World Cup Trivia

World Cup 2010 Dates

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will start on June 11th and will end on July 11th.

• Most red cards shown in a World Cup match: 3. This has happened twice (Hungary v Brazil on 27 June 1954 and South Africa v Denmark on 18 Jun 1998).
• 5 Goals scored by Russia's Oleg Salenko against Cameroon in 1994, a record for a single World Cup match.
• 10 is the highest number of goals scored by a team in a World Cup match (Hungary vs El Salvador 1982: 10-1).
• 12 is the highest number of goals scored in a single World Cup match, by Austria and Switzerland (7-5) in 1954.
• 13 is the record number of goals in a World Cup, held by France's Juste Fontaine in 1958.
• 14 Record World Cup career goals, held by West Germany's Gerd Muller.
• 17 is the Age of youngest player in a World Cup match (Norman Whiteside in 1982).
• 20 is the most defeats suffered by one nation - Mexico - in World Cups.
• 25 Number of appearances by Lothar Matthaus; a World Cup record.
• 42 is the Age of Cameroon's Roger Milla in 1994, when he became the oldest player and oldest goalscorer in World Cup history.
• 48 is the Number of hat-tricks scored in World Cup history.
• 50 is the Number of World Cup victories by Germany, topped only by Brazil's 60.
• India refused to play in the 1950 World Cup because FIFA told the players they would have to play in soccer cleats, rather than barefoot.
• The World Cup is the biggest soccer tournament in the world. It is held every four years in a different country. Billions of people watch the televised games as the national teams from countries around the globe battle it out for soccer supremacy.
• As of August 2008, Ronaldo holds 15 World Cup goals.
• Out of the 17 World Cups so far, 6 have been won by the host country.
• No European team has won a World Cup played outside of Europe.
• 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).
• Two players have scored in four successive finals tournaments? Both Pele of Brazil and Uwe Seeler of West Germany have scored in the finals of.
• 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.
• Shirt swapping was once officially prohibited in 1986 because FIFA did not want players to 'bare their chests' on the field.
• The most common surname of World Cup players is Gonzalez or Gonzales.
• The most common score in a World Cup finals match is 1-0.

VARIOUS GOAL RECORDS

• Fastest goal in a World Cup match was scored by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002.
• Latest goal was scored by Alessandro Del Piero of Italy, in their semifinal match against Germany in 2006 after 121 minutes.
• Fastest hat-trick was made by Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes. He is infact also the only substitute to have scored a hat-trick.
• Oldest player to have scored a goal is Roger Milla of Cameroon when he scored against Russia in 1994. He was then 42 years and 39 days old.
• Youngest player to have scored a goal is Pelé of Brazil when he scored against Wales in 1958. He was then only 17 years and 239 days old.
• Only players to have scored in every match including the final are Jairzinho of Brazil, who did this in the 1970 World Cup and Alcide Ghiggia of Uruguay in 1950. The latter only played four games where as Jairzinho played six.
• Fastest goal by a substitute was made by Ebbe Sand of Denmark against Nigeria in the second round in 1998. Sand scored only 16 secs after coming on in Denmark's 4-1 win.
• Only players to have scored in two World Cup Final matches are Vava of Brazil in 1958 and 1962, Pelé of Brazil 1958 and 1970, Paul Breitner of West Germany in 1974 and 1982 and Zinedine Zidane of France in 1998 and 2006.
• First player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was United States's Bert Patenaude who did this against Paraguay in the first round of the 1930 World Cup.
• Only player to score four goals in one match and still end up on the losing team was Poland's Ernst Willimowski against Brazil in 1938.
• Only player to have scored for two countries is Robert Prosinecki who represented Yugoslavia in 1990 scoring against the United Arab Emirates, and Croatia in 1998 scoring against Jamaica.
• First own-goal in World Cup history was scored by Ernst Lötscher of Switzerland against Germany in a first round replay game in 1938.
• Only player to have scored a goal plus an own-goal in the same match is Ernie Brandts of Holland in the second phase match against Italy in 1978. The Dutch team won 2-1.
• First substitute to score a goal was Juan Basaguren when he netted the last goal against El Salvador in Mexico's 4-0 win in 1970.

ALL-TIME TOPSCORERS 1930-2006

Source: planetworldcup.com

PENALTY SHOOT-OUTS DOWN THE YEARS

Source: planetworldcup.com

World Cup Qualification Process

• Currently, only the host team(s) automatically qualifies for the final tournament. Until 2002, the title holder also qualified, but as of the 2006 World Cup, the title holders must also qualify.
• For the 2010 edition, the 31 qualified teams will include: 13 from Europe, 5 from Africa, 4 (or 5) from South America, 4 (or 5) from Asia, 3 (or 4) from North-Central America, 0 (or 1) from Oceania, depending on playoffs. South Africa are qualified as hosts. Each confederation, depending on the number of spots, decides the format:
• UEFA (Europe): 8 groups of 6 teams and 1 group of 5. Winners are qualified, the eight best second-placed determine the other 4 spots with a home and away play-off.
• CAF (Africa): A preliminary round to reduce teams to 48, followed by 12 groups of 4. 12 winners and 8 best runners-up will be divided into 5 groups of 4, the winners of these groups will qualify.
• CONMEBOL (South America): 10 teams in a single group (round robin), teams from 1st to 4th position are qualified, the 5th placed will go to a two legged play-off with the 4th placed team from CONCACAF.
• AFC (Asia): Two preliminary rounds will narrow the teams down from 42 to 20, which are then split into 5 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up will move on, and these 10 teams are then put into 2 groups of 5. The winner and runner-up of each group qualifies, with the two 3rd placed teams playing a playoff against each other. The winner of this game then goes into a playoff with the 1st placed OFC team.
• CONCACAF (North & Central America / Caribbean): Two preliminary rounds to narrow the number of teams from 35 to 12. There are then 3 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up then go to the final group of six, where the top 3 teams qualify. The 4th placed team will enter into a playoff with the 5th placed team from CONMEBOL.
• OFC (Oceania): The top 3 of the South Pacific Games (Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia) join New Zealand for the OFC Nations Cup. The winner of this will go to a play-off with the 5th placed from AFC.

