WORLD CUP FACTS: Only 8 countries have won the World Cup since 1930. And all 8 teams are from South America (3) and Europe (5). No European team have ever won the World Cup on American soil. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay have jointly won all World Cup trophies in both North and South America. The World Cup did not hold in 1942 and 1946 due to World War 2. Brazil are the only team that have won the World Cup in Asia, Europe, North and South America. Uruguay hosted and won the first ever World Cup in 1930. Italy became the first European team to win the World Cup which they hosted in 1934. In the 19 tournaments held, 76 nations have appeared at least once. 12 have reached the final, and 8 have won it. Brazil is the ONLY nation to have participated in every World Cup. Winning 5 of it to remain the most successful World Cup team. ONLY Europe and South America teams have ever reached the World Cup final. The first ever World Cup in 1930 had only 13 teams participating. The 1934 World Cup was the first to include a qualification stage. Egypt is the first African country to compete at the World Cup, eliminated in the first round by Hungary in 1934. At Chile 62, Colombias Marcos Coll became the only ever player to score a goal from a direct corner kick, against legendary Lev Yashin of USSR. In 1966 in England, the World Cup first used an official logo, embraced marketing, and featured a mascot. The trophy was stolen same year only to be found a week after by a dog named Pickles. South Africa was banned in 1966 for violating the anti-discrimination charter (apartheid). North Korea is the first Asian team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, eliminating Italy in 1966. Sir Geoff Hurst became the first and to this day the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final in 1966. Brazil were permanently awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy after their 3rd World Cup triumph in 1970. Tunisia is the first ever African team to win a World Cup Match in 1978, beating Mexico 3-1. At Italia 90, Ireland reached the Quarter-finals without winning a single game (4 draws, and a penalty shoot-out win over Romania in the 2nd round). Cameroon also became the first ever African country to reach the Quarter-finals of the World Cup (Senegal 02 and Ghana 10 have since joined them). USA 94 saw the first ever World Cup to be decided on Penalties, with Brazil edging out Italy. Also, Andres Escober was murdered 10 days after scoring an own-goal, against USA which saw Colombia eliminated. Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first player to score 5 goals in a single World Cup game, in Russias 6-1 group stage win over Cameroon. 17-0 remains the widest margin in World Cup history, scored by Iran (1998) against Maldives during qualification. Toppled by Australia 31-0 American Samoa in a preliminary match. Nigeria played in its first ever World Cup in 1994. 2002 - First ever World Cup to be held in Asia, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. 2010 - First ever World Cup held on African soil in South Africa. #NowYouKnow!!!
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 23:04:13 +0000
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