Sports biggest extravaganza is about to start. The 21st FIFA World Cup (Men) will be held in Russia from June 14-July 15, 2018. Billions of people from all over the world are expected to watch the event which, in 2014 world cup, registered a viewership of 3.2 billion people worldwide. The tournament has already thrown surprises with Italy not even qualifying for the Cup. Here are some more interesting facts about this amazing game…
- While the first World Cup (men’s) was held in Uruguay in 1930, Women’s World Cup was hosted for the first time in 1991 in China.
- Due to World War II, men’s world cup was not held in 1942 and 1946.
- Since the advent of the Cup, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy (1930- 70); and the FIFA World Cup Trophy (1974 to the present day).
- Jules Rimet Trophy, originally called Victory, was named in honour of the former FIFA president Jules Rimet.
- In 1966, four months before the FIFA World Cup in the UK, the world cup trophy was stolen. It was found seven days later wrapped in a newspaper.
- The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen again in 1983. This time, however, it was never recovered. It is believed that the trophy has been melted down and sold.
- The tradition of lifting the World cup trophy in the air by the winning captain was started by Brazilian captain Hilderaldo Bellini in 1958. In order to help photographers get a better view of the Cup, Bellini lifted it up in the air. Since then, every Cup-winning captain performs this act.
- Only three countries have been able to win all their games at the World Cup: Uruguay (it won all 4 games in 1930. The country was also the host and winner of the cup that year); Italy (won all 4 games in 1938) and Brazil (it has twice won all games – 6/6 in 1970 and 7/7 in 2002).
- The countries which have had the maximum red cards in the history of the tournament are: Brazil (11), Argentina (10) and Uruguay (9).
- The highest scoring game in the history of World Cup has been between Austria and Switzerland in 1954 (Austria defeated Swizerland 7-5).
- The oldest goal scorer in the tournament is Roger Milla. He was 42 when he scored a goal against Russia in 1994.
- The number of teams participating in the men’s World Cup tournament will be increased from 32 to 48 in 2026.
- Although this is going to be Russia’s 11th World Cup appearance, this is the first time it will host the Cup.
Enjoy the game!
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