This Friday the World Cup, the most anticipated sporting event of all time, will begin. This World Cup specially is bittersweet for all Iranians all around the world which had their dreams of watching Iran participate in this beautiful game crushed when Iran failed to qualify. Nevertheless, its guaranteed that Iranians, whom consider football (after wrestling) their second national sport, will be watching this tournament with as much anticipation and excitement as all other citizens of the world. In the spirit of the South Africa tournament, I thought its a good idea to give a brief explanation and history of the World Cup:
The FIFA World Cup (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition made up of the men's national teams of the members of International Federation of Association Football around the globe.
It was founded in 1930, and has continued to capture the attention of the world ever since.
32 teams qualified to participate in World Cup 2010, taking place in South Africa, and the teams are divided to play in eight different groups (A through H).
Italy is the title holder, and the most titles are held by Brazil (5 times).
The last World Cup was held in Germany.
The FIFA World Cup is the single most watched sports event on the planet.
Brazil holds the most World Cup appearances (19).
Brazil and Germany hold the record for the most appearances in a World Cup final (7) and the most matches played (92).
Brazil also has the most wins (64), with 201 goals scored in the campaign.
The youngest goal scorer in the World Cup is Pele (Brazil, 17-years-old), and the oldest is Roger Milla (Cameroon, 42-years-old).
The most goals in overall finals were scored by Ronaldo (Brazil -- 15).
The most goals in overall pre-qualification games were scored by Ali Daei (Iran -- 35).
Most goals scored in a tournament (171 goals, 1998).
And finally, the most attendance in World Cup history goes back to 1950, when 199,854 people showed up to watch Uruguay vs. Brazil, in Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
And that's why they call this: The beautiful game!
:( جای ایران خالی
