When fans toss on their England jerseys to support their team at this year's forthcoming FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil, they won't just be celebrating England's chances at international football glory. On the contrary, every England soccer shirt reflects not just the heritage of the England national football team, but also of the sport as a whole.

That's right: while variations of what we know as soccer or football today were played around Europe as well as abroad in areas like Ancient Greece, Rome, Australia, and Japan it was 1800s England where the sport we know today started to take root. At Soccer Box, we celebrate that fact by offering a slew of different England national football team gear in our online store, from sweatshirts and soccer balls, all the way to the currently in-demand England youth World Cup away shirt 2014 that many young soccer fans will undoubtedly be wearing this summer to cheer on their team.

The Cambridge Code and the Birth of Association Football

So what about that football history that we referred to earlier? The history that is so engrained in the England soccer jerseys that players wear every time they take to the pitch at the famed Wembley Stadium. As it turns out, the ball really got rolling (pun intended) in 1848 when a set of provisions called "the Cambridge Rules" sought to define soccer for the first time.

The Cambridge Rules first came together at Trinity College in Cambridge, England. While they were never universally adopted as a code for the sport of football, the Cambridge Rules still represent one of the first efforts ever made to truly establish rules and regulations for the sport.

Ultimately, the most important contribution that the Cambridge Rules would have on the sport of soccer was the influence they had on the formation of The Football Association in 1863. Brought together in London, The Football Association established a systematic code of universal rules and regulations that has more or less applied to the sport of football ever since. The group also gave international football its official name of "Association Football," which is still used today.

England's Role in Soccer History

Despite the fact that the competitive sport of soccer as we know it today was born in England, the England national football team has actually not experienced as much domination in the sport as one might expect. In fact, when England players take to the pitch in Brazil for this summer's 2014 World Cup, fans will be able to glimpse a small star above the crest on their white England soccer jerseys. This star is a symbol for the only victory that England has ever attained at the World Cup.

England's singular World Cup triumph came all the way back in 1966, when the country actually hosted the international tournament. In other words, every fan wearing an England kit or an England youth away shirt at this year's World Cup is rooting for a team whose peak of glory is nearly half a century in the rearview.

Group Stage Matches Set and Scheduled

If England is to succeed in this year's World Cup, the team will need to fight through a difficult group stage. As members of Group D, England is pitted against Uruguay (currently ranked fifth by FIFA) and Italy (a four-time World Cup championship team), as well as Costa Rica. The latter should be no issue, but in order to advance, England will also need to topple either Uruguay or Italy, both of which currently hold higher rankings. The team will need many supporters in the stands, wearing the England youth World Cup away shirt 2014 or any other type of gear, if it is to triumph.