25 more facts about FIFA World Cup 2014

This is a compilation of 25 more facts about FIFA World Cup Football which is updated on FIFA website. The process started by FIFA when it was 100 days left for World Cup 2014. Lets just read them one after another. 50 facts are already updated in this blog. You'll definitely find something interesting here.

51. The 1950 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ was memorable for many firsts, not least the format: the only time in the tournament’s history that a Final was not played.

There was also a first-ever defeat for a defending World Cup champion, when Italy were beaten 3-2 by Sweden in Sao Paulo.

Gli Azzurri fared even worse as holders last time out, finishing bottom of their South Africa 2010 section after failing to win any of their three group stage matches.

The worst performance by World Cup holders, though, came in 2002 courtesy of a France side who not only failed to win a match, but could not muster a single goal.

52. Sir Bobby Charlton found the net 49 times in 106 appearances for England, and remains to this day the team’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Four of the Manchester United legend’s strikes were spread across the 1966 and 1970 FIFA World Cups™, with his starring role in England’s triumph in the former edition establishing him as one of the era’s foremost talents.

Of the current England squad, Wayne Rooney - currently on 38 goals - is the man closest to Charlton’s record, and Roy Hodgson’s star man will be aiming to move a step or two closer during Brazil 2014.

53. A total of 48 hat-tricks have been scored in the history of the FIFA World Cup.

Just four players, however, have managed the feat twice: Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis (1954), Just Fontaine of France (1958), Germany legend Gerd Muller (1970) and Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta (1994/1998).

Batistuta, La Albiceleste's all-time leading goalscorer, deserves particular plaudits as the only one of this quartet to have scored a treble in two different editions.

54. Pauleta scored 47 goals in 88 international appearances, establishing himself – until as recently as last month – as Portugal’s all-time leading marksman.

The man who smashed his record was, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, who equalled his predecessor’s benchmark in Portugal’s memorable Brazil 2014 play-off win over Sweden and surpassed it with a double in the 5 March friendly win over Cameroon.

Now on 49 goals, the odds will be short on Ronaldo breaking through the 50-mark during the upcoming FIFA World Cup™.

55. MacDonald Taylor became the oldest recorded player to feature in a FIFA World Cup™ qualifier when he took the field for US Virgin Islands at the age of 46 in February 2004.

The veteran defender, born in Trinidad and Tobago on 27 August 1957, turned out against played in the game against St Kitts and Nevis but never made the FIFA World Cup itself, where Cameroon legend Roger Milla holds the age record at 42.

Dino Zoff, meanwhile, is the oldest player to appear in the Final, turning out for Italy in the 1982 showpiece at the grand old age of 40.

56. In 2013, Lionel Messi scored 45 goals in 46 appearances for both club and country.

Though a hugely impressive haul for any other player, this fell some way short of his record 2012 tally: a remarkable 91 in all competitions.

Injuries have hampered the Argentina and Barcelona star this season, but he has already broken through the 25-mark in 2014, and few would bet against him eclipsing last year’s total by the time this one ends.

57. Raul scored 44 times for Spain and found the net at all three FIFA World Cups™ – 1998, 2002 and 2006 – in which he graced the famous red jersey.

The Real Madrid legend’s impressive final tally established him, for a few years at least, as La Roja’s all-time leading goalscorer, with Emilio Butragueno (26) and team-mate Fernando Hierro (29) among those left in his wake.

But Raul’s record was surrendered in March 2011, when David Villa – now on 56 for the reigning world champions – struck twice against Czech Republic to surpass his legendary predecessor.

58. In his last full year in Brazil, Neymar scored 43 goals in 47 appearances for Santos, ensuring his status as one of the beautiful game’s hottest properties.

The then 20-year-old also scored nine times in 11 outings for Brazil, and will make his homecoming in June firmly established as A Seleção’s star player.

Indeed, while the goals have not flowed as freely for Neymar in a Barcelona shirt this season, he already has 30 for the national team – and will be odds-on to bolster that tally during his country’s eagerly anticipated FIFA World Cup™.

59. When Roger Milla scored against Russia in 1994 at the age of 42 years and 39 days, he became the oldest goalscorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup™.

Sadly for the Idomitable Lions legend, this was not the only statistic to emerge from a match the Russians won 6-1, with Oleg Salenko scoring a record five times.

While Milla is the World Cup’s oldest scorer, Pele is its youngest, having found the net against Wales at Sweden 1958 at just 17 years and 239 days old.

60. Just 41 days after blowing out the candles on his 17th birthday cake, Norman Whiteside became the youngest player ever to participate at the FIFA World Cup™ when he turned out for Northern Ireland against Yugoslavia in 1982.

Despite having played just twice for his club, the Manchester United youngster was an ever-present in Spain as his team shocked everyone by reaching the second phase, beating the hosts en route.

Whiteside, who would sadly go on to retire at the age of just 26, also holds the record for being the youngest player to score in the English League Cup final and the FA Cup final.

61. Juninho Pernambucano, who retired from football last year, won 40 caps for Brazil over a seven-year international career.

The Lyon legend scored six goals for the national team, one of which came at his only FIFA World Cup™: Germany 2006.

He is remembered not only as a fine, stylish midfielder, but as one of the greatest free-kick takers of all time.

62. Match 39 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil will pit Italy against Uruguay.

Between them, these two nations won the first four FIFA World Cups™, with La Celestetriumphing in 1930 and '50 and Gli Azzurri taking the Trophy in 1934 and ‘38.

Italy have gone on to become world champions twice more – leaving them second only to five-time winners Brazil – while Uruguay are still searching for title number three.

63. Preben Elkjaer Larsen scored 38 times in 69 international appearances and was a key member of the beloved 'Danish Dynamite' team of the mid-1980s.

