A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, or ability.
29-538: Rugby World Cup Sevens ( RWCS ) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens , a variant of rugby union . Organised by World Rugby , it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics . The first tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland , and was won by England . The winners of the men's tournament are awarded
58-536: A series of four Grand Slam events recognised as the pinnacle of the game, in addition to key team events, world tour finals and the Olympic Games, though each year ITF (International Tennis Federation) designates a World Champion based on performances throughout the year). There are some sports that already had a 'world championship' in the 18th or 19th century, although it was variable how 'world-wide' these competitions really were. The French player Clergé
87-497: A true world championship but may designate the winners of a domestic competition to be "world champions". This is especially true of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ; world cups and championships exist in all four of the major sports, but the domestic U.S. and Canadian leagues are generally known as the world professional championships (due to the best players worldwide being in
116-511: A world championship or a world cup as such, but may have one or several world champions. Professional boxing , for example, has several world champions at different weights , but each one of them is decided by a "title match", not a tournament. In a title match system, the championship can only be won by directly defeating the incumbent, who in turn must continue to compete to retain their title or risk forfeiture . Still other competitions, most commonly in professional sports , may or may not have
145-560: Is considered to be the first international champion in real tennis , since 1740. In chess , international matches have been held for centuries, often resulting in certain players considered the best of all, with the first multiplayer tournament held in London in 1851 , but Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886 was the first chess player generally recognized as the world chess champion . Other sports with early 'world championships' were English draughts (1840) and speed skating . The following lists for
174-548: Is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship ), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon ). This determines a 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that
203-419: The 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place. Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens . Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from
232-608: The FIFA Club World Cup . The first edition in 2000 ran concurrently with the 2000 Intercontinental Cup , and in 2004 the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the CCW, which has been ongoing since 2005 with yearly editions. Finally, certain competitions do not have a world championship or world cup, but rather hold a series of events recognised as the elite level in their field (e.g. tennis and golf have
261-681: The Melrose Cup , named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first rugby sevens game was played. A women's tournament was introduced at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai , and was first won by Australia . After the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens , the tournament took an extended, five-year hiatus to allow the integration of rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics into the competitive calendar. The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens
290-733: The San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park , home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball . When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium , home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer , was announced as a second venue. However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue. The three-day tournament
319-632: The Big Four leagues, winners of the Women's National Basketball Association , much like its men's counterpart , commonly call themselves world champions, as with the winners of the National Lacrosse League and Drum Corps International . On the other hand, association football (soccer) has more parity between national leagues and even continental tournaments has seen the birth of one true "world championship". The first such tournament
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#1732772780210348-533: The Olympic rugby sevens tournaments, and would allow an elite-level competition to take place biennially from 2016. The next tournament would be held in 2018, one year later than usual, in order to accommodate the integration of the Olympics into the competitive calendar. On 13 May 2015, it was announced that the United States would host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens . The 2001 tournament added another chapter to
377-479: The competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog ). This may also be known as a world cup competition , for example cycling ( UCI World Championships and UCI World Cups ). Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations, such as boxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling. Certain competitive exercises do not have
406-497: The cup was endorsed by both UEFA and CONMEBOL but had no involvement from FIFA , the governing body for world football. As such, FIFA wanted to expand the tournament to include the champion from other continents - from the AFC Champions League ( Asia and Australia ), CAF Champions League ( Africa ), CONCACAF Champions League ( North America and Caribbean ) and OFC Champions League ( Oceania ) and created
