Some Things You May Not Have Known About Soccer

Soccer is one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world. I’m sure most people have played soccer at least once on their lives. Maybe it was in the backyard with some neighborhood kids or in gym class or maybe you played for your high school team. Either way, soccer is a fun sport that anyone can participate in but did you know that soccer also has a very interesting history as well? Here is a chance to brush up on your knowledge in time for the next World Cup with some trivia that you may not have been aware of when it comes to soccer.

First, let’s start with some basics:

• Football is the name given to soccer in some other countries, especially in Europe.
• Soccer was not televised until 1937 during an arsenal practice match at the Highway Ground.
• England and Scotland made soccer a major sport in 1872.
• It wasn’t until 1888 that the first full-time league was established.
• Soccer was welcomed into the Olympic games in 1908
• Soccer is widely thought to have started in Britain in the mid-1800’s and was only played by the rich English class.
• The attendance record for a United States based professional soccer league game was set at the Rose Bowl in California on June 16th, 1996. There were 92,216 people in attendance.
• 5,098 soccer teams took part in the biggest soccer tournament which was held in 1999.
• Wearing colored team clothing did not become a rule for goalies until 1913.

Now that you have some basic knowledge about the history of soccer, here are some notable accomplishments and memorable moments by some famous players:

• The first player to be red-carded in a world cup tournament was Carlos Caszely on June 14th, 1974.
• Luigi Riva has such a powerful shot that he once broke a spectator’s arm.
• Native Brazilian, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pele, scored 1,281 goals in 1, 363 games and brought his team to world cup glory three times. He retired in 1977 and is still considered to be one of the best players who ever lived.
• Sixteen goals were scored in a single match by Stephen Stanis of France in 1942.
• The first goal keeper to win most valuable player of the World Cup was Germany’s Oliver Kahn in 2002.

Finally, here are some interesting facts about some major team accomplishments:

• Every World Cup final, except 1930 and 1950, has been reached by European teams.
• India withdrew their team from the World Cup in 1950 because FIFA would not allow them to play barefoot.
• During a World Cup qualifier in 1954, Turkey beat out Spain by drawing straws.
• In 1996, Liberia was able to enter the African Nations Cup because George Weah paid for his team’s uniforms.
• Hungary has won the most gold medals in soccer Olympics since 1952.
• Since 1982, sixteen national championships in women’s soccer were won by the University of North California.