FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar is the most expensive World Cup hosted ever with a spending of $220 billion and is the 22nd World Cup edition.
Here are 22 FIFA World Cup Facts for you
Fact1. Uruguay hosted the first FIFA World Cup in 1930.
The first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay from July 13 to July 30. All the football matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo.
A total of 16 teams qualified for the tournament but only 13 teams participated in the first FIFA World Cup and these countries were Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, France, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Siam, United States, Uruguay, Yugoslavia. However, Egypt, Japan, and Siam withdrew.
Uruguay and Argentina played in the finals and Uruguay won the World Cup defeating Argentina by 2–1.
Fact2. Till 1974 World Cup winners were awarded Jules Rimet Trophy.
From 1930 to 1970 the FIFA World Cup winners were awarded Jules Rimet Trophy and from 1974 FIFA World Cup Trophy is awarded. The first trophy was named ‘Victory’ and later renamed as Jules Rimet Trophy to honor FIFA President Jules Rimet who took much effort to start the event.
Fact3. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association in French and International Federation of Association Football in English. It is a Sports federation founded on 21 May 1904 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. FIFA is responsible for FIFA World Cups organized worldwide. The official website is fifa.com
Fact4. Four months prior to the 1966 World Cup the trophy was stolen from Westminster Central Hall. Later a dog named Pickles found it and the owner was rewarded £6,000.
The 1966 football World Cup was held in England in the month of July. On 19 March 1966, the trophy was displayed at an exhibition that was held in Westminster Central Hall. Although a couple of officers guarded it round the clock the trophy was stolen on Sunday 20th March 1966. On 21st March the chairman of the football association received an anonymous phone call demanding a ransom of £15,000.
On 27th March a person named David Corbett was walking in Beulah Hill with his dog Pickles. The dog sniffed and found a package near Corbett’s house and when Corbett opened it he found the World Cup trophy wrapped with papers and later he handed it over to the police.
David Corbett was invited to the player’s celebration dinner after the World Cup Final and was rewarded £6,000.
Fact5. Brazil won a total of 5 FIFA World Cups. Germany and Italy won 4 each.
Brazil has won the most number of World Cup titles; 5 times in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. They were runner-ups in 1950 and 1998. Germany( 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014) and Italy(1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006) are behind it with 4 titles each.
Fact6. Argentina’s team holds the highest number of red and yellow cards across all the World Cup tournaments they’ve played in.
As of the 2018 FIFA World cup, the Argentina National Football team has received 123 yellow cards.
Fact7. The FIFA Council selects the host country for the World Cup.
FIFA is responsible for organizing and promoting football worldwide including World Cups. The FIFA Council(formerly known as FIFA’s Executive Committee) is the governing body and decision-making body and its members are elected by FIFA Congress. The FIFA Council selects the host country for the World Cup and the decision to select the host country can take place 8 years in advance before the actual tournament is scheduled.
Fact8. The host team gets an automatic spot in the tournament.
The host nation’s football team gets an automatic spot in the FIFA World Cup as a courtesy.
Fact9. Qatar is the second Asian country to host FIFA World Cup.
In past Japan and South Korea jointly hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Qatar has become the second Asian country by hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Fact10. All eight of Qatar’s stadium is fully air-conditioned.
In 2009, Qatar placed its bid to host FIFA World Cup but many wondered about Qatar’s temperature which will be more than 24′ C on average, and how players face the heat also affects their health and performance. All eight open-air stadium is cooled by using coolant machines.
Fact11. Qatar spent $220 billion to host FIFA 2022 World Cup making it the most expensive World Cup ever.
Qatar spent around $220 billion to host the FIFA World Cup 2022. Apart from constructing the stadiums, Qatar spent on airports, new roads, hotels, and underground transit.
Fact12. Till now the highest number of goals scored in a single world cup is 5 by Oleg Salenko of Russia in 1994.
The highest goal scored in a single World Cup match is 5 by Russian striker Oleg Salenko in the 1994 World Cup match against Cameroon. Russia defeated Cameroon by 6-1.
The only FIFA World Youth Championship & FIFA World Cup double golden boot winner. OTD ‘94 he became (still is) the only man to score 5 goals in a World Cup match – It’s Oleg Salenko day! #usa94 #salenko #rangersfc #olegsalenko pic.twitter.com/GGHdzOkfG9
— Gary Walker (@g4ryw4lker) June 28, 2022
Fact13. German’s Miroslav Klose is the World Cup’s highest total goal scorer, having scored 16 goals in total.
German striker Miroslav Klose has scored a total of 16 goals across four World Cups and holds the record for the highest World Cup goal scorer.
Fact14. The fastest goal in FIFA World Cup was scored by Hakan Sukur of Turkey in 10.89 seconds.
The fastest goal in World Cup was scored only 10.89 seconds after kick-off by Hakan Sukur of Turkey played against South Korea in 2002.
Despite being the side that got the match underway, South Korea conceded the fastest goal in the FIFA World Cup history following a sloppy play by their defender.
And Hakan Sukur capitalized to get his name in the history books.#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #QatarWorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/M5gtLepXXJ
— H/F (@hfworld_) November 16, 2022
Fact15. The highest World Cup score was 7-5; Austria defeated Switzerland in the 1954 World Cup.
The highest World Cup goal was 7-5 in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland; Austria defeated Switzerland playing in the quarter-finals at Lausanne.
Fact16. Stephanie Frappart from France, Rwandan Salima Mukansanga, and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan became the first female referees to be appointed to FIFA World Cup.
Fact17. Only 8 teams have won the FIFA World Cup since the beginning of 1930.
Although many teams have been qualifying for FIFA World Cups, only 8 have bagged at least one FIFA trophy by winning the finals and these teams are Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, Spain, and France.
Fact18. Germany has played the most World Cup matches (106) and appeared in the finals (8), semi-finals (13), and quarter-finals (16) as well as scored the most World Cup goals (224).
Fact19. The Indian team qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil but didn’t participate due to financial concerns.
The Indian football team did not play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup despite qualifying. In the 1948 Olympics Indian team played barefoot as they could not afford football studs while the 1950 FIFA in Brazil made it mandatory to play football with shoes. India had recently got independent and Brazil was far from India, and ferrying to Brazil was not affordable at that time so India didn’t participate in Brazil’s FIFA in 1950 due to financial concerns.
Fact20. Germany has also scored the most World Cup goals which are 224.
As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Germany has scored 224 goals which is the most number of World Cup goals scored by any team.
Fact21. Great football player Pelé of Brazil has bagged the most World Cup Championship medals.
Fact22. It is expected that in 2026, the number of teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup will jump up from 32 to 48.