Random World Cup Facts

Also France played the 3rd place game in 1982 + 1986 consecutively ;-)

 

Very good. I meant actually that no team has not win or lose 2 consecutive 3rd place game.

 

Germany won the third place game in 2006 and 2010.

 

"First goalkeeper who takes attempt in penalty shoot-out"

I'm not sure if he ever took a penalty kick, but Chilavert took a free kick for Paraguay in 2002.

 

"First team who is world champion and then hosts next world cup."

We already know that can't happen in Russia in 2018. And it also looks doubtful for 2022, as Qatar are already close to elimination for Russia.

One team has done the reverse: Italy won the WC in 1934 at home and then won again in 1938 in France.

 

USA 2026

 

Ha Ha.

Who knows? The stars could align for Mexico, though.

 

Or Canada for that matter.....

 

If you mean in the 23rd century, sure.

 

This is an old post that I kept reposting. I probably created this after 2010. I updated it for 2014. Freaky enough.... I found Lampard and Lambert, and Forester and Forster.

For the WC in 2018, we might have Rashford and Pickford. No other player named Ford or XXXford ever got selected for England at the WC Finals.

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A few years ago, I discovered a pattern on the surnames of the players on the English team. England kept having players with similar surnames on the same World Cup team, but no one had the same surnames again on other World Cup teams.

In 1966, England had Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton on the same World Cup squad. "Bobby" was probably a popular baby name 30 years before. So two Bobby's on the same team are not surprising at all. Surnames, on the other hand, are different from given names. They are not trendy. Joe and Ashley Cole playing on the same World Cup team was a coincidence! But when this happened over and over again, it became a pattern.... a strange one too, I would say.

World Cup 1950
There were Ted Ditchburn, Jackie Milburn and Henry Cockburn on the team. “Burn” in a surname is very common, right? But no other XXXburn ever went to the WC Finals. We also have Roy Bentley and Bill Eckersley. For 36 years, no other ” XXXley” ever went to the WC Finals for England. Suddenly in 1986, we have Mark Hateley, Gary Bailey and Peter Beardsley. And no other "ley” ever since.

World Cup 1958
England had Eddie Hopkinson and Alan Hodgkinson. Steve Hodge was on the 1990 team and Jimmy Dickinson was on the 1950 and 1954 team. No other “kinson” ever appeared on any WC team. And “kinson” is very common too, right? Besides, Hopkinson and Hodgkinson were much more similar with each other than with Hodge or Dickinson.

World Cup 1962
No one knows the origin of name Chile for sure, but one theory said that "chile" is an Native American word for "sea gull". In 1962, England sent two "birds" to the World Cup in Chile, namely Peter Swan and Alan Peacock. Tony Woodcock (Woodcock is a name of a bird) went to Spain 1982. No other "bird" ever went to a WC Finals for England.

World Cup 1966
There were Roger Hunt and Norman Hunter. Fowler(Robbie) means a hunter of bird. Otherwise, there was no other Hunt or Hunter in any other tournament.

World Cup 1970
Alan Ball and Colin Bell. Steve Bull in 1990 was similar. Okay, Ball and Bell does not rhyme. Let's forget this one.

World Cup 1982
Joe Corrigan and Kevin Keegan. No one with the surname "XXXgan" in any other WC for England.

World Cup 1986
Everyone should recall Gary M. Stevens and Gary A. Stevens. Don't forget about Trevor Steven. No other Steven ever went to the WC Finals. In 1950, there were Roy Bentley and Bill Eckersley. For 36 years, no other ” XXXley” ever went to the WC Finals for England. Suddenly in 1986, we have Mark Hateley, Gary Bailey and Peter Beardsley. And no other "ley” ever since. We also have Chris Waddle and Glenn Hoddle, and finally Bryan and Bobby Robson. Not other player named "XXXddle" went to the WC Finals. Bobby Robson himself was on the 1958 team, but no other Robson anywhere else.

