1A sports competition between teams from several countries, in particular an international soccer tournament held every four years.

1. 1.1 A trophy awarded in a sports competition between teams from several countries.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • It seems like it takes a World Cup or an Olympic Games for this country to realise how far behind the rest of the sporting world we are.
   • To survive that long would mean one more tour of Australia and a World Cup in South Africa.
   • To win a World Cup you need a few players to chip in with goals, not just rely on one player to get five or six.
   • This is the fifth rematch within a World Cup, and Brazil will have been in three of them.
   • If that meant dropping out of a World Cup, that was what Calvin would have wanted.
   • Motivation hardly seems necessary for a World Cup final but for them there is an added incentive.
   • Whenever there is a World Cup or European Championship, Tom is unashamedly first to the plane.
   • You wouldn't have thought these teams are on the verge of a World Cup semi-final.
   • There is a depth to the European Championship that cannot even be found at a World Cup.
   • The one small mercy to be thankful for was that this was not a World Cup qualifier.
   • He is a special player and setting a World Cup record is a marvellous achievement.
   • You must take your best players to a World Cup if you want to have any chance of winning it.
   • France play the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifying game in Paris.
   • When was the last time an England coach had to warn his players of the danger of complacency in a World Cup qualifier?
   • The pity is, a few of these players may never get another chance to feature in a World Cup final.
   • With nine men and five women this is the first time Great Britain has fielded a full team at a World Cup event.
   • The ambitions for a World Cup final, though, are larger than the match itself is ever likely to be.
   • What appeared to be the turning point for him was when he failed to turn up for a World Cup qualifying match in Albania.
   • And yet, somehow, after that, it was decided that England was ready to host a World Cup.
   • Not many coaches have led a team into the quarter-finals of a World Cup, so I'm satisfied.