AHC/WI the FIFA World Cup Began Much Earlier (1800s)

[NTF aka Seb]

@Atzyn has a superb TL that examines how the history of the World Cup would have been if it began back in 1906 instead of 1930. Highly recommended.

However, after reading it I couldn't help but ponder: What if it had begun even earlier? After all, the first international association football match was played all the way back in 1872 between England and Scotland.

I suppose the POD could be that football simply spreads faster around the globe and that international matches become more popular faster than in OTL, possibly even before the creation of FIFA. This is just speculation, though.

Arguably ASB, but I think this could be really fun and interesting to examine, and I'm eager to hear other people's thoughts, even though the World Cup title would likely be a duopoly between England and Scotland for the first few decades.

 

[JorgeGG]

Adding link to the ATL in question
An Alternate History of FIFA, the World Cup, and International Football

In the future also post a link to the ATL or thread.

(Moderators please block this thread)

 

[funnyhat]

though the World Cup title would likely be a duopoly between England and Scotland for the first few decades.

If the sport is global enough to have a World Cup in the first place, that suggests that there is enough parity that one or two countries will not dominate. If no one else is good at football, there will not be a World Cup.

Adding link to the ATL in question
An Alternate History of FIFA, the World Cup, and International Football

That TL is problematic. It relies on a very questionable premise: that other countries would divide into regional "nations" with their own FIFA teams. It's very doubtful that this would have happened with a post-1900 POD. What happened with the four British teams IOTL was a particular case, where their "national" teams had been established decades before the establishment of FIFA.

 

[Neoteros]

Going by this article, the oldest national teams not to hail from the British Isles are Denmark and the Netherlands (1889), followed by New Zealand (1891), Singapore (1892), Argentina (1893), and Switzerland (1895); going by Wikipedia, these FAs were also founded by 1895:

Europe: Belgium, Gibraltar
Americas: Chile

So by around 1895 you could have a world championship featuring Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Denmark and Switzerland, with Gibraltar, New Zealand and Singapore representing the British Empire (I doubt any national team from the actual British Isles would take part; given the distances involved however, the whole thing would have to be backed by the FA, while being held in England.