435-532: The exposure to rugby from hosting the World Cup Sevens would accelerate the growth of rugby in Russia . It featured 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams. The IRB originally intended to discontinue Rugby World Cup Sevens after the 2013 edition, in favour of the Olympic tournament. However, it was later decided in 2013 that the tournament would continue to be held, as it can accommodate a larger field than
464-788: The final, and Wales' Taliesin Selley was named player of the tournament. The top all-time try-scorer for the Rugby World Cup Sevens is Fijian winger Marika Vunibaka , who scored 23 tries in three of the Sevens World Cups he played in from 1997 to 2005. Serevi ranks second with 19 career World Cup Sevens tries, over four tournaments from 1993 to 2005. Brian Lima ranks third with 17 tries. The top points scorers are Serevi with 297 points, Vunibaka with 115 points, and Lima with 101 points. Up to date as of 12 September 2022 World championship The title
493-563: The final. Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, hosted the 1997 event . The final was won by Fiji over South Africa. The 2001 tournament was held in Mar del Plata , Argentina. The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong. At the 2009 tournament, Wales, Samoa, Argentina and Kenya combined to stun the rugby world by defeating the traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, England, South Africa and Fiji in
522-540: The league itself) (as with the Stanley Cup , ostensibly an independent championship for ice hockey but under the de facto control of the National Hockey League through two trustees who since no later than 1947 have been NHL loyalists) or the equivalent of a world club championship. In American football , although an IFAF World Championship exists, the United States is so far above and beyond
551-457: The legend of New Zealand's Jonah Lomu . Lomu, used sparingly in pool play, received his opportunity when New Zealand captain Eric Rush broke his leg in the last pool match. Lomu went on to score three tries in the final. In 2005, Waisale Serevi came out of international retirement to captain and lead Fiji to their second Melrose Cup. At the 2009 tournament, Wales defeated Argentina 19–12 in
580-636: The other nations it faces that the winner of the U.S.-based Super Bowl , a competition limited to the 32 teams in the National Football League , is commonly nicknamed as the world champion by the players, the press and fans alike; the NFL itself explicitly marketed the contest as a world championship in its first iterations. Winners of the Major League Baseball 's World Series are also commonly called world champions. Outside of
609-624: The quarter-finals, guaranteeing a new Melrose Cup winner. Wales and Argentina met in the final, with Wales triumphing 19–12. The IRB made a submission to the International Olympic Committee in 2005 for rugby sevens to become an Olympic sport. However, the submission failed because committee members felt IRB needed to improve promotion of the women's game. To that end, the IRB implemented the first women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in 2009. The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens
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#1732772780210638-495: The three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions. All times in Pacific Daylight Time ( UTC−07:00 ). Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens , and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from
667-556: The various sports with a world championship include: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens . Organized by World Rugby , it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park , in San Francisco , United States . A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men's tournament had 24 teams and
696-406: The women's tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format . New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final. The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows: The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event: USA Rugby selected
725-715: Was held at Cape Town Stadium , in Cape Town , South Africa , with Fiji winning the men's tournament and Australia winning the women's tournament. The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Board . The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1993, and has been held every four years since. England won the inaugural tournament, defeating Australia 21–17 in
754-403: Was held in Dubai during the first weekend of March 2009 and included a separate women's tournament. Cumulative attendance was 78,000. Prior to the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, the IRB stated that their intention would be to end the World Cup Sevens so that the Olympic Games would be the one pinnacle in a four-year cycle for Rugby Sevens. The adoption of rugby sevens and golf
783-537: Was recommended to the full International Olympic Committee council by its executive board in August 2009. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 for rugby sevens to become a medal event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro . The IRB Council in 2010 awarded the hosting of the 2013 tournament to Moscow, Russia from a field of eight nations that had expressed formal interest in hosting. The IRB intended that
812-733: Was the Football World Championship disputed from 1876 to 1904 between the winners of the FA Cup and Scottish Cup . After that, there have been many tournaments between teams from around the world, but it wasn't until 1960 when the Intercontinental Cup was established, competed between the winners two greatest and most important continental championships: the UEFA Champions League from Europe and CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores from South America,
841-406: Was the most-watched live rugby cast in the U.S. on record. In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1. Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers. Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event, which was a record-breaking crowd for a rugby event in the United States. Over
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