For the first time in the football world cup history, the FIFA 2026 event will be hosted by three countries: The US, Mexico and Canada. Also, in the same edition of the soccer festival, there will be an addition of 16 teams as well to swell the count of participants to 42. Interestingly, the quadrennial event has had its own share of wonderful aspects. So, today let’s focus on some of those.
First Goal Scored In The World Cup
We have heard about the on-field exploits of legendary Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane etc. But not many are aware of Lucient Laurent, the French player who started the tradition of netting the goal. Yes, he scored the first goal ever in the World Cup of 1930 against Mexico. The “Forgotten Hero” had arrived at the 1930 edition in a boat alongside rivals such as Belgium and Romania.
The Brazilian Romance With The Event
The only country to have participated in all the big-ticket competitions of the game happens to be Brazil. And, in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Latin American country will be making its 22nd appearance. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that Brazil have scored the maximum number of World Cup goals, 229. Also, it remains the only country to win the event the most number of times ie 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002).
There’s Something Between Pele And Records
The Brazilian legend holds various records and all of these were created in the 1958 World Cup. He was only 17 when he played a huge role in Brazil winning the world cup for the first time in 1958. The “Black Pearl”, as he is mostly referred to, became the youngest goal scorer, when his team clashed with Wales, to secure a hattrick (against France) and to find the net in the final (against Sweden).
The Biggest Victory Margins
Now, it is time to look at the humongous victory margins of the World Cup. The biggest amongst these are: Hungary crushing South Korea 9-0 in 1954, Yugoslavia thrashing Zaire 9-0 in 1974 and Hungary humbling El Salvador 10-1in 1982.
The Editions With Most, Least Goals
With a total of 171, the 1998 and 2014 World Cup editions happen to be the events with the maximum number of goals. Contrastingly, the 1930 and 1934 editions were the ones with the least number of goals. On both occasions, players could only find the net 70 times.
The Juventus Connection
Now, people would wonder “what Juventus have got to do with a global event like a world cup”. For the uninitiated, the Italian club has given the maximum number of players for the quadrennial event. A total of 128 players who featured in various editions came from the prestigious Italian club.
Most Goals In The World Cups
A retired German footballer called Miroslav Klose holds the distinction of scoring the most number of goals in world cups. Klose has 16 goals to his credit and has featured in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions. He also broke the record of Brazilian giant Ronaldo Nazario in the 2014 World Cup.
The Countries To Pocket The World Cup So Far
Though the number of participating teams for the mega event has gone up considerably, only 8 countries have won the coveted football tournament so far. Curiously, there is clear European domination on this count, but South American countries are not too far behind. The victorious teams from Europe happen to be Italy, France, Germany, England and Spain and from South America are Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
