Around the world, soccer is known as "the beautiful game." It is the biggest and most popular sport on the planet, and its signature event, the World Cup, is the most watched televised event, even more than the Olympics or the Super Bowl. The sport can be found almost everywhere in the world. From children on the playgrounds of modern cities to those in the remote fields of developing countries, the love of the simple act of kicking the ball back and forth has spanned generations. As a professional sport, soccer has exploded in Europe and South America, where the top athletes are among the highest paid in the world. In the U.S., soccer is much less popular, but Major League Soccer has become America's first successful professional league, where homegrown stars have the chance to shine.

Each book in the Inside the World of Sports series takes you from the very beginning of a sport to a look at its future. Inside these pages, learn more about soccer's greatest moments, iconic athletes, and what the future holds for the game. Each title in this series contains color photos throughout and back matter including: a chronology, glossary of terms for each sport, an index, and further reading lists for books and internet resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Educational Videos are offered throughout the first chapter, through the use of a QR code that when scanned takes the student to an online video showing a greatest moment in sports' history. This gives the readers additional content to supplement the text. Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers are able to reference back to the definitions--building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension.

Text-Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the reader's comprehension of the chapter they have just read, while sending the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects are provided at the end of each chapter as well and provide readers with suggestions for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.