World Cup 1990
Paul Parker, Des Walker and Gary Lineker made up the three "ker's" in Italy. There were no other "XXXker" on any other WC team. Scott Parker made it to the Euro 2012 team, but he did not go to the WC Finals.

World Cup 1998
David Beckham and Teddy Sherringham. George Eastham on the 1966 team was the only other “ham” on any other WC Finals for England. Laurie Cunningham never played in the WC Finals. In 1958 and 1962, Maurice Norman went to the WC with England. For 38 years, England had no one with a surname "XXXman" at the WC Finals. Then, suddenly, we have David Seaman and Steve McManaman in France. I do not count Les Ferdinand and Rio Ferdinand as a coincidence because they are cousins. Graeme Le Saux was on the team, but Matt Le Tissier did not make it.

World Cup 2002, 2006, 2010
We have Joe and Ashley Cole. Andy and Charlton Cole never went to a WC Finals. There were no other Cole on the other WC teams.

World Cup 2006
Germany is known for Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volkswagen. In 2006, England sent three "cars" to Germany, namely Michael Carrick, Scott Carson and Jamie Carragher!! No other “car” in any WC Finals(Carrick and Carragher were also on the 2010 team too).

World Cup 2014
Frank Lampard and Rickie Lambert are the only "Lam's"ever played for England at the WC Finals. Lampard played in two other WC Finals. And the two backup keepers were Frasier Forster and Ben Foster. In 1982, Steve Foster went to Spain, but that was 32 years before. Raheem Sterling and Chris Smalling are both "ing", but we have Stewart Downing in 2006. So we cannot count this one, can we?

 

I'm sure the English fans have yelled a few "motherXXXker" over the years. This one comes to mind readily.

 

Croatia's Anthony Šerić was part of three World Cup squads (98, 02, 06) yet he didn't make appearance although Croatia played 13 matches. Anyone knows similar situations?

 

This might happen in every WC Finals, but the WC Finals in 2006 have many group stage games where "blood feud" between colonists and former colonies, "ethnic cousins" vs "ethnic cousins", etc. It happened many times where the colonists played agains the colony, but usually a single combination at a given WC Finals. In 2006, we have three. Spain surprisingly did not play one in the group stage. In 2014, Spain played against Chile, but Spain pretty much played against a Latin American team at the WC Final all the time. Uruguay played against Costa Rica, but given so many Spanish speaking countries in the world, it ain't that big of a deal. And I am also looking at Group Stage games only .I know Morocco played against Saudi Arabia in 1994.

In 2006, we have the following matchups:

Group A:
Germany vs Poland
There are many neighbouring countries who are rivalries in football, namely Holland vs Germany, etc. For Poland-Germany, many Poles lived in Germany, and many Germans lived in Poland. I do not want to go into the history of the two World Wars. We all knew why and how that happened. Klose, Podolski and Borowski played for Germamny and I do not know any German-born Poles on Polish team. Ecuador and Costa Rica, as mentioned, do not count as something special. Costa Rica has played against South Americans before and after 2006.

Group B
England vs Sweden
England was coachd by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Engalnd vs T&T
As I recalled, a large number of T&T players were born or raised in England. I have a quick look. There are Chris Birchall and Ian Cox. It was colonist vs colony.

Group C
Nothing here. Holland and Ivory Coast both wear orange jersey. The flag colors of Serbia and Holland are the same combination and very similar.

Group D
Portugal vs Angola
The chance of Portugal drawing a former African colony is actually rare. This might be the only WC Final, where they actually have a chance. I need to follow that up. At least, one player playing for Angola was born in Portugal . There was an European player born in Angola too, I think. Mexico and Iran have in the same color on their flags. Italy is the other country with red and green, and white in the middle.

Group E
Italy vs USA
Not really. But Hollywood made it liked every other American are Italian. Or I should say every other New Yorker or Hollywood actors and/or Pop singers are Italians? Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Madonna, Nicholas Cage, Scorsese, De Niro, Brando, etc. Seriously, how many movies were made about Italian-Americans?

Group F
Brazil vs Japan
Brazil has the highest number of overseas Japanese population in the world. Zico was Japan's manager. They also had a Brazilian player named Alex.

