14 October 1873 - The Father Of The World Cup

On 14 October 1873, future FIFA President and World Cup founder Jules Rimet was born in the French village of Theuley-les-Lavoncourt.

A lawyer by training, Rimet first got involved with football in 1897 when, at the age of 24, he founded a sports club on the outskirts of Paris and called it Red Star. Despite not being a footballer himself, he chose football as one of the sports to be played at the club.

After serving in World War I and winning the Croix de Guerre, Rimet became the first president of France's new football association, the Fédération Française de Football (FFF), in 1919. Two years later, he became the president of FIFA. At the time, FIFA had only a dozen members. By the time he retired in 1954, that number had grown to 85.

It was during his time at FIFA that he pushed his idea for an international tournament that became the World Cup. In recognition, FIFA named the first trophy after him.

He died in 1956, two days after his 83rd birthday.

5 May 1918 - The World Cup's Older Frère

On 5 May 1918, Olympique de Pantin won the inaugural Coupe de France, defeating F.C. Lyon by the score of 3-0.

Founded in a Paris suburb in 1895, Olympique de Pantin was one of 48 clubs participating in the 1917-18 tournament. On their way to the final, they beat Légion Saint-Michel (4-1), Lyon Olympique Universitaire (5-1), Club Français (3-2 aet), and C.A. Société Générale (2-1).

The final was played at Légion Saint-Michel's field in Paris before a crowd of 2,000 spectators. A. Fievet scored the first two goals for Pantin before Louis Darques added a third.

Olympique de Pantin never won another trophy, though they were runners-up in the Coupe de France in 1919 and 1921. In 1926, then known as Olympique de Paris, they merged with rival Parisian club Red Star F.C.

The competition, originally known as the Coupe Charles-Simon, was created on 15 January 1917 by the French football governing body at the time, the Comité Français Inter-fédéral. It was proposed by Henri Delaunay and supported, among others, by Jules Rimet, who went on the become the president of the French Football Federation (1919-1945) and FIFA (1921-1954), and who was the driving force behind the creation of the FIFA World Cup.