Football is the most popular game in the world. While the players
will thrill you with goals, kicks and more, MensXP presents you with 30
interesting facts about one of the most loved sports in the world.
1. Football originated in China around 476 B.C.
2. Football is the most played and most watched sport on earth.
3. Football is the most popular sport in the world. Over one billion fans watch World Cup Football on television.
4. The largest Football tournament saw no less than
5,098 teams. They competed in 1999 for the second Bangkok League
Seven-a-Side Competition. Over 35,000 players participated.
5. The maximum number of goals scored by one player
in a single Football match was 16. It was scored by Stephan Stanis
(France) playing for Racing Club de Lens in December 1942.
6. Based on video evidence, one of the fastest ever scored was in 2.8 seconds by Ricardo Olivera (Uruguay) in December 1998.
7. Football goalies didn't have to wear different coloured shirts from their teammates until 1913.
8. Football players run an average of 9.65 kms during every game.
9. The very first game of basketball was played with a soccer ball.
10. The World's First Football Club was the English
Sheffield Football Club. It was founded in 1857 by Colonel Nathaniel
Cresswick and Major William Priest, two British Army officers.
11. European Teams have reached every World Cup final, except for the finals of 1930 and 1950.
12. The highest scoring game was clocked 149-0.
Stade Olympique de L’emyrne, a team from Madagascar scored their own
goals. They did it as a form of protest for the unfair decision by
referee in the previous game.
13. Ronaldinho came into limelight when scored 23 goals in a 23-0 game when he was only
14. Celestine Babayaro, Nigerian born Chelsea player
injured his legs while celebrating his debut goal in a pre-season
match, while Luigi Riva broke a spectator’s arm with his powerful shot.
15. The first black football player was Arthur Wharton in the 1800s.
16. Pele was the first to call football “the beautiful game”.
17. Only Americans and Canadians call football “soccer”.
18. England came up with the word “soccer”. It’s a
shortened version of “Association Football” that was changed to “Assoc
Football”. This was changed to “Soccer”. In 19th century England, it was
popular to add the “-er” sound to shortened words.
19. In 1964, a referee’s call during a football match in Peru caused a riot that killed over 300 people.
20. In 1998, lightening killed an entire football
team. The catastrophe occurred in Congo during a match between the
villages of Bena Tshadi and nearby Basangana.
21. ASEC Abidjan of Cote d’Ivoire was unbeaten for 108 games between 1989 and 1994.
22. The Portuguese boast of scoring the world's
greatest goals to game ratio of 1.77. The team has found the net an
incredible 331 times in just 187 games for Sporting Lisbon between 1937
and 1949 (compared to Messi's 0.82 for Barcelona).
23. Worldwide, there are 27 professional football
clubs that take a Beatles song as their nickname - Villarreal in Spain
being the most famous (the Yellow Submarines).
24. Neil Armstrong originally wanted to take a football to the moon - but NASA deemed it to be un-American.
25. The ball used in professional football has remained exactly the same size and shape for 120 years - 28inches in circumference.
26. More than 80% of the world’s footballs are manufactured in Pakistan.
27. The first live coverage of a football match was
shown on television in 1937. It was a practice match Arsenal played at
Highbury stadium.
28. A total of 20 red cards were shown in a match played between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero in Paraguay.
29. In 1978, Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson was fired for swearing at a lady.
30. Ryan Giggs' (of Manchester United) dad was a professional Rugby League player.
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