• Two players have scored in four successive finals tournaments. Both Pele of Brazil and Uwe Seeler of West Germany scored in the finals of 1958, 1962, 1966 & 1970.
• Did you know that South American and European countries have won the World Cup nine times and eight times respectively. There has been no other continent, which has produced a World Cup Champion.
• Shirt swapping was once officially prohibited in 1986 because FIFA did not want players to 'bare their chests' on the field.
• There were a total of 13 teams in the first World Cup. Besides the host Uruguay, there were Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, France, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, the United States and Yugoslavia.
• The most common surname of World Cup players is Gonzalez or Gonzales.
• No European team has won a World Cup played outside of Europe.
• The most common score in a World Cup finals match is 1-0.
• Who says there is no such thing as home advantage? Out of the 17 World Cups so far, six have been won by the host country.
• The only person to have played both World Cup Football and World Cup cricket is Viv Richards - Antigua at football and West Indies at cricket.
• The first World Cup soccer match kicked off on 13 July 1930 with France beating Mexico 4 to 1.
• World Cup Winners (by country)
Brazil (5)
1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Italy (3)
1934, 1938, 1982
Germany (3)
1954, 1974, 1990
Uruguay (2)
1930, 1950
Argentina (2)
1978, 1986
England (1)
1966
France (1)
1998
• Five teams have been unbeaten but not the champions in the same finals. Those unbeaten teams are: Scotland in 1974 (1 win, 2 draws), Brazil in 1978 (4 wins, 3 draws), England in 1982 (3 wins, 2 draws), Cameroon in 1982 (3 draws), Belgium in 1998 (3 draws).