He also boasts an impressive 100 per cent scoring ratio at the FIFA World Cup™, having struck four times in as many appearances at Mexico 1986.

The highlight of his and Denmark’s campaign came when he scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 thrashing of Uruguay, although hopes of going the distance would be dashed by a similarly emphatic 5-1 defeat to Spain in the Round of 16.

64. The former Yugoslavia qualified for the FIFA World Cup™ on eight occasions, playing a total of 37 fixtures.

The Balkan nation’s closest brush with glory came in 1930 and 1962, when they reached the semi-finals at both tournaments. In 1930, they lost out to tournament hosts Uruguay in the semi-finals and in 1962 they fell to Czechoslovakia at the same stage before losing to hosts Chile in the play-off for third place.

Since Yugoslavia’s break-up, Croatia have enjoyed the best World Cup record of its former republics – finishing third in 1998 – and they will again be present in Brazil along with neighbours and tournament debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina.

65. There have been 36 own goals in the history of the FIFA World Cup™, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the entire tally.

Only once have two own goals been scored in the same World Cup match, with Jorge Costa and Jeff Agoos the men responsible in USA’s 2002 group-stage meeting with Portugal.

Costa was the first to find his own net, putting the US 2-0 up, while Agoos rounded off the scoring in a thrilling match the Americans won 3-2, advancing to the last 16 at their opponents’ expense.

66. Ali Daei scored 35 goals in FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers between 1994 and 2006, establishing himself as the preliminary competition’s all-time leading marksman.

This is far from the only record held by the Iran legend, who retired in 2007, bringing down the curtain on an extraordinarily prolific career.

After all, with 109 goals from 149 appearances for the national team, the former Bayern Munich striker not only set a benchmark for Iran, but became the highest scorer in the history of international football.

67. Over 34 million fans have attended the 772 FIFA World Cup™ matches played since 1930, making for an average attendance of around 44,000 per game.

The record for a single World Cup match was set in Brazil, where a crowd of 173,850 crammed in to the Maracana to witness the hosts lose to Uruguay in the 1950 decider.

However, the best-attended edition was USA 1994, which saw a record 3,587,538 supporters - an average of almost 69,000 per game - turn out to take in the matches.

68. Sweden's Tore Keller (far right) is the oldest player to have scored a FIFA World Cup™ hat-trick, having done so at the age of 33.

The tall striker netted his record-breaking treble at France 1938, helping the Swedes clinch an emphatic 8-0 victory over Cuba at the Stade du Fort Carre in Antibes, in a match that also saw team-mate Gustav Wetterstrom also bag a three.

France proved to be a happy hunting ground for Keller, whose hat-trick heroics came a full 14 years after he had won bronze  as a fresh-faced teenager at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

69. The FIFA World Cup’s current 32-team format was adopted for the first time at France 1998.

It seems remarkable now, but just 13 teams contested the inaugural tournament in 1930, and the number scheduled to compete rose only slightly - to 16 - for the next ten editions.

Spain 1982 was the first 24-team World Cup, while Brazil 2014 will continue the recent tradition of beginning with eight groups of four. As always, though, there can only be one winner.

70. The biggest scoreline in the history of the FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers - and indeed in the history of international football - was recorded on 11 April 2001, when Australia beat American Samoa 31-0.

This legendary match also brought global renown for Archie Thompson, whose 13-goal haul set a new world record, which stands to this day, for an individual player in a single international match.

And though the defeat earned American Samoa ignominy, so inspiring has their subsequent recovery been that it is now the subject of an acclaimed documentary, ‘Next Goal Wins', showing across the world.

71. It was in 1930 that the first FIFA World Cup™ was staged in Uruguay.

The tournament had been announced by FIFA two years earlier and it was the hosts who took the inaugural laurels, beating neighbours Argentina 4-2 in the final.

The first-ever World Cup goal was claimed by France’s Lucien Laurent, while a less desirable record – the tournament’s first sending off – was bestowed upon Peru’s Placido Galindo when he was dismissed during a 3-1 defeat to Romania.

72. Though primarily a defender, Fernando Hierro scored 29 goals for Spain and retired as the national team’s record goalscorer.

Hierro, who surpassed Emilio Butragueno before being eclipsed himself, first by Raul and later by David Villa, averaged almost one goal in every three of his 89 appearances for La Roja.

Though he also turned out in midfield for both club and country, the Real Madrid legend - who was named in the team of the tournament at the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ - is also regarded as the most prolific defender in the history of La Liga, having scored 102 times forLos Merengues.

73. There were 28 red cards shown in 64 matches at Germany 2006, setting a new FIFA World Cup™ record.

The disciplinary count, which also included 345 yellow cards - an average of 5.39 per match - surpassed the previous benchmark from France 1998.

There was, though, a notable improvement in discipline at South Africa 2010, with 104 fewer yellow cards and 11 fewer dismissals than the previous edition.

74. Hungary scored a total of 27 goals in five matches at the 1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland™, an average of 5.4 per game.

This gave the Magyars not only the highest-ever goal average in the history of the competition, but also the highest number of goals ever scored in a single World Cup.

Sadly for this fantastic, free-scoring side, they famously lost out in the 1954 Final, going down 3-2 to a Germany side they had thrashed 8-3 during the group phase.

75. Bryan Robson scored 26 goals for his country, including England's fastest at the FIFA World Cup™.

The Manchester United legend struck after just 27 seconds of the Group 4 clash with France at Spain 1982, and went on to score again in a 3-1 victory.

The fastest FIFA World Cup goal overall was claimed by Turkey's Hakan Sukur, who needed just 11 seconds to net against Korea Republic in 2002 as his side won their third-placed play-off 3-2.