Almost 300 million people around the world play soccer, and the amount of people that watch the sport is equally staggering. It is the most popular sport in the world and is the national sport of over 60 different nations. It can be traced back over 20 centuries and had many various forms before The Football Association penned the first official rules in 1863. Hundreds of years, and 20 World Cups later, soccer has racked up some interesting trivia throughout its extensive history. You can read some of them below.
1. Nooit opgeven altijd doorgaan, Aangenaam door vermaak en nuttig door ontspanning, Combinatie Breda is the longest football club name in the entire sport; the Netherlands-based team is commonly referred to just as NAC Breda.
2. Robbie Keane is the Republic of Ireland national football team’s top scorer in history, scoring 68 goals in 146 games; the player just behind him in the ranking is Niall Quinn who has only 21 goals in 91 games.
3. Arthur Friedenreich scored an astounding 1,329 goals over his 26 years playing for Brazil making him the top scoring footballer in world history.
4. Despite being more popular in other parts of the world, soccer is still watched by more people in the United States than Hockey and Car Racing.
5. Gareth Bale is the most expensive soccer player in history, beating out Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013 when he was traded from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid for €100 Million; that is equivalent to $116,865,500.
6. The word soccer originated in Britain as a nickname for Association Football; it was later adopted by the United States to differentiate from American Football.
7. The 2014 world cup was held in Brazil, where you are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages during soccer games; FIFA successfully urged them to rescind this rule because Budweiser was a sponsor of the cup.
8. Soccer as we know it may have originated in England, but the game can be traced back over 2,000 years to China.
9. The spherical shape of a soccer ball is an optical illusion created by the pattern; they are slightly oval.
10. In 1953, iconic James Bond actor Sean Connery was offered a contract to play for Manchester United.
11. Players run between six and ten miles over the course of one game, which is the most out of any other sport.
12. Chinese volunteers play the role of North Korean soccer fans, as they are not allowed to travel; there were a few North Koreans selected by the government to watch the World Cup.
13. Greenland is not allowed to be a part of FIFA because they are unable to grow the grass for regulation pitches.
14. Norway is the only country that has never lost a match to Brazil, though they have drawn twice.
15. Germany’s birth rate went up by 30% after they hosted the World Cup in 2006; it has been attributed to the team’s performance.
16. You may have seen medics spray players with an aerosol spray before providing care to them, in most cases, this is just air freshener to help players smell better so that the medics can work efficiently.
17. Before the year 1908, Irish prisoners that had been executed had their stomach tissues harvested to make soccer balls.
18. Soccer cleats are commonly referred to as “hooves.”
19. Soccer fields are sloped, with each team playing half of the match uphill.
20. Lars Gustafsson, a Swedish politician, nominated the sport for a Nobel Peace Prize back in the early 2000s.
21. All 11 members of the Democratic Republic of Congo team were killed by a single lightning strike during a match.
22. Even though soccer has limited popularity in the United States, they have more official soccer players than any other nation at 18 million.
23. India declined to participate in the World Cup in 1950 because they weren’t allowed to play the game barefoot.
24. The Beatles inadvertently provided the nicknames of over 27 football clubs around the world.
25. The youngest professional soccer player ever signed was not even two years old yet.
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I feel like a lot of these are suspect just from looking at the source material.
There is no way soccer fields are sloped nowadays (#19) and definitely not intentionally. Otherwise, we would have heard Mourinho complain about it by now.
Portsmouth’s Fratton Park is one pitch that has a noticeable slope (as we saw when the Pompey were in the Premier League).
Soccer fields are called pitches. Pitch and slope have the same meaning in soccer. If the field is a regulation field, it slopes 5 degrees up, from one end of the field to the other. Teams switch goal nets during the game so they both have the same uphill slope for half the game.
Wrong
Soccer haters
How come you are looking at this website then saying you hate soccer
i love soccer and messi is the best
BOYS soccer is the BEST in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your just saying that because their is probably loads of girls way better than you.
Neymar is the best soccer player today even if he dives
no really
soccer is the best
soccer fields are purposely sloped because when it rains. Its so the water would drain off properly.
Cristinio Ronaldo is the best.
renaldo sucks messi is better
ronalodo suck he is not better the messi, messi is the best
WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT RONALD IS THE BEST.
Like if your an anybody but United person
The problem with soccer is racism, not the commercialization of the game,just as the problem with the so called Western democracies is the Russian interference rather than the complete take over of the two corrupt parties, whether they be Tories and Labour/ and or Democrats or Republicans by the international corporations.
for all those ronaldo haters do me a favor and leave the server thank you
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with this dude
Ronaldo is the best suckers
Actually MEXICO is the best OKAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
You Mexican weirdo
yea….okay
you racist bro?
Girl i think we all know both of them are the best and you like messi but dont come on this and throw shade at them ok. OH and also they both make alot of mistakes okay!
Alexis
Messi sucks and Maradona and Pele are the best
toni kroos is the best
who here thinks Neymar should move back to fc barcelona or real madrid?
surprising fact 26: soccer is not only the world’s most boring, un-american, communist sport, but it is completely irrelevant in the united states
surprising fact 27: watching paint dry is more entertaining than watching a soccer game
oh wait, these are not surprising at all…they are implicitly understood in the u.s.
Why are you even here looking at soccer facts when you don’t even like it
neymar shouldent go to real madrid
We have our own opinions
Yep yep yep most people fight and say who is better
Messi and Ronaldo have two different play styles it is hard to compare and say witch one is better
I think soccer is the hardest sport because you have to use feet which you don’t use on a daily basis besides walking and 50 50 tackles with only shin guards running like 7+ miles each game plus more