Croatia vs Australia
Croatia has at least 3 Australian born players. Australia has a few players with Croatan ancestry. Viduka was one of them.

Group G
France vs Togo
Togo was a French colony. Oh well, France also has many colonies and played them before this WC Finals. In this WC Finals, they also have Ivory Coast. Of course, they could avoid it by drawing with Angola. This was the third colony vs colonist.

France vs Switzerland
Two French speaking countries met. It was not their first meeting and it won't be their last. Okay, I did not look it at up. The combination was not a "big deal". However, if you looked at the rest of this WC Finals, you would feel.... "again"!

Group H
Tunisia vs Saud Arabia
In 1994, Morocco played against Saudi Arabia. I do not know if there was the only other occasion where two Arab countries have the chance of drawing in the group stage. Anyway, they were the only two Arab countries at this WC Finals. Tunisia had the chance drawing one other Muslim country from Asia. The other one was Iran and they were Persians, not Arabs.

 

Ghana vs USA could possibly be included since a lot of West Africans were brought there through the slave trade.

 

His first free kick attempt at a World Cup came four years earlier against Bulgaria.

 

then there was the final itself... Zidane and Materazzi played a big part in two key ways... first both scored in the first half, only to come head-to-head... or should I say head-to-chest again in extra time....

 

In terms of war/colonialism, the pattern is that the winner also wins in the WC. Germany has beat France, Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Israel and never lost to them, actually only once to France but in a meaningless third-place match. Until Brazil 14, Spain remain undefeated against all of its colonial subjects such as Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Honduras. USA has one win and one draw against England. Brazil has not beaten Portugal in two tries.

A big exception is Argentina beating England soon after their war, which makes Diego Maradona the only player with the greatness to subvert history on the soccer field.

 

I posted this somewhere before.

Alexandre Villaplane was the first Algerian and North African to play for France. He was the captain of the French national team at the very first WC Finals in 1930. I often heard criticism by perhaps right wingers in France about how their national team is not "French" enough. Come one, your very first captain of the nation team at the first ever WC Finals was an Algerian born in Algeria.

Villaplane later became a Nazi collaborator during the War. He was responsible for a number of deaths in France.
He was sentenced to death after the War and was executed by firing squad.

 

I had never heard of this before. That makes Villaplane and Andres Escobar the only two players in WC history to have died by violence.

 

For WC 1982, European Qualifiers introduced groups of 5 and the chance of a runner-up to reach the finals.

Since then there was a suprisingly long streak of at least 1 teams each cycle, that had only been seeded in top 4 to reach the finals. this streak however was broken only in 2014 where no team from pot 4 or below reached Brazil 2014.

this shows either the overall strength of europe or the bad seedings with coefficients of historical results in the past.

In detail:
1982 - Ireland (from Group 2), Northern Ireland (6)
1986 - Portugal (2), Bulgaria (5)
1990 - Ireland (6)
1994 - Norway (2), Greece (5), Bulgaria (6)
1998 - Yugoslavia (6)
2002 - Slovenia (1)
2006 - Ukraine (2)
2010 - Slovakia (3) .... + Slovenia, the only team ever from a Pot 5 to reach the finals
2014 - NONE
2018 - Ireland is in a pole positions, while Montenegro and Turkey in the race

 

second sentence, it is pot 4, not top 4 %-D

 

There have been enough players in World Cup history that you can't be sure those are the only two players to die from violence. If a player who wasn't on an elite national team died from violence many years after he retired, and it was before the internet was created, it's possible not many people would find out about it.

 

Ireland seems to be routinely underrated. Certainly they were in the 2018 seedings. How Romania is a pot 1 and Ireland a pot 4 is quite a mystery to me. Even my own Denmark had no business being a pot 2 compared to Ireland.

 

The exception is England since they also have a losing record against Germany.

 

Only if you count England as having won the war against Germany by virtue of being allied to the winners.

Another one to add to the pattern is USSR being undefeated to their communist subjects: Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, North Korea.