World Cup FACTS

It's the planet's premier footballing competition presided over money-grabbing lizard people. But did you know...?

In all the excitement at the end of the 1966 World Cup final, the referee forgot to blow for full time meaning that the game is effectively still in progress. This means that all following World Cups are null and void and England will be crowned World Champions the second somebody finds a whistle.

The shortest ever World Cup match is Brazil v Guam, in which the island state surrendered an hour before kick-off.

"Fédération Internationale de Football Association" is anagram of "Soulless money-grabbing lizard men".

Nobody ever checks anagrams

The longest list on Wikipedia is "Pictures of World Cup players' genitals" with over 50,000 entries and its own army of moderators.

Gazza's famous tears during the 1990 semi-final against Germany weren't the result of his yellow card which meant he'd miss the final – he had accidentally nipped his scrotum on a tight gentleman's support.

Football legend Pele puts his prodigious scoring feats down to one simple strategy: "Kick the round white thing really hard in the square netty thing". Sound advice, indeed.

England's 2014 World Cup slogan is "Back soon."

FIFA denies any wrongdoing in the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Also, that money was just resting in their account.

Chris Waddle's infamous 1990 penalty miss is now classed as "orbital debris" by NASA

Due to Sepp Blatter forgetting to set the video, nobody knows who won the last World Cup, or even where it was held

Germany are the only country to have won the World Cup with a team that featured more than 50% mullets.

Antarctica's World Cup bid finished early when their only ball slid off the edge of the pitch and into a ravine. Nobody thought to bring a spare, and penguins-for-goalposts are not in the official FIFA manual.

Let's hear it for the World Cup!