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FACT BOOK
Use these interesting facts and figures from around the world
and the world of soccer to help inspire your soccer season.
1930 URUGUAY
The 1st World Cup Host.
Uruguay played host to the first FIFA World Cup in July 1930. They were
granted the honor of hosting the first championship because they were
Olympic champions in both 1924 and 1928. It was Uruguay’s centenary year
so they offered to build a new 100,000 capacity stadium for the event.
The first ever World Cup game was played on July 13th 1930 with France
beating Mexico 4-1.
Uruguay became the first to win the Jules Rimet Trophy (the World Cup
trophy). The trophy was named after Jules Rimet who was the President of
FIFA from 1920 to 1954. He was instrumental in getting the event started
and encouraging European teams to participate.
The Uruguay v Argentina final was a repeat of the 1928 Olympic final, a
game that Uruguay had won 2-1. There were eleven players that played in
both finals causing a bitter rivalry between the two teams.
The strong rivalry between the two sides meant that the final was played
with two different balls. The 1st half was played with a ball made in Argentina and the 2nd half with a ball from Uruguay.
Interesting Facts
In June soccer fans from all over the world will fly to Brazil to watch
the 2014 World Cup. In 1930 air travel was very rare; in fact the first transcontinental scheduled air service was only introduced in 1930.
Uruguay has the lowest population of any team to ever win the World Cup.
Today Uruguay has a population of just 3,395,000. The next smallest nation
to win the cup is Argentina with 41 million people; in comparison the USA
has a population of 313 million.
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Mickey Mouse is the most recognized Disney character in the world; he
made his comic strip debut in January 1930 just six months before the first
World Cup game in Uruguay.
There are over 250 million cars in the USA, over 80 million in Brazil
and just over 1 million in Uruguay. All over the world cars are directed by
traffic lights, the first red/green traffic light was introduced in New York
City in February 1930.
Snickers is the most popular candy bar in the world with world wide sales
of more than $2 billion. Snickers was first introduced by the Mars company
in 1930.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, he was born on August 5th 1930 just six days after the first World Cup final.
Today frozen foods are a part of day to day life, they were first introduced
commercially in March of 1930 by Clarence Birdseye.
Mount Rushmore is one of the USA National treasures and it attracts more
than 2,000,000 million visitors each year, It was in 1930 that the first four
heads of the great monument were unveiled by Gutzon Borglum.
The highest paid sports person in the USA was Babe Ruth the baseball
player at $80,000 per year.
Soccer Facts
Most famous game Istanbul v Liverpool. Constantinople March 28th 1930.
July 13 1930 Lucien Lauren scores first WC goal for France against Mexico.
Uruguay National Team: Team Colors: Sky Blue Shirt, Black Shorts, Sky
Blue Socks.
World Cup hosts: 1930 Uruguay played host to the first ever World Cup in
July 1930.
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World Cup Appearances: Uruguay have played in the World Cup finals 11 times.
1930, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2010.
World Cup Winners 1930: Uruguay won the fist World Cup in 1930. They
beat Argentina 4-2 in the final in front of 100,000 people. 1950 Uruguay won
the trophy for the second time in 1950 beating host Brazil 2-1 in the final.
Semi finalist: 1954 lost to Hungary 4-2, 1970 lost to Brazil 3-1, 2010 lost to
Holland 3-2.
Quarter finalist: 1966 lost to host England 1-0.
Copa America Winner: Uruguay has won the Copa America 15 times, 1916,
17, 20, 23, 24, 26, 35, 42, 56, 59, 67, 83, 87, 95, 2011.
Olympic Champions: 1924, 1928.
National Stadium: Estadio Centinaro. Centenary Stadium the stadium was
built in 1930 to host the first World Cup final.
Most capped player: Diego Forlan, 108 caps.
Top clubs: The most popular football teams in Uruguay are Club Nacional
de Football (Three times World champions, three times Copa Libertadores
de América champions, two times Copa Interamericana champions, one
time Recopa Sudamericana champions). Club Atlético Peñarol (Three times
World champions, five times Copa Libertadores de América champions).
Uruguay has had many great known players such as; Obdulio Varela, Juan
Schiaffino, Enzo Francescoli, Alvaro Recoba and Diego Forlan (2005 and
2009 European Golden Shoe) Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.
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WORLD CUP RESULTS
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URUGUAY