The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the global governing body of soccer Based in Zurich, Switzerland, it was founded in 1907 by Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The British home nations had turned down an invitation to lead the creation of a global organization five years earlier, but did eventually joined the founding seven, only to resign and rejoin twice in the 1920’s.

FIFA is the affiliating body for all the major global soccer competitions, first among which is the World Cup, and has acquired more than 200 member countries. These soccer nations are organized into six geographical confederations that each run their won tournaments. FIFA was a small and relatively poorly resourced organization until the 1970’s, but under the presidency of Brazilian Joãn Havelange, the World Cup was transformed into the premiere global sporting event. Despite its unique position as the custodian of the world’s most popular game, FIFA regularly ranks at the bottom of global surveys on the transparency and accountability of global NGO’s.

	FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association Number of members: 208 Competitions: World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Under- 16 World Championship, Youth World Championship Club World Championship, Confederations Cup Awards: FIFA World Player of the Year, FIFA World Team of the Year, FIFA Fair Play Award
	CONCACAF Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football Number of members: 35 Competitions: CONCACAF Gold Cup, CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup CONMEBOL Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol Number of members: 10 Competitions: Copa América, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana www.concacaf.com MLS
	UEFA Union Des Associations Européennes de Football Number of members: 52 Competitions: European Championship, European Championships League, UEFA Europa League, Intertoto Cup European Super Cup, European Women’s Championship www.UEFA.com English Premier League Italy’s Serie A Germany’s Bundesliga France’s Ligue 1 Spain’s Liga 1 UEFA Champions League
	CAF Confédération Africaine de Football Number of members: 52 Competitions: African Cup of Nations, African Champions League, African Confederations Cup, CAF Super Cup www.cafonline.com
	AFC Asian Football Confederation Number of members: 44 Competitions: Asian cup, Asian Games, Asian Champions League, Asian Women’s Championships www.the-afc.com
	OFS Oceania Football Confederation Number of members: 11 Competitions: Oceania Nations Cup, OFC Club Championships, Oceania Women’s Tournament www.oceaniafootball.com
	CONMEBOL South American Football Confederation Number of members: 10 Competitions: Copa América, South American Football Championship, South American Women’s Championship, Copa América de Futsal, CONMEBOL Beach Soccer Championship