2018 World Cup: Lesser known facts about the mega event
The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia starts from June 14 onwards and the excitement level is increasing everyday with top teams preparing to stake a claim. Being one of the world's most viewed sporting events, the World Cup has a special place in the hearts of people. Here are some of the lesser known facts about the mega tournament.
Russia gears up for an epic show
Russia is all set to host its first FIFA World Cup. This is also the nation's (including Soviet Union) eleventh appearance in the coveted tournament. Their best performance in a World Cup event was a 4th place finish in 1966. The Fisht stadium in Sochi, which is one of the venues, had earlier hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Games.
The numbers game of yesteryear World Cup editions
Italy have the most number of draws to their name, across all editions of the tournament (21). The highest scoring game in a World Cup was in 1954, when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5. The first World Cup was played in 1930 in Uruguay. They were also the winners that year. Mexico have faced the most number of losses in the World Cup (25).
Individual honours - Stat Box
Lothar Matthaus holds the record for the most number of matches played (25). Germany's Klose has the record for most goals scored across all editions (16). Salenko of Russia holds the record for being the only player who has scored 5 goals in a single match. He achieved it in 1994. Zinedine Zidane has the most number of cards to his name (Yellow-4 Red-2).
A look at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil
The viewership of the 2014 World Cup was around 3.2 billion, which is almost half of the world's population. The average attendance per game in the 2014 edition was 53,592. Around 3,240 footballs were used in 2014 edition that consisted of both match and practise balls. 171 goals were scored in 2014 World Cup; joint-highest along side 1998 edition.
