The FIFA World Cup is definitely the most popular sports event in the world. It happens every four years and it’s an occasion when half of the world’s people collectively lose their minds. No wonder that the 2014 World Cup was watched by some 3.2 billion people. That’s almost half of the world’s population! There’s an interesting fact right from the start.
So yes, the facts. First of all, I won’t be talking about the regular numbers, the most wins, etc. You can visit Wikipedia for that. This text is more about some less known and actually interesting facts.
- The upcoming World Cup will be held in Russia, for the first time in history.
- In 2026, the world cup will have 48 participating countries, not 32 as it does at the moment.
- Most coaches don’t allow their payers to have sex during the cup. I wonder how that actually works since the cup lasts for about a month.
- FIFA organizes the cup every four years. Only two times was the cup skipped. Both of those instances were because of the Second World War.
- During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, more than 3 million beers were drunk.
- Russia will allow tourists to enter the country visa-free during the tournament.
- The FIFA organization is usually described as the true evil corporation that you can see in movies. Many of the key people from FIFA were involved in some sort of corruption scandal. At least they pay the winner $35 million. Boom, bonus fact for you!
- In 1966, just a few days before the start of the cup, the actual cup, i.e. the trophy, went missing for seven days.
- Host countries always reach the second round of the tournament. Only Sout Africa didn’t in 2010.
- The Cup was never won by a country outside of Europe or South America.
- The World Cup causes an actual increase in the birth rate of a host country.
- A European country appears in almost every finals, only two times were the finals Europe-free.
