Over the history of the FIFA World Cup tournament, the competition has developed and changed in various ways as it has grown to the global football tournament we see today. Each tournament has some common elements, and each tournament also poses distinctive challenges and opportunities. This case study highlights some of the milestones in the history of the tournament and also some of the characteristics of recent hosts Russia, as well as future hosts Qatar and Canada, USA and Mexico to help students to consider what planning and operational issues should be accounted for in each different context.