World Cup: 5 curious facts & records

The World Cup is the pinnacle of international football – a quadrennial celebration of the sport that is watched by billions of people around the globe.

It is estimated that more than half of the world's population watched the 2018 edition in Russia, highlighting the tournament's widespread appeal.

Most people know that Brazil are the most successful nation in World Cup history with five successes, but here are a few curious facts and records you may not know.

The most common World Cup final match

As recently highlighted by sports betting site Betway, Argentina are responsible for producing two of the greatest players of all time – Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

On that basis, it comes as no surprise to find that La Albiceleste features in the most common World Cup final match played during the tournament's history.

They met Germany in three finals – 1986, 1990 and 2014 – winning the first one but losing the other two. The winning margin on each occasion was a single goal.

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One city hosted the first World Cup

One of the main attractions of modern-day World Cups is they are staged in different cities across the same country or countries.

However, the first World Cup in Uruguay was hosted exclusively by the capital city Montevideo, with all 18 matches played in just three stadiums.

Uruguay lifted the World Cup on that occasion by beating Argentina 4-2 in the final, sparking wild celebrations amongst the estimated 93,000 people in attendance.

Biggest attendance at a World Cup match

In an age where stadium capacities tend to be a little more conservative, it is probably scary to imagine what passed for the norm in 1950.

Uruguay's 2-1 victory over Brazil in the final at the Maracana Stadium had an official attendance of 173,850 – the most attended in football history.

However, several reports claim the actual attendance was nearer the 200,000 mark – a figure that demonstrates the passion South Americans have for the world's greatest sport.

The Jules Rimet Trophy goes missing

Security was sorely lacking in March 1966 when the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a display cabinet in the Methodist Central Hall in Central London.

After becoming Britain's most-wanted man, the thief discarded the trophy when he realised there was no way he would be able to turn it into cash.

One week after the theft, David Corbett was walking his dog Pickles when the collie spotted the trophy under a hedge in Upper Norwood, South London.

The youngest player in World Cup history

Many people are under the misapprehension that Pele's arrival on the international scene as a teenager at the 1958 World Cup makes him the youngest player to play in the finals.

However, former Manchester United star Norman Whiteside holds the record, having featured for Northern Ireland against Yugoslavia aged just 17 years and 41 days in 1982.

Whiteside helped his team reach the second group stage, but a defeat against France ended their interest in the tournament.