Jake PopistDid you that the world’s most-watched sporting event is the World Cup? The event is held by FIFA after every 4 years. This time around, the World Cup is taking place in Russia. It commenced on the 14th of June 2018 and is expected to run all the way to the 15th of July 2018. Here are interesting facts that will get you all excited about the World Cup.
- This is the very first time that Russia has had the privilege to host this highly coveted event.
- FIFA expelled Zimbabwe from qualifying for the 2018 Russia World Cup because of not paying their coach.
- Panama and Iceland will be making their debut in the 2018 World Cup.
- The very 1st world cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. The host country emerged as the world soccer champions.
- Up to date, the World Cup event has been held 20 times. The country that tops the list with most titles is Brazil with 5. Followed closely by Germany and Italy. Both countries hold 4 titles.
- The highest position Russia has ever managed in any World Cup was 4th The year was 1966. Russia has participated in a total of 11 World Cup events, including this one.
- A Staggering 3.2 billion individuals watched the World Cup in 2014. This is almost ½ of the entire population on earth. Quite impressive!
- At the age of 42, Roger Milla became the oldest scorer in the history of World Cup. The year was 1994. He was on the Cameroonian team and scored against Russia.
- Rumor has it that in 1950, India refused to participate in the World Cup tournament because they could not be allowed to play soccer barefoot.
- In 2002, the event was held simultaneously in two countries: Japan and South Korea. A first ever in soccer history.
- In 1966, the trophy awarded to the winners of the World Cup was stolen for a whole 7 days before the tournament kicked off.
- In 2014, the average number of people who attended the matches in the World Cup was about 53,000 fans per game.
- The match with the highest score at any World Cup event was between Austria and Switzerland in 1954. Austria scored 7 against 5 to Switzerland.
- The country with the most draws in all the World Cup matches is Italy with a total of 21.
- Indonesia has only appeared once at the World Cup and the year was 1938.
- The country with the highest losses in World Cup Matches is Mexico, with a loss of 25. However, they have also had 14 draws and 14 wins.
- Russia’s soccer player, Oleg Salenko, has scored the most goals in the world cup. With a total of 5!
Early betting predictions and tips have suggested it will be hard to stop rooting for the favorites including Germany and Brazil, amongst the fans.
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Jake Popist
