World Cup Facts Even Die Hard Fans Didn't Know

If you’re one of the lucky fans packed and ready to jump on a plane to Brazil, sod off. We wish we were going too! So, how can you make watching it in the pub exciting? Challenge your friends to a World Cup quiz – then put your winnings toward a ticket to the 2018 Games in Russia.

This quiz won’t require you to don a skimpy swimsuit like your friends posing on Copacabana beach, nor will you need a Portuguese language handbook or a printout of the lyrics to ‘Girl from Ipanema’.

Here are a few not-so-well-known facts about the World Cup so you’ll be sure to win, but before we get into it, did you know that Twitter has turned on “hashflags” – images of flags for countries playing in the tournament, which show up when you tweet their country codes. Not to be outdone, Facebook launched its own World Cup hub - just so you can stay social during the Games.

Put your money on Brazil

After thorough statistical analysis and lots of conversations with friends down the pub, we've come to the world-shattering conclusion that Brazil have got a very good chance of winning the 2014 World Cup. And here’s why. They've already won it five times. The host country have won the cup on six occasions, and although Spain and the Netherlands have been looking pretty tasty in recent months, only Brazil and Argentina have ever won a World Cup away from their own continent.

How many?

The biggest ever attendance for a World Cup match is 200,000 people. They all squeezed into the Maracana Stadium for a match between Brazil and Uruguay during the 1950 World Cup. It’d never happen these days … health and safety gone mad and all that.

One-nil already? I was just getting a pint!

The fastest goal ever scored at a World Cup was knocked in by Turkish superstar (and one time Blackburn Rover), Hakan Sukur against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup. It took him just 11 seconds.

Can I see your bus pass Mr Milla?

Despite the rather nifty dancing and some rather good goals, Roger Milla is the oldest player to ever take part in a World Cup. When he last laced up his boots at the finals, he was just over 42 years old.

Norman, get in here and have ya tea!

Norman Whiteside is the youngest player to ever take the field at a World Cup. He was just 17 years, one month and 10 days when he played for Northern Ireland against Yugoslavia at the ’82 World Cup in Spain. That fact is pretty well known. What isn’t so well know is that when he got back home, his mam grounded him for a week for not calling her to let him know he’d arrived safely in Madrid.

Come on Lothar, let the other boys have a go

German legend Lothar Matthaeus played 25 games across five World Cup tournaments. Only he and Antonio Carbajal (the legendary Mexican goalkeeper) have played at five World Cups. Lothar’s haul of 25 games is unmatched by anyone else, the closest being the evergreen Paolo Maldini who notched up 23.

You certainly know where the goal is Monsieur Fontaine

Every wannabe Alan Hansen knows that Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, not the Portuguese one) has scored more World Cup goals than anyone else (15). However, only the very finest football minds know that the record for most goals at a single tournament goes to the remarkably prolific Just Fontaine at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He knocked in 13 goals in just six matches, including a hattrick against Paraguay and four against West Germany.

Mrs Zidane, we need to speak about Zinedine

Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as the finest player of his generation and the catalyst for France’s short-lived stint as the greatest team in world football. It also turns out he’s the dirtiest player to ever lace up a pair of boots at a World Cup – either that or he just wasn’t very subtle. He played in three tournaments and picked up four yellows and two red cars, including that distinctly un-subtle chest-butt on Marco Materazzi.

BONUS FACT: Did you know 65% of World Cup players are based outside their home countries? And there are four countries that have only one native player on their home team.

Contributed by Daisy Melwani 

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