FIFA World Cup Trivia

* According to the study, Brazil is the most likely country to win the tournament, with a probability rating of 13.76%. Spain ranks second with a 10.46% chance, followed by Germany (9.4%), England (9.38%) and Argentina (9.08%). The Netherlands rate as the sixth most fancied numerically, with the defending champions Italy next with a 6.46% chance of victory.
* A trawl of the FIFA World Cup archives reveals that Viv Richards, the former West Indies cricket captain, did just that. He represented Antigua in the football World Cup and the West Indies in the cricket World Cup - the only sportsman to achieve such a double.
* The odds are in favour of South Africa advancing through to the round of 16 as no host nation has ever been eliminated in the first round.




* There's a gap of a quarter of a century between the oldest player to compete in a World Cup and the youngest. The oldest was Cameroon's Roger Milla, at 42 years and 39 days old when he played his last match against Russia in 1994. The youngest was Northern Ireland's Norman Whiteside, who was just 17 years and 41 days when he took the field against Yugoslavia in 1982.
* The highest scoring World Cup tournament was in 1998, when commentators called 'GOALLLLLLL!!!!' on 171 occasions.
* The least number of goals in the World Cup finals came in 1930 and 1934, when only 70 goals were scored.
* Brazil is the most dominant country in World Cup history with five titles. Italy has won four.
* Brazilian Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima has Scored 15 goals over three cups- more than any other player.
* In 1994, Cameroon’s Roger Milla became the oldest player to compete in a world cup: he was 42 years and 39 days old.
* The fastest world cup goal was scored in 11 seconds by Turkey’s Hakan Sukur in 2002 against Korea.
* During the 1954 world cup 140 goals were scored in 26 matches- a record average 5.4 goals per match.
*. Frenchman Zinedine Zidane’s two red and four yellow cards during three world cup tournaments is a World Cup record.
* The highest attendance at a World Cup match is 199,854 at the Rio de Janerio's Maracana Stadium for the 1950 final between Uruguay and Brazil.
* The host country has won the World Cup decider on six of the 19 finals tournaments contested.
* No European team has ever won the World Cup staged outside of Europe.
* Brazil is the only country to have competed in each of the 18 World Cup finals.
* The first World Cup was staged in Uruguay in 1930, and the first match was between France and Mexico.
* The most goals scored in a single World Cup finals tournament is 13, by Just Fontaine, of France, in 1958.
* The fastest goal in a World Cup match was by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002.
* The youngest player in World Cup history to have scored a goal was then only 17 years and 239 days old with a goal for Brazil against Wales in 1958. His name is Pele, the greatest of them all.
* Bora Milutinovic coached in every tournament between 1986 and 2002, for five different teams - Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Nigeria and China.
* Carlos Alberto Parreira will equal Milutinovic's record of coaching five different teams when he leads out host nation South Africa. Parreira led his native Brazil to victory in 1994 and has also managed Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the finals.
* Brazil and Germany share the honour of playing in the most World Cup finals, with seven each. Brazil is the leading winner, five titles.
* The most goals scored in one match is five, by the Russian Oleg Slanko against Cameroon in 1994.
* South American and European countries have won the World Cup 9 times each, while no other continent which has produced a World Cup winner.
* Tough luck for the following teams - Scotland in 1974, Brazil in 1978, England in 1982, Cameroon in 1982 and Belgium in 1998. All were unbeaten, but failed to win their respective tournaments.
* Diego Maradona will make his FIFA World Cup coaching debut against Nigeria, the same team he faced in his last finals appearance as a player at the 1994 finals in the USA.
* The first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was Bert Patenaude for the USA against Paraguay in the first round of the 1930 World Cup.