Only 13 teams participated in the inaugural tournament, held in Uruguay in July 1930 - seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America. Uruguay won the final, becoming the first ever World Cup champions.
Despite over 20 tournaments, just eight countries have lifted the trophy: Brazil (5), Germany and Italy (4 each), Argentina (3), France and Uruguay (2 each), and England and Spain (1 each).
Brazil is the only nation to have appeared in every tournament. They hosted the finals in 1950 and again in 2014, but their 2014 campaign ended in a shock 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany.
The first official international match was between England and Scotland in 1872, but neither joined the World Cup until decades later - England in 1950 and Scotland in 1954.
The fastest goal scored in a World Cup match was by Hakan Şükür for Turkey against South Korea in a match to decide the Third and Fourth place runners up. He scored it only 10.8 seconds after the start of the game! Turkey won that game 3-2.
Austria beat Switzerland 7–5 in a goal-filled match at the 1954 World Cup. However, the biggest victory was Hungary’s 10–1 win over El Salvador in 1982.
The original Jules Rimet Trophy (1930–1970) was permanently awarded to Brazil after their third win. It was later stolen and never recovered. Since 1974, teams compete for the FIFA World Cup Trophy, which stays with FIFA after the tournament and is engraved with each winner’s name.
In 1966, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in London — and found a week later by a dog named Pickles. In 1983, it was stolen again in Brazil and is believed to have been melted down. A replica made in England was secretly used for public displays and now resides in Manchester’s National Football Museum.
Inspired by traffic lights, English referee Ken Aston devised the colour-coded system. The 1970 tournament in Mexico — which was also conveniently the first broadcast in colour — saw the first yellow card issued, though the first red card came four years later in 1974. The first player to get a yellow card was Lovchev for the USSR in the opening match against Mexico in 1970. Carlos Caszely of Chile was the first player to get a red card in a World Cup match in 1974 in a game against West Germany.
As of 2022, five countries have hosted the tournament twice: Italy, France, Brazil, Germany, and Mexico. The 2022 tournament was hosted in Qatar — the first World Cup held in winter and in the Middle East. The next tournament in 2026 will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico — making Mexico the first country to host the World Cup three times. Morocco, Spain and Portugal will share hosting in 2030, and Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 tournament.
