Growth of the Game

After the sports split football, football rapidly began to proffesionalise. by 1872 the first competion had began: the FA cup. The first league was then later setup up in 1888. The first international game of football was in 1872 and it was England vs Scotland.  Scotland, Ireland, and Wales all setup up football associations in quick succession throughout this decade. But it wasn't until the rest of Europe started getting involved that the game really became a national sport.

So it really became a worldwide sport when New Zealand, Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Uruguay, Hungry, and Chile associations of their own from 1890- 1910. By 1930 there were 41 different countries playing football professionally. 1930 also signified the official growth of the game globally as it was the year of the first world cup

Credit www.fifa.com