FIFA World Cup

• The first world cup soccer match kicked off on July 13th, 1930 with France beating Mexico 4 to 1.

• Cameroon’s Roger Milla is the oldest player at the World Cup - he was 42 years and 39 days old when he played his last match against Russia in 1994. Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside is the youngest ever finals player, being just 17 years and 41 days when he took the field against Yugoslavia in 1982.

• Shirt swapping was officially prohibited in 1986 because FIFA did not want players to bare their chests on the soccer field.

• The 1970 World cup match between El Savador and Honduras was so highly charged that it resulted in the two countries embarking on a 3 day war.

• Slovakia is the only team making its World Cup debut this summer. Slovakia is playing in Group F, with their opening game on June 15 against New Zealand.

• The current age of Argentina’s Francisco Varallo is 100 years, he the only person to have played in the first World Cup in 1930 who is still living.

• The number of goals scored in the highest-scoring World Cup game in history is 12. Austria and Switzerland combined for 12 goals in 1954. Austria won 7-5.

• Brazil’s Pelé made his World Cup debut in 1958. Pelé was only 17 years old during the games in Sweden, making him the youngest player to win a World Cup championship. In the same tournament, Pelé became the youngest player to score a goal (Brazil vs. Wales) and a hattrick (Brazil vs. France).

• The most goals scored in one World Cup game by a single player is 5. Russia’s Oleg Salenko scored the five goals in a 6-1 win over the African nation of Cameroon in the 1994 World Cup held in the U.S.

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