6 Historical World Cup Facts You Didn’t Know

6. The largest crowd for a World Cup match was at the (old) Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the 1950 final. 199,954 people watched Uruguay beat the host team 2-1. *This one might be important to remember. 

5. FIFA President, Sepp Blatter (real name), was once head of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders, which tried to get women to wear stockings and suspenders instead of pantyhose.

4. Pelé is the only player to have won three World Cup championships. His first World CUp in 1958 for Brazil resulted in a number of long-standing records; youngest goal scorer, youngest player to score a hat trick and the youngest play to appear in a final, at 17 years old.

3. Before the first ever World Cup final in Uruguay in 1930, the referee ordered 60,000 fans to be searched before the match. Security found 1,600 revolvers in the crowd.

2. At the World Cup in 1990, each UAE player who scored was given a Rolls Royce by the UAE government/sponsors.

1. During the World War 2 years, Italian football Chief Ottorino Barassi secretly took the Jules Rimet trophy home from a bank in Rome and kept it under his bed in a shoebox to ensure Hitler and his Nazi troops didn’t find it. There it stayed until the 1950 World Cup.

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Continue the World Cup Countdown: 

• 7 World Cup Facts about the USA
• 8 Hottest World Cup WAGs
• 9 Best World Cup Players You Should Know
• 10 Best World Cup Commercials

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Sources:

• http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/2318675/21-facts-you-never-knew-about-the-world-cup/
• http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa-world-cup/jules-rimet-cup.html
• http://www.history.com/news/80-years-of-world-cup-facts
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz8rf7-Ktl0

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

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