Weird World Cup Stats and Facts

There are a lot of incredible World Cup records. Some of them may not seem that impressive at first sight but the fact that they haven’t been broken yet proves this otherwise. Similarly, there are plenty of weird World Cup stats as well. Stats that just look so absurd it might be hard to believe them.

Each World Cup is remembered for something but some tournaments fair better in history books and people’s minds. We gathered some of the weirdest World Cup facts and stats from various tournaments. And with the next tournament starting this month, it might be a good idea to take a look at our World Cup betting guide. If you miss out on the fun, you’ll just have to wait another four years.

England’s 1966 Trophy

As the tournament constantly got bigger and involved more nations, the competition became harder as well. The last time a host country won the World Cup was in 1998. England’s only trophy comes from the 1966 tournament when they were hosts. This might seem a bit weird because the English national team is always a top-three favourite to win it all. 

But what makes England’s World Cup win weirder is that the trophy was stolen before the tournament began. The trophy eventually ended up in the hands of the English national team thanks to Pickles, a white collie mongrel, who discovered the trophy in a bush in South London. You don’t see that in everyday online sportsbook news in the UK.

India’s Weird World Cup Qualification

As this article goes on, we’ll list weirder and weirder World Cup facts and statistics. For example, football is not the most popular sport in India. But the Asian country with the second highest population in the world only qualified for the tournament once. During the same campaign, they wanted to play barefoot as well, which earned them a disqualification in 1950.

Legendary Players Who Never Played in the Tournament

Playing in the World Cup is different from other competitions. Qualification is much harder and even when qualified; players could easily miss the tournament due to any injury that sidelines them for more than a month. Manchester United legends Eric Cantona, George Best, and Ryan Giggs never played in a World Cup. Their absences were due to temperament and performance issues.

Alfredo Di Stefano is regarded as one of the greatest strikers and players of all time but he never played in a World Cup. The fact that he was eligible for Argentina, Colombia, and Spain makes this stat much weirder. His only chance to play in the final was in 1962 with Spain but he couldn’t make it due to an injury. For this year’s tournament, some of the biggest stars will be absent from Qatar 2022 as well.

Red Cards at the World Cup – Weird Stats

Although there were multiple dismissals beforehand, actual and physical red cards were only introduced at the 1970 tournament. It’s safe to say that there were plenty of players sent off the pitch since then. But one of the weirdest World Cup stat in this category relates to the 2018 tournament.

Russia 2018 featured only four red cards, the lowest amount since 1976. Two of these red cards were issued after a second yellow. One could say that this tournament was friendlier, or poorly officiated.

The Old and New Trophy

The current World Cup trophy has been around since 1974. It’s significantly larger than its predecessor but experts believe that it isn’t solid gold. The FIFA World Cup trophy weighs just above six kilograms, whereas a trophy that size should be much more than that.

Furthermore, winning nations are only awarded a bronze replica as FIFA doesn’t allow the champions to hold the trophy until a new winner emerges. The original trophy has seen plenty of action and strange things. It was stolen twice and passed through the hands of many. 

As mentioned earlier, the winning teams held the trophy until a new winner came, which was almost four years most of the time, except for Italy’s winning campaign in 1938 of course. With no tournament between 1938 and 1950, Italy held the trophy for 12 years. Well, to be precise Ottorino Barassi did because he hid under his bed for the majority of the 1940s. Talk about weird World Cup stats.

The Only Undefeated Team at the 2010 World Cup

New Zealand has played in only two World Cup tournaments, in 1982 and 2010. After recording three draws in the group stage, the low-ranked nation finished 22nd in 2010 but they were also the only undefeated team at the tournament. This World Cup stat is only this weird because apparently, New Zealand’s team featured an electrician and plumber as well. Wish 888sport would introduce a betting line that lets people predict the real job of these players.

Celebration Fact – Weird World Cup Stats

This applies to football in general but we’ll mention it since the rule was issued by FIFA. Not many people know that during goal celebrations someone has to stay on the pitch. Players usually go towards the corners to celebrate or straight to the fans, but if all of them are off the pitch, the opposing team can kick off the game. Do you think players agree on who’ll stay on the pitch or do they just adapt at the moment?

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