14 facts about the FIFA World Cup
- FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association
- The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. Many believed Americ
an Bart McGee scored the first goal in the World Cup, against Belgium in the 40th minute. But a dispute erupted and FIFA, soccer's governing body, determined the first goal was scored by Frenchman Lucien Laurent in the 19th minute against Mexico on July 13, 1930. - Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal and Germany's Lothar Matthäus both played in five tournaments.
- The red and yellow card system was not introduced until the 1970 World Cup. The first player to receive a red card was Chile's Carlos Caszely in 1974 in a match against West Germany in the 67th minute.
- Lothar Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.
- The youngest player to play in a World Cup match was Northern Ireland's Norman Whiteside against Yugoslavia in 1982. He was 17 years, 41 days old.
- Brazil's Pelé is the only player to have won three World Cup winners' medals.
- The highest attendance for one match was in the 1950 final. The official attendance was 199,854 for the match between Brazil and Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup. All his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.
- Hungary scored 27 goals in the 1954 World Cup. Hungary made the finals that year but lost to West Germany 3-2.
- Brazil's Mário Zagallo and West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach.
- Most Consecutive First-Round Eliminations. Scotland holds the record with eight: 1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1998.
- Italy's Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups.
- As of the end of the 2006 tournament, Brazil and Germany have both played 92 matches, the most by any nation, with Brazil scoring the most goals, 201.
