ESPN celebrates countdown to 2014 FIFA World Cup with wall detailing soccer history

Today marks 365 days until the start of one of the planet’s most anticipated sporting events: the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In recognition of the one-year countdown, a team of about 20 employees from ESPN’s Facilities and Operations and Creative Services groups created a visual work of art that represents more than 80 years of the “beautiful game’s” history.

First conceptualized by Jed Drake, senior vice president of production, the World Cup Wall offers a timeline with photos beginning with the 1930 tournament in Uruguay. The images chronicle key moments, top players and the winning nations from each World Cup event.

The wall extends approximately 200 feet along a main walkway leading into the ESPN Café on the company’s Bristol, Conn., campus.

“I wondered what this [corridor] would look like if we could adorn it with every year of the World Cup,” said Drake, who then contacted Creative Services to set the project in motion.

The wall is merely one piece of ESPN’s planned World Cup initiatives stretching from Bristol to Brazil that will offer more than 280 programming hours across ESPN networks. There will be a 24-hour marathon of dedicated programming beginning June 11, 2014, leading into the opening match on June 12.

The FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 — the preview tournament to the 2014 FIFA World Cup — kicks off Saturday, June 15, from Brazil, with the host country and five-time World Cup champion facing Japan at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Video produced by Ariel Bond