Football is one of the oldest known sports known to humankind, with records found dating over 2,000 years in china. Greece, Rome, and parts of Central America have also claimed to have started this sport and with such a long history. It is only natural that there is an array of ludicrous, interesting football facts which any fan would endure.
It is widely acknowledged that it was England that transitioned the game of Football into the game that we love so much today. The English are also credited with recording the first uniform set of rules for the sport, which include forbidding tripping opponents and touching the ball with hands (with the obvious exception of the goalkeeper). With such a rich history of the game, let us delve into the amazing Football Facts without further ado.
Worlds Most Watched Sports Tournament
The FIFA world cup is the most-watched sports event in the world and it was estimated that World Cup 2018, which was played in Russia, had a combined viewership of 3.572 billion ( 357.2 crore people) which means, almost half of the population of the world watched the tournament. What is even more interesting, is the audience who watched no coverage from home, but caught the action on digital platforms, in public viewing, or in bars and restaurants, 309.7 billion of 30.9 crores more people.
Most watched Sporting Event Finale
Did you know that the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final which was played between France and Croatia had a combined global audience of 1.12 billion (or 112 crores) on Television, again, if added the audience who watched the finale on digital platforms or in public viewing areas, this number would be exponentially higher.
The Largest Football Tournament
Back in 1999, the second Bangkok league Seven-a-side competition, saw at least 5,098 teams compete and in that tournament, there was participation from more than 35,000 players. This is considered one of the most interesting Football facts in the world.
Oldest Football Club in The World
A city in South Yorkshire, England is the proud home of the worlds oldest Football Club. Sheffield Football Club or Sheffield F.C. The Football club was founded on the 24th of October 1857 making it a 163-year club today.
Most Goals Scored By a Single Player in an Official Match
December 1942, Stephan Stanis scored a staggering 16 goals for his side Racing Club de lends, not a single person, since the, has managed to break this bizarre record which now stands tall since 78 years.
Fastest Goal Scored in Football
Argentinians are goal-scoring machines, and lionel Messi is the living proof of this. However, what an amazing football fact that on December 26th 1998, one day after Christmas, Ricardo Olivera made history by scoring a goal in mere 2.8 seconds. To put this into perspective, a normal human can speak 7.5 words in 3 seconds, “We have just had the kick-off,” is what the commentators must have just said and the scoreboard switched to 1-0. Olivia broke the record of English footballer Colin Cowperthwaite who in 1979 scored the goal in just 3.5 seconds against Kettering.
The Match That Brought Ronaldinho into the limelight
The great Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho went on to become one of the best players the game of football has ever seen in the history of its existence. At the age of 13 years, the Brazilian footballer was part of a game where his local team won the game 23-0. It was Ronaldinho, at just age 13, that scored 23 goals in that match. it was 1988 in the middle of Porto Allegre, Brazil.
The Average Distance Covered by a Footballer
Football is considered one the most taxing game in the world, especially on the body. Did you know that on average, a footballer covers a distance of 7 miles (11.2 km) and it comes on top of the fact that a game generally lasts for 90 minutes with just a 15-minute half-time break (excluding the stoppage time). A tennis player, on the other hand, covers 3 miles (4.8kms) per game, a cricketer covers 8.5 miles (around 13.6 km) but a typical ODI lasts around 8 hours. A basketball player covers around 2.55 miles or 4.1 kms in a game.
Who Calls it soccer?
Do you know that only 2 countries in the world call Football, Soccer? Those countries are America and Canada. if in America, you can talk about Football, they would take it as American Football which is a very popular sport in that country and similarly, in Canada, a similar version of American Football is played which they call Canadian Football.
