200 member states --- it's an organization with more members than the United Nations --- only eight countries have ever won the competition. These countries are Brazil (five wins), Italy and Germany (four each); Uruguay and Argentina (twice each); and England, France and Spain (once each). The 2014 World Cup has seen different teams compete in 12 different cities, more than any other Cup on record. Spreading from south to north, some cities have different scenes, which surely make the World Cup more inspiring. We can learn from the passage that FIFA   _  .
has almost 200 member states has always tried to make soccer more popular worldwide has organized the World Cup since 1920 has almost the same members as the United Nations