Do you perhaps know which of the best soccer players was also punished with a card the most times? Which team in World Cup history was the worst of the best? How long is the longest hymn? The present of the soccer world championships is exciting because of the matches, and the past because of many unusual but lesser-known facts. We present 10 of them.
World Cup in football it is definitely a period of surprises, good and bad, it is a time when new potentials emerge and a time for some to retire. That's when new history is made and new stories are written, and although this year's World Cup is not over yet, it has already been marked by a fact that will go down in history: did you know that the first goal scored at this year's World Cup was an own goal, which was it scored by a Brazilian defender in a match against Croatia?
Who was the greatest eighth seed in the history of the WC? Who is still the top scorer in the history of the World Cup? And what happened to the original World Cup trophy? Here are some more interesting and lesser-known facts about the history of the World Cup.
10. Premiered at WC 2014 – technology that detects goals
2014 is a landmark year for the World Cup in football, as this year they will use a special one for the first time technology, which detects whether the ball has really correctly crossed the critical line that determines the goal: around the nets there are 7 cameras connected to a computer that analyzes each goal and in a few moments informs the referee via his wristwatch whether it was a goal or not. Perhaps this progress was aided by the controversial annulment Frank Lampard's goal from WC 2010?
9. Zinedine Zidane: the player most punished in the history of the World Cup
Zinedine Zidane, the legendary French soccer player, knew how to show his aggressiveness in matches. Just remember his ''heads'' to the Italian player Marco Materazzi in his last game in the WC 2006 final. Even otherwise, Zizou often received a card. What's more, in just three matches of the World Cup from 1998 to 2006, he received as many as 4 yellow cards and 2 red cards, thus becoming the first French player to receive a red card at the World Cup... and he also went down in the history of world championships in football as the player who has been banned the most.
8. 3 times in the finals, never winners - the historic eighth-place finishers are the Dutch
It is among the best football teams Dutch the only one who has never won the WC. They have been to the finals three times, but were burned each time: in 1974 against East Germany and in 1978 against Argentina in tense extra time. In 2010, she overtook them in the final well played Spanish team.
7. The longest anthem at the World Cup is the Greek anthem
Hymn to Freedom is the title of the 158-line long Greek anthem, which is thus the longest anthem at the World Cup. There is even a version that is said to be just under 55 minutes long! The shortest is the Japanese national anthem with only 11 lines. Longest or shortest chant, FIFi doesn't matter at all, because all national anthems at the World Cup have been shortened to 90 seconds.
6. This year's World Cup in Brazil is the MOST EXPENSIVE ever!
It's the soccer world cup Brazil costing between 14 and 16 billion dollars so far, which is twice as much as the last 2 World Cups combined! A bit wasteful, isn't it? Especially since they built a stadium worth 300 million dollars in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, which will be used for only 4 matches of the championship, and due to its remoteness and distance from the local football teams, it will most likely fail after the World Cup.
5. In 1970, substitutions of uninjured players were allowed for the first time and a yellow card was introduced
WC 1970 was one of those championships that left an impression on football fans all over the world: they played great football, each game was more exciting than the last, and this championship still holds the record for the most goals scored per game. The year 1970 was also a turning point because yellow cards were introduced for the first time, which the referees certainly did not hide, as already in the opening match between Mexico and SZ they awarded 4 out of 5 yellow cards to the Soviets.
4. The host nation has won six of the 19 World Cups
It is often the case that the host country of the championship is also the favorite to win. Even this year's Brazilian team according to many, he is on his way to the cup. Not only talent, but also statistics from the past are in their favor, as it has already happened six times that the host country has won the World Cup: first in 1934 by the Italians and lastly by France in 1998. Otherwise, the names of the winning teams change in a very small group, to which we add Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, France and Spain.
3. Congratulations to an unexpected winner written in the language of losers
Brazil's loss to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final was painful because they were beaten on home soil and embarrassing because practically the whole world expected them to win. Even FIFA prepared the award speech only in Portuguese, they did not think of the Spanish version yet, because no one expected the Brazilians to be defeated by the Uruguayans. They thus got 'only' the world champion's trophy. No speeches, no awards procession, no liters of champagne.
2. Just Fontaine is the top scorer in the history of the World Cup
Just Fontaine is still today the scorer who scored the most goals in one World Cup. He still holds the record from 1957, when he scored 13 goals against opposing teams. The most explosive performance was against East Germany for third place, when he scored 4 out of 6 goals.
1. Brazil is the only one to have the World Cup in permanent possession
When the Brazilian national team received the original Jules Rimet trophy for the third consecutive year in 1970, it was FIFA handed over to permanent ownership. At the next championship, FIFA introduced new cup model, which is still used today, and was created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. And what happened to the previous trophy of inestimable historical and sentimental value? The Brazilian Football Association displayed it in its premises and although it was supposed to be protected behind bulletproof glass, it was stolen in 1983 and all traces of it were lost. So much for historical value.
