Identifying Predictive Factors of Success of the Countries in Football World Cup

Because of special attractions of FIFA World Cup it has become the area to show advantages of countries over their competitors. For this reason identifying success factors of countries in this tournament is important for sports policy makers. Regard to the exploratory nature of the subject were used qualitative methods to determine the most important factors in predicting success of countries. First preliminary list of indicators were identified through initial studies. Then semi-structured interviews was conducted with (n = 24) of the elites that aware of these issues. Results showed that, 232 indexes Including Per capita GDP, population, Age structure, The duration of the establishment of the Football Federation in the countries, The duration of the federation join to FIFA, World Cup hosting and Military cost could predict the success of countries in FIFA World Cup. In this analysis, indexes were classified into 5 elements: political, economic, social and cultural, technology and sport (PEST+S). Also, using De Bosscher et al’s model (2006), the factors were divided into micro, meso and macro levels. Finally, it is possible for managers according to given facilities and resources of the country compared to other countries adopt appropriate policies and programs.