In a few days, World Cup 2018 will start and there are about 1 billion crazy football fans who will schedule their time depending on matches.
After all, football is the most popular sport in the world. “Flashsport24” brings today 30 interesting facts about one of the most beloved sports in the world.

1 – Football has its origins in China since 476 AC

2 – Football is the most played and watched sport on Earth

3 – Football is the most popular sport in the world. Over 1 billion fans see the World Cup on television.

4 – The biggest football tournament ever seen was 5,098 teams. They competed in 1999 for the second league at Bankok. More than 35,000 players participated.

5 – The maximum number of goals scored by one player in a single match was 16. They were scored by Stephan Stanis in France playing for Racig Clud de Lens in December 1942.

6 – One of the fastest goals scored was from Ricardo Olivera (Uruguay) in December 1998.

7 – The goalkeeper did not have to wear a jersey with a different color than his teammate until 1913.

8 – Footballers run at an average of 9.65 km each game

9 – The first basketball match was played with the soccer ball.

10 – The world’s first football club was Sheffield in England. It was founded in 1857 by Colonel Nathaniel Cresvick and William Pries, two army officers.

11 – European teams have always come to the World Cup finals except the 1930s and 1950s.

12 – The highest score in a football match is 149 at 0. Olympique de l’Emyrne, a team from Madagascar, scored all these goals at his goal. They made it a protest after the unjust decision of a judge in a past game.

13 – Ronaldinho came out as a player when he scored 23 goals in a match that ended 23-0.

14 – Celestine Babyaro, a Nigerian Chelsea player, injured his feet during a bout, while Luigi Riva broke the arm of a spectator from a strong shot.

15 – The first colored player was Arthur Harton in the 1800s.

16 – Pele was the first to call football “a nice game”.

17 – Only Americans and Canadians call football “soccer”.

18 – It was England that brought the word “soccer” at first. It’s the abbreviation of the “Football Association” version.

19 – In 1964, a wrong arbitration in a match in Peru caused turmoil where 300 people were killed.

20 – In 1998, lightning killed an entire football team. The catastrophe occurred in Congo during a match between village squads.

21 – Ivory Coast team ASEC Abidjan has remained undefeated in 108 matches from 1989 until 1994.

22 – Portugal has the highest score of goals. With 1.77 goals in the match. Sporting Lisbon has managed to score 331 times in 187 matches from 1937 until 1949.

23 – There are 27 football teams around the world that have the names of the titles of some of the Beatles songs, for example Villarreal in Spain has the nickname “Yellow Submarine”

24 – Neil Armstrong wanted to bring a soccer ball to the moon, but NASA stopped after saying it was out of American style.

25 – The ball used in professional football has remained the same shape for 120 years.

26 – More than 80% of football balls are produced in Pakistan

27 – The first football match on TV was in 1937. It was an Arsenal training match.

28 – A total of 20 red cards have been awarded to Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero during a match in Paraguay.

29 – In 1978, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was discharged after offending a woman.

30 – Rajan Gigs’ father, was a professional regby player.