Wayne Wheelwright - 50 Quick Facts about the World Cup

Title Page

50 QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD CUP

Wayne Wheelwright

Publisher Information

50 Quick Facts about the World Cup

Published in 2014 by Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Copyright 2014 Wayne Wheelwright

The right of Wayne Wheelwright to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The Facts

1. The Jules Rimet Trophy, named for the FIFA president who passed a vote to initiate the first World Cup competition in 1929 was the first trophy awarded to the teams who won the World Cup. Before being named after Jules Rimet in 1946 the trophy was simply known as Victory. The Jules Rimet Trophy was designed by Abel Lafleur and made of gold plated silver and comprises of a decagonal cup held aloft by Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. During World War II, Italy were holders of the trophy and the then vice-president of FIFA and president of the FIGC kept it hidden in a shoe box under his bed to prevent the Nazis from taking it. During an exhibition at Westminster Central Hall in England in 1966 the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen only to be found a week later wrapped in newspaper under a garden hedge by a dog named Pickles. After Brazil won the trophy for the third time in 1970 they were rewarded by being able to keep the trophy. It was kept at the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro until it was stolen on 20 th December 1983. The Jules Rimet Trophy has never been recovered.
2. After Brazil were allowed to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy, FIFA commissioned a new trophy to be built for the 1974 World Cup. Out of the 53 submissions from seven different countries, the job of designing the trophy went to Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga. The FIFA World Cup Trophy stands 36.5cm tall and is made of 18 carat gold. The trophy weighs 13.6lb and comprises of two figures holding up the earth. Unlike the Jules Rimet Trophy, FIFA have stated that the trophy cannot be won outright. The winners of the trophy have their name engraved on the base of the trophy and there is room to incorporate the winners until 2038. It is unknown if FIFA will retire the trophy at that time.
3. The FIFA World Cup was first held in 1930 in Uruguay. The tournament consisted of 13 teams invited by FIFA to participate. All of the matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo with most played at the Estadio Centenario which was built specially for the tournament. The team were split into four groups with each group winner going onto the semi finals. The first two World Cup Games happened simultaneously and they were the match between France and Mexico and the match between the United States and Belgium. The first goal scored in World Cup history was by Lucien Laurent of France whilst the American goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas landed the first clean sheet. Argentina, Uruguay, United States and Yugoslavia won the groups. Uruguay won the tournament defeating Argentina 4-2.
4. The second World Cup which was held in 1934 was hosted by Italy. The 1934 World Cup was the first that teams had to qualify to participate in with 32 teams entering the competition of which 16 earned a place in the finals tournament. The group stage used in the first tournament was scrapped with a straight knockout tournament structure taking its place. The eight seeded teams were Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Italy became the second team to win the World Cup and the first European team to do so defeating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final.
5. The third World Cup which was held in 1938 was hosted by France. France defeated Argentina and Germany for the right to host the tournament which caused outrage in South America as it was believed the tournament would alternate between the two continents, due to this Uruguay and Argentina chose not to enter. The 1938 World Cup was the last to be held before World War II. The 1938 tournament saw the first time a nation retained the World Cup after italy were successful, defeating Hungary 4-2 in the final.
6. World War II meant there was no World Cup tournament held between 1938 and 1950. The competition returned to South America with Brazil serving as host nation. 1950 was the first time the competition was not decided by a one off final match with Uruguay emerging victorious beating the host Brazil 2-1 in the deciding match of the four team final group. Following the war Germany and Japan were banned from participating in the competition while Argentina, Ecuador and Peru withdrew after the qualifying draw.
7. The 1954 World Cup was hosted by Switzerland. Switzerland were unopposed for the right to host the tournament and they were awarded it the same day that Brazil were given the 1950 tournament. Scotland, Turkey and South Korea made the first appearances at the World Cup whilst the third and fourth placed team in the 1950 tournament, Sweden and Spain both failed to qualify. In 1954 the German team were allowed to participate again with West Germany reaching the actual tournament. Argentina abstained from the tournament for the third World Cup in a row. The tournament was won by West Germany who defeated Hungary 3-2 in the final which was held in Bern.
8. The 1958 tournament was hosted by Sweden who were awarded the tournament unopposed despite early interest from Argentina, Chile and Mexico. 1958 was the only time Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup tournament but would see the Soviet union make its tournament debut and each of the nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) qualify too. 16 teams participated in the final tournament, split in to four groups of four with each team playing the other three teams in their group once. Brazil won the 1958 World Cup defeating Sweden 5-2 in the final which saw Pel become the youngest player to appear and to score in a World Cup Final and win a World Cup at the age of 17 years and 249 days.
9. The 1962 tournament was hosted by Chile. 57 national team competed to for the 14 spots at the finals after the automatic qualification of the hosts and the current holders Brazil. With the previous 2 tournament having been held in Europe the American federations threatened to boycott the tournament if it wasnt held in South America. Despite Argentina being the favourite, Chile won the right to host the tournament which was won by Brazil who defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final. The venues used and the dates originally intended for games had to be hastily rearranged following the Valdivia Earthquake which was at the time the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
10. The 1966 tournament was hosted by England. The 1966 World Cup was the last tournament to be broadcast in black and white. England defeated West Germany and Spain for the right to host the tournament. Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament after being told that some of their nations would have to play an additional qualifier against an Asian team. Portugal and North Korea made their debuts in the 1966 tournament. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia who both had successful campaigns in the prior tournament both failed to qualify. England became the third host to win the World Cup after a 4-2 victory over West Germany in the final after extra time including a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst.
11. The 1970 tournament was hosted by Mexico and was the first time the tournament had been held outside of South America and Europe. 75 teams from the 6 populated continents all attempted to qualify for the 14 remained spots after the automatic qualification of the hosts and the holders. There were complaints about the extreme temperatures and high altitude of the venues but this didnt stop the entertainment with an average goals to game ration that hasnt been bettered since. Brazil emerged victorious from the tournament with what many call the greatest team to ever play in the World Cup. They defeated Italy 4-1 in the final and with that won the Jules Rimet Trophy for the third time giving them the right to keep it.