* The only host nation not to have reached the second round is SOUTH AFRICA
* SOUTHEAST ASIA and OCEANIA have never hosted the World Cup.
* A European nation has won the past four World Cups and five of the last six, with BRAZIL being the only non-European country to succeed.
* In 1930,YUGOSLAVIA started it’s FIFA World Cup game with the youngest starting line-up ever with players aged 21years and 258 days.
* In 1998, GERMAN’S line-up vs IRAN was the oldest ever fielded at the World Cup with an average age of 31 years and 345 days.
* The INDIAN team qualified for the 1950 World Cup in BRAZIL but withdrew because FIFA won’t allow them play bare-footed.
* The last host nation to win the World Cup was FRANCE in 1998.
*The country with the smallest population to ever compete in the World Cup is ICELAND, with an estimated population of 334,000.
* GERMANY has played the most matches in the World Cup(106) and has appeared in the most finals (8), also scoring the most goals (224) in the tournament history.
*NEW ZEALAND were the only unbeaten team at the 2010 World Cup as the drew all 3 of their group stage matches.
*MEXICO have qualified without winning the World Cup tournament more than anyother country(16 times) and have hosted it twice in 1970 and 1986.
*As of RUSSIA 2018 World Cup, 79 national teams have competed in the tournament.This will become 80 after QATAR makes it’s debut against ECUADOR.
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