Sport

The FIFA World Cup is the largest worldwide football tournament in existence celebrating what many people call the ‘beautiful game’.

Did you know that the very first World Cup event took place on 13th July 1930!

Here are some interesting and unknown facts :

• Brazil have appeared in the World Cup 19 times and have won it 5 times.
• The most goals scored by one player in the World Cup tournaments is Ronaldo, during his International career with Brazil from 1998-2006.
• Pelé has the most number of wins when he played for Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
• The youngest player to play in the World Cup back in 1982 was Norman Whiteside, from Northern Ireland.  He was just 17 yrs and 41 days old.
• The oldest player to play in the tournament was Roger Milla, from Cameroun in 1994 against Russia.  He was 42 yrs  and 39 days old.
• Lothar Mattháus from Deutschland has played  25 matches for his Country from 1982-1998.
• Whilst Paolo Maldini from Italy has played for 2217 minutes for his Country during his career from 1990-2002.
• The fastest goal from kickoff occurred within 11 seconds and Hakan Súkúr from Turkey scored it against the Korea Republic in 2002.
• The player with the most goals scored during one tournament is Just Fontaine of France in 1958 and he scored 13 goals.
• Oleg Salenko, Russia, scored 5 goals during one match against Cameroun in 1994.
• The most goals scored during one match was 12, and the game was between Ósterreich versus Switzerland in 1954.
• The highest goal score victory was back in 1982, when Magyarország beat El Salvador 10-1.
• The goalkeeper with the best record for not conceding a goal during the tournament is Walter Zenga from Italy.  He managed to keep a clean sheet for 517 minutes during the 1990 World Cup.

No doubt future FIFA World Cup’s will see some of these records broken and new facts added to the ever growing list.

 

 

Former Wales international outside half Neil Jenkins holds the record for most penalty goals kicked by a Lion in a series after slotting 13 in the win over South Africa in 1997.

It’s a Wallaby who tops the list for the same feat against the tourists, though, with Matt Burke having booted 11 in 2001.

His name was Sir Roger Bannister, a 25 year old English doctor and an athlete.

On 6th May 1954, he ran a mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, making him the first man to beat the four minute barrier.

But the following month on 21st June, his rival runner, Australian John Landy, bettered the Iffley Road record with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, but Bannister will always be remembered as the man who ran the “miracle mile”.

The current fastest mile record is held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome, Italy, on 7 July 1999. 

Svetlana Masterkova holds the women’s record of 4 minutes 12.56 seconds.

With the British and Irish Lions heading off down under in the summer of 2013 to take on the Wallabies, here are some of the lesser known facts about one of rugby’s great touring teams and their opponents.

• William and Edward Bromet were the first pair of brothers to be capped together by the Lions.  The English duo appeared together in two internationals on the 1891 tour of South Africa, three years after William and Robert Burnet had toured Australasia on an adventure that didn’t feature any international matches.
• The first pride of Lions to tour Australia didn’t just play rugby union against their hosts.  The 1888 tourists played 16 games in Oz and 19 in New Zealand but they also took part in 19 matches of Australian Rules Football.
• Lewis Jones is the only Lion to have scored a ‘full house’ in a Test match on tour.  A replacement when The Lions travelled to Australia and New Zealand in 1950, the Welsh teenager scored two conversions, two penalties, a drop goal and a try in the first Test win over the Wallabies.
• Willie John McBride has played more games for the Lions than anyone else.  The Irish second row wore Lions colours on 68 occasions across five tours in 1962, 1966, 1968, 1971 and 1974.
• The record for the most points scored by a Lion in a single fixture is held by Alan Old.  The England fly-half scored 37 points in the 97-0 win over South West Districts on the 1974 tour of South Africa courtesy of a try, a penalty and 15 conversions.
• Paul O’Connell’s appointment as captain for the 2009 tour saw The Lions follow a familiar pattern.  The second row’s selection meant that the two most recent tours have been led by Irishmen, with the two previous tours skippered by an Englishman and the two before that captained by Scotsmen.
• Did you know that coaches are a relatively new phenomenon for Britain and Ireland’s elite.  The Lions didn’t travel with a coach until the 1966 adventure when John Robbins took on a role that even then was officially described as ‘assistant manager’.

• The Lions’ second-Test win over Australia in Sydney in 1950 may have been big news for the tourists but the support of the natives appeared to be elsewhere.  A crowd of 25,000 turned out to watch the Lions clinch the two-match series against the Wallabies – some 50,000 less than were in attendance at a local rugby league match played on the adjacent Sydney Oval.  Somehow we don’t envisage 2013 following a similar trend!
• A first Lions series in Australia since 1966 was worth the wait for the Lions back in 1989.  After losing the First Test by a comprehensive 30 points to 12 scoreline and then fighting back to win the Battle of Ballymore in game two, Sir Ian McGeechan’s squad sealed a series success in Sydney thanks to a Ieuan Evans try and five penalties from Gavin Hastings.
• Paul O’Connell may have been the 10th Irishman to captain the Lions but he was just the second Munster player to do so.  O’Connell led the Lions in South Africa in 2009, 41 years after full back Tom Kiernan did the same.
• There’s plenty of debate about who will lead the Lions in Australia but did you know that the captains of England, Scotland and Wales all missed out on initial selection for the 2009 Lions tour?  Steve Borthwick, Mike Blair and Ryan Jones didn’t make Sir Ian McGeechan’s original squad for the trip to South Africa despite being their country’s captains at the time of selection.
• The age gap between the oldest and youngest Lions on the 2009 tour of South Africa was an incredible 15 years and nearly four months.  Simon Shaw was approaching 36 by the time the Lions left for home, while Leigh Halfpenny was only 20.
• 80 – The number of separate pieces of kit the 2013 British & Irish Lions players will be issued with for Australia and Hong Kong…. as well as three Thomas Pink team outfits!
• 842 Record number of points scored in New Zealand and Australia (by the 1959 Lions in 33 games).
• Lions centre Jack Matthews boxed against the legendary Rocky Marciano.  Matthews, who was a Test Lion in 1950 and tour doctor in 1980, drew a three-round contest with the unbeaten future heavyweight world champion at RAF St Athan in 1943.

Now that’s an impressive line-up of facts and figures we’re sure you’ll agree.

Former England and Leicester back row forward Neil Back is the oldest player to represent the British Lions in a Test match.

The World Cup winning openside flanker was 36 years and 160 days old when he played in the opening international against the All Blacks on the British Lions Tour in 2005.