In 1930 the first World Cup final was held in Uruguay. Thirteen teams participated in the inaugural competition that was won by the host. Eighty-four years later, thirty-two teams will take part in the 20th staging of the event which will be held in Brazil. We are sixty-seven days away from the start of the most watched sporting event in the world. All around the world people are gearing up for the start of the ‘beautiful game’s’ show-piece event. It is becoming ever clear however, that ‘Brazil is not ready‘ to accommodate its guests. At a press conference on Wednesday, FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke basically said as much. With little over two months to go, I expect the stadiums to be completed in time for the 2014 World Cup. Another issue also threatens to put a damper on the tournament; player injuries. A number of important players for their respective teams are nursing injuries ahead of the tournament. As this post suggests, it could be the ‘end of the World‘ for these players.
In anticipation of the 2014 World Cup, I was thinking about World Cup trivia and records. I thought it would be cool to have some of that information readily available to be used during the tournament. Somebody might want to know who is the leading scorer in World Cup finals history? Which team has won the most finals? Or which player has played in the most finals? All that information and more can be found below. I also have made my predictions for the highly anticipated event and I will stick by them. Check it out and feel free to share.
Overall World Cup Stats
Most Tournament Appearances: Brazil – 19 Tournaments
Champions Record: Brazil – 5 Times
Highest Scoring Game: Austria vs. Switzerland (7 – 5) (1954, Quarter Final)
All Time Top Scorer: Ronaldo – Brazil – 15 Goals
Most Goals in 1 Game: Oleg Salenko -Russia – 5 Goals
Most Appearances: Lothar Matthaeus – Fed. Rep. of Germany and Germany – 25 Appearances
Most WC Tournaments: Antonio Carbajal – Mexico
Lothar Matthaeus – Fed. Rep. of Germany and Germany – 5 Tournaments
Left: Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 Goals. Right: Klose (Germany) – 14 Goals
World Cup History
South Africa 2010
- Winner: Spain
- Runners-Up: Netherlands
- Third: Germany
- Fourth: Uruguay
- adidas Golden Ball: Diego FORLAN (URU)
- adidas Golden Boot: Thomas MUELLER (GER)
- Best Young Player Award: Thomas MUELLER (GER)
- adidas Golden Glove: Iker CASILLAS (ESP)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Spain
Germany 2006
- Winner: Italy
- Runners-Up: France
- Third: Germany
- Fourth: Portugal
- adidas Golden Ball: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Miroslav KLOSE (GER)
- Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Gianluigi BUFFON (ITA)
- Best Young Player Award: Lukas PODOLSKI (GER)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Spain, Brazil
- FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Portugal
Korea Japan 2002
- Winner: Brazil
- Runners-Up: Germany
- Third: Turkey
- Fourth: Korea Republic
- adidas Golden Ball: Oliver KAHN (GER)
- adidas Golden Shoe: RONALDO (BRA)
- Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Oliver KAHN (GER)
- Best Young Player Award: Landon DONOVAN (USA)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Belgium
- FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Korea Republic
France 1998
- Winner: France
- Runners-Up: Brazil
- Third: Croatia
- Fourth: Netherlands
- adidas Golden Ball: RONALDO (BRA)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Davor SUKER (CRO)
- Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Fabien BARTHEZ (FRA)
- Best Young Player Award: Michael OWEN (ENG)
- FIFA Fair Play award: England, France
- FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: France
USA 1994
- Winner: Brazil
- Runners-Up: Italy
- Third: Sweden
- Fourth: Bulgaria
- adidas Golden Ball: ROMÁRIO (Romário de Souza Faria) (BRA)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Oleg SALENKO (RUS),
- Hristo STOICHKOV (BUL)
- Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper: Michel PREUDHOMME (BEL)
- Best Young Player Award: Marc OVERMARS (NED)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil
- FIFA Award for the Most Entertaining Team: Brazil
Italy 1990
- Winner: Germany FR
- Runners-Up: Argentina
- Third: Italy
- Fourth: England
- adidas Golden Ball: Salvatore SCHILLACI (ITA)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Salvatore SCHILLACI (ITA)
- Best Young Player Award: Robert PROSINECKI (CRO)
- FIFA Fair Play award: England
Mexico 1986
- Winner: Argentina
- Runners-Up: Germany FR
- Third: France
- Fourth: Belgium
- adidas Golden Ball: Diego MARADONA (ARG)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Gary LINEKER (ENG)
- Best Young Player Award: Enzo SCIFO (BEL)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil
Spain 1982
- Winner: Italy
- Runners-Up: Germany FR
- Third: Poland
- Fourth: France
- adidas Golden Ball: Paolo ROSSI (ITA)
- adidas Golden Shoe: Paolo ROSSI (ITA)
- Best Young Player Award: Manuel AMOROS (FRA)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Brazil
Argentina 1978
- Winner: Argentina
- Runners-Up: Netherlands
- Third: Brazil
- Fourth: Italy
- Golden Shoe: Mario KEMPES (ARG)
- Best Young Player Award: Antonio CABRINI (ITA)
- FIFA Fair Play award: Argentina
Germany 1974
- Winner: Germany FR
- Runners-Up: Netherlands
- Third: Poland
- Fourth: Brazil
- Golden Shoe: Grzegorz LATO (POL)
- Best Young Player Award: Wladyslaw ZMUDA (POL)
Mexico 1970
- Winner: Brazil
- Runners-Up: Italy
- Third: Germany FR
- Fourth: Uruguay
- Golden Shoe: Gerd MUELLER (GER)
- Best Young Player Award: Teofilo CUBILLAS (PER)
England 1966
- Winner: England
- Runners-Up: Germany FR
- Third: Portugal
- Fourth: Soviet Union
- Golden Shoe: EUSEBIO (Eusebio da Silva Ferreira) (POR)
- Best Young Player Award: Franz BECKENBAUER (GER)
Chile 1962
- Winner: Brazil
- Runners-Up: Czechoslovakia
- Third: Chile
- Fourth: Yugoslavia
- Golden Shoe: Florian ALBERT (HUN),
- Valentin IVANOV (URS),
- Drazen JERKOVIC (YUG),
- Leonel SANCHEZ (CHI),
- VAVA (BRA),
- GARRINCHA (BRA)
- Best Young Player Award: Florian ALBERT (HUN)
Sweden 1958
- Winner: Brazil
- Runners-Up: Sweden
- Third: France
- Fourth: Germany FR
- Golden Shoe: Just FONTAINE (FRA)
- Best Young Player Award: PELÉ (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) (BRA)
Switzerland 1954
- Winner: Germany FR
- Runners-Up: Hungary
- Third: Austria
- Fourth: Uruguay
- Golden Shoe: Sandor KOCSIS (HUN)
Brazil 1950
- Winner: Uruguay
- Runners-Up: Brazil
- Third: Sweden
- Fourth: Spain
- Golden Shoe: ADEMIR (BRA)
France 1938
- Winner: Italy
- Runners-Up: Hungary
- Third: Brazil
- Fourth: Sweden
- Golden Shoe: LEONIDAS (BRA)
Italy 1934
- Winner: Italy
- Runners-Up: Czechoslovakia
- Third: Germany
- Fourth: Austria
- Golden Shoe: Oldrich NEJEDLY (TCH)
Uruguay 1930
- Winner: Uruguay
- Runners-Up: Argentina
- Third: USA
- Fourth: Yugoslavia
- Golden Shoe: Guillermo STABILE (ARG)
Note: No World Cup tournament was held in 1942 and 1946 because of World War II.
Renegade Expressions 
BRAZIL NUMERO UNO!
#1994🌏
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