Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first international football match took place on the 13th of July 1872 in Glasgow between Scotland and England. This challenge set the stage for future global competitions including the British Home Championship that followed in 1884.
Sir Thomas Lipton organized the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909 featuring club sides representing nations rather than national teams themselves. West Auckland won the tournament after being invited to represent England when the FA refused participation.
Uruguay hosted the inaugural tournament in 1930 to celebrate their centenary of independence with thirteen participating nations. These included seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America.
Miroslav Klose of Germany holds the all-time top scoring record with sixteen goals across four World Cups from 2002 to 2014. He broke Ronaldo of Brazil's previous record of fifteen goals during the 2014 semi-final match against Brazil.
The expansion to forty-eight teams received confirmation on the 10th of January 2017 for implementation by 2026. This follows earlier expansions to twenty-four teams in 1982 then to thirty-two in 1998.