Confederations Cup Sports Mirror gives you everything you need to know about the World Cup warm-up in Brazil

It’s now less than a year until the best footballers in the world converge in Brazil for the World Cup finals - 64 matches played to a samba rhythm in one of the most beautiful countries on Earth.

And to get everyone in the mood, the traditional 'dress rehearsal' for the main event - the FIFA Confederations Cup - gets underway this weekend.

Not only is the tournament important in testing the magnificent venues that will host the World Cup in 12 month’s time, but it’s a chance for some of the best teams to challenge themselves against each other with an eye on winning the biggest prize.

Sports Mirror has everything you need to know about the tournament.

Welcome to Brazil: The tournament will act as a way for Brazilian officials to test run the World Cup on a smaller scale, and mark the one year countdown to the tournament

What is the Confederation Cup?

Like the World Cup, the Confederations Cup is staged every four years and, since 2005, has been held in the same country chosen to host the main event 12 months later. It comprises eight nations, including the host nation for the World Cup, the previous World Cup winners and the winners of each of the continental tournaments - the European Championships, Copa America etc. 

It serves an important logistical purpose in testing out the venues that will be used for the finals, but also gives some of the best nations on the planet an early chance to size each other up. 

Previous Finals

King Fahd Cup

1992: Host-South Arabia-Argentina3 Saudi Arabia 1

1995:Saudi Arabia-Argentina:Denmark2 Argentina0

1997:Saudi Arabia-Brazil 6 Brazil 3

1999:Mexico 4 Brazil 3

2001:Japan&South Korea -France 1 Japan 0

2003:France France 1 Cameroon 0

2005:German -Brazil4 Argentina 1

2009:South Africa -Brazil 3 United States 2

Who will compete in this year's confederations cup?

As always, there will be eight nations in the competition:

Brazil - The host nation for the 2014 World Cup

Spain - The World Cup holders from 2010 

Japan - The winners of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup

Mexico - The winners of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup 

Uruguay - The winners of the 2011 Copa America 

Tahiti - The winners of the 2012 OFC Nations Cup

 Nigeria - The winners of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations 

Italy - The runners-up in the 2012 UEFA European Championships - because Spain currently hold both the World Cup and the European Championship trophies, the runners-up are invited to take the European space in the tournament.