15 more facts about FIFA World Cup Football

This is a compilation of 15 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. 75 facts are already updated in this blog. You'll definitely find something interesting here.

76. Lothar Matthaus made 25 appearances at the FIFA World Cup™, an all-time record.

The Germany legend played in every edition between 1982 and 1998, and is one of only two men to have played in five World Cups, the other being Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal (1950-66).

And though Gianluigi Buffon will be travelling to his fifth World Cup at Brazil 2014, the Italian will not be able to match Matthaus and Carbajal as he was an unused substitute in his first, France 1998.

77. A total of 24 cities have twice served as FIFA World Cup™ venues: eight in Germany, seven in Italy, five in Mexico and four in France.

In 2014, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo will be added to this list, taking the total to 30.

The Maracana will also become just the second stadium to host two World Cup Finals, joining Mexico City’s legendary Azteca.

78. The No23 shirt officially appeared for the first time at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™, when teams were permitted to name 23 players in their squads.

Before that, however, at the 1962 tournament, the number made its unofficial debut when it was worn by Uruguay’s Guillermo Escalada; the No13 having been omitted from theCeleste squad for superstitious reasons.

In 1998, the No23 made another unscheduled appearance on the back of Simon Gopane, a reserve goalkeeper for South Africa's reserve goalkeeper who had replaced the injured No22, Paul Evans.

79. A total of 22 FIFA World Cup™ matches have been decided by a penalty shoot-out, the first in 1982 when West Germany beat France in the semi-finals and the most recent in 2010, when Uruguay edged out Ghana in the last eight.

Germany, France, Argentina and Italy have all been involved in four World Cup shoot-outs, with the Germans - renowned specialists - the only nation to have won all four.

To date, two Finals have been decided by penalties, and both have involved Italy. In 1994, Brazil won 3-2 thanks to three unconverted spot kicks by the Italians, while 12 years laterGli Azzurri triumphed 5-3 over France at Germany 2006 after finding the net with every attempt.

80. The latest FIFA World Cup™ kick-off time to date has been 21.00, with Germany’s third-place play-off win over Portugal in 2006 the most recent of several matches afforded that starting slot.

That record will be broken in Brazil, though, when Côte d’Ivoire’s Group C match against Japan kicks off at 22.00 in Recife.

The earliest World Cup match, meanwhile, took place at USA 1994, when Switzerland did battle with the hosts at 11.30 local time.

81. Mario Kempes scored 20 times in 43 appearances for Argentina and represented La Albiceleste at three FIFA World Cups™.

Though he failed to find the target in either the 1974 or 1982 editions, the former Valencia star struck six times on home soil in 1978 to inspire his team to their first World Cup crown.

Those goals and inspirational performances earned Kempes the tournament’s Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards, and to this day he is one of only three players - along with Garrincha (1962) and Paolo Rossi (1982) - to have won both at a single World Cup.

82. The very first FIFA World Cup™ goal came 19 minutes into the opening day’s action of Uruguay 1930, with France’s Lucien Laurent (front row, second from right) claiming the landmark strike in his team’s match with Mexico.

The French inside-right struck just four minutes before USA’s Bart McGhee found the target against Belgium - both matches having kicked off simultaneously - and neither would ever score again at the World Cup.

Those opening two goals were, though, to prove the first of many, with 2,206 more having hit the net since Laurent and McGhee blazed a trail.

83. Michael Owen was 18 years and 190 days old when he scored his first goal at France 1998, becoming England’s youngest FIFA World Cup™ marksman in the process.

However, that record-breaking strike against Romania was quickly overshadowed by the Liverpool prodigy’s contribution to the Three Lions' last-16 meeting with Argentina, highlighted by one of the World Cup’s all-time great goals.

And though his career would later be plagued by injuries, Owen went on set another England record by scoring in four different major tournaments, and retired having found the net 40 times for his country.

84. The base of the current FIFA World Cup™ Trophy, which was introduced in 1974, has space for 17 inscriptions - enough for all the winners until 2038.

It is made of 18-carat gold, stands 36.8cm high and weighs 6.175kg. The original Trophy, though, remains in the permanent possession of FIFA, with every winning team awarded a replica.

The champions are then able to retain their version of the Trophy, while a fresh copy is made for each new edition.

85. A record 16 cards - 12 yellow and four red - were shown during the Round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands at Germany 2006.

The game, which became known as ‘The Battle of Nuremberg’, saw Portugal win 1-0 and both sides end with nine men thanks to the dismissals of Costinha, Deco, Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

In contrast, two entire tournaments - the 1950 and 1970 FIFA World Cups™ - passed without a single player receiving his marching orders.

86. Ronaldo is the FIFA World Cup’s™ all-time leading scorer with 15 goals, and the Brazilian has also scored in more World Cup matches (11) than any other player.

Both records could, though, come under threat during Brazil 2014, with Germany’s Miroslav Klose having scored 14 times across nine different matches.

The record for a single tournament is held by French legend Just Fontaine, who found the net 13 times in 1958, while Sandor Kocsis - with 11 goals in just five appearances - boasts the tournament’s best scoring average.

87. The 1982 FIFA World Cup™ was spread across 14 cities, with 17 stadiums used to stage Spain's showcase.

That remains a record for a single-nation World Cup, although Japan and Korea Republic both provided ten venues apiece for the 2002 edition. Contrast these figures to those from the first World Cup in Uruguay, when matches were played in just three stadiums - all in Montevideo.

Brazil 2014, for its part, will tread a middle ground between these extremes, with 12 stadiums in as many Host Cities.

88. Fuleco is the 13th official FIFA World Cup™ mascot and maintains a journey that began way back in 1966 with World Cup Willie.

In between the English lion and Brazil 2014’s three-banded armadillo, there have been all manner of creatures and creations.

From an orange (Naranjito, Spain 1982) through a jalapeno pepper (Pique, Mexico 1986) to, most recently, a leopard (Zakumi, South Africa 2010), these mascots have proved consistently popular - and everyone has a favourite.

89. A total of 12 goals were served up in the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup™ match of all time, when Austria beat hosts Switzerland 7-5 in 1954.

The Swiss are one of just two teams in the competition’s history to have scored five times and still lost; the other, Poland, were beaten 6-5 by Brazil in 1938.

The highest-scoring Final, meanwhile, took place in 1958, when an on-song Brazil side beat hosts Sweden 5-2.

90. Just 11 seconds of the third-place play-off at Korea/Japan 2002 had been played when Hakan Sukur scored the fastest goal in FIFA World Cup™ history.

The Turkey striker, his nation’s record marksman with 51 goals overall, had failed to score in any of his previous six World Cup outings before stunning Korea Republic in the first attack of the match.

The goal propelled Sukur and Co to a 3-2 a win, securing a podium finish that remains their best-ever performance on the world stage.