Qualification Requirements

• All FIFA federations are involved with World Cup qualification. Over 2 years, teams play qualification matches to determine who will be selected for the Group stages.
• The winners and runners-up of each group will then qualify to the Round of 16. The placings in the groups are dependant on points. If two (or more) teams are tied on points, then their head-to-head record comes into play, failing which head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, overall goal difference, and overall goals scored come into play (in order of priority). If none of these factors manage to separate the teams, then a play-off will be held
• In the last 16, each group winner will face a runner-up. In these knockout games, a tie after normal time will result in two halves of extra-time of 15 minutes each, and then a penalty shootout. In the shootout, each team gets 5 kicks. If neither team misses, then they enter into a sudden-death shootout, where the first team to miss loses.
• Once the qualifications have finished, there will be a draw, and the 32 teams will be put in 4 pots, according to FIFA ranking, with the exception of the host team (always seeded in Pot 1, along with the 7 best teams). Groups are then created with each group featuring one team randomly selected from each pot. Also, the groups (and thus the venues) for the host team are usually not drawn, but chosen. The host team also usually plays their group matches in the capital city

World Cup Venues in South Africa

• Rustenburg: Royal Bafokeng Stadium
  Originally this was a rugby stadium. The current capacity is 38,000, but will be increased to 42,000 in time for the World Cup. The Royal Bakofeng Stadium will also have electronic boards and a new light system. This stadium has been host to many South African Premier Soccer League games, despite Rustenburg not having a PSL team.
• Polokwane: Peter Mokaba Stadium
  The stadium is one of five new stadiums that is being built for the World Cup 2010. It will host 4 matches. The initial plan was to upgrade the old city stadium, but then the government and FIFA decided to build a new one. Peter Mokaba Stadium will be 5km away from the city's downtown. The stadium was named after Peter Mokaba, a political activist during apartheid.
• Nelspruit: Mbombela Stadium
  The Mbombela Stadium is a new 46,000 seat stadium and is currently under construction as one of the ten venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It will be a multi-purpose stadium, and is expected to host soccer and rugby matches. Mbombela is siSwati and means 'many people together in a small space'. The stadium will be seven kilometres from the city centre and close to game parks, giving spectators the opportunity of seeing wildlife during the tournament.
• Bloemfontein: Free State Stadium
  Free State stadium hosted group and quarter-final matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and the Rugby World Cup in 1995. It is also the home of Premier Soccer League team, Bloemfontein Celtics. The stadium is being upgraded, and once completed it will have a seating capacity of 48,000. Free State stadium will be one of the venues for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
• Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
  The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be high-tech and modern. It will host the first and second round matches of the 2010 World Cup. The city didn't have a football-specific stadium, and all international matches player here were at the Eastern Province rugby team's ground. The locals here are exceptionally passionate about football, despite now having a PSL team (or perhaps because of that). This stadium will also host matches for the 2009 Confederations Cup, and will be the only new stadium included as a venue for that competition.
• Johannesburg Stadium: Soccer City
  This venue is also known as the First National Bank Stadium (FNB Stadium or Soccer City). The stadium has the third largest capacity in Africa. The stadium is being renovated for World Cup 2010 with a new design inspired by traditional African pottery. The stadium will hold the opening match, four more first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final and the final.
• Ellis Park stadium
  Ellis Park stadium is the home of Orlando Pirates FC, a club in the Premier Soccer League. In 1995, they were the first South African team to win the CAF African Club Championship. It was constructed in 1928, and until the late 80s it was just for rugby. Then professional clubs began to play there. Teams like Brazil, Arsenal and Manchester United have all played friendlies here.
• Cape Town: Green Point Stadium
  This is a new stadium for the World Cup 2010. It is located at Green Point, at the juncture between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. The stadium will be used by South African giants Ajax Cape Town. Ajax Cape Town is a feeder club for European and Dutch giants, Ajax Amsterdam. In the World Cup, it will host five first round matches, one second round match, one quarterfinal and one semi-final.
• Durban: Moses Mabhida Stadium
  The new stadium will be part of Durban's King Park sporting precinct. The sporting precinct will also include a variety of different sporting disciplines. When completed it will play host to the Confederations Cup in 2009. It will be have a seating capacity of 70,000, and the design of the stadium will be characterized by two large archways above the stadium roof.
• Pretoria: Loftus Versfeld Stadium
  Through the years the stadium has undergone various name changes as sponsors came and went, but locals have always referred as Loftus Versfeld. Minimal upgrading will be required for the World Cup, where it will host first and second round matches. It is also a venue for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. This was the site of South Africa's historic 1-0 win over Sweden, the first time they had achieved victory over an European team.