Soccer is the biggest sport globally, without a doubt, with over one billion people watching football matches simultaneously. England is widely considered the place where the game we all love started. Also, they are recognized as the first place to set a uniform set of rules for the sport. These rules include playing the game exclusively with the feet and allowing only the goalkeeper to touch the ball with hands.
Unbelievable Soccer Facts
Our author today is Mightytips’ Kate Richardson (You can view her profile here), a betting expert, and football analyst. In addition to providing information about incredible football facts, this article will give punters some valuable betting tips through free bets Bangladesh. If you are ready, let find out together.
1. Most Watched Sports Tournament
The FIFA World Cup has the highest number of viewers in the world. The last world cup, which was hosted by Russia and won by France, had a total viewership of 3.5 billion people. With such many people, it means almost half of the world’s population watched the competition.
The exciting thing about the figure is that it didn’t include digital platforms or restaurants. The FIFA World Cup began in 1930, with Uruguay being the first host. Brazil is the highest winner of the competition with five trophies. Furthermore, the world cup is held every four years in the country that won the hosting rights organized by FIFA. The highest goal scorer in the world cup history is Miroslav Klose from Germany with 15 goals. The second name on the list is Ronaldo Nazario of Brazil, who has 12 goals.
2. Fastest Goal scored In Football History
The fastest goal ever recorded was scored in 2017 by Gavin Stokes, although he isn’t accorded the record because it was in a non-league division. On the 26th of December 1998, Ricardo Olivera wrote his name in the record books by scoring a goal in 2.8 seconds of a match. With this time, he scored the fastest goal in the history of the sport. The average human being speaks about 7.5 words in 3 seconds. Hear the commentator, «we have just had kick-off”. He couldn’t complete the sentence before the scoreline changed to 1-0.
After scoring that goal, Olivera broke the record set by Englishman Colin Cowoerthawaite. The ex-international scored his goal in 3.5 seconds against Kettering in 1979. In addition, the fastest goal in European football was scored in the world cup qualifiers by Romelu Lukaku of Belgium. He scored in 8.1 seconds against Gibraltar in 2017.
3. Highest Goal Scoring Defender in the 21st Century
Current PSG defender, and former Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos has scored the most goals by a defender in this century. He is one of the best defenders ever to grace the football pitch, but he can score as much as he loves stopping others from doing the same.
So far, Ramos has an incredible 126 goals in 879 appearances for club and country. He has more goals than some attackers. The records put him in 6th place as the highest goal-scoring defender in football history.
However, the record for most goals in history is held by current FC Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman who has 253 goals during his playing days. Koeman played a versatile role at the back, appearing in defensive midfield and right back during his career. On the other hand, Ramos only played as a centre back which makes his goal-scoring prowess incredible.
Although highly criticized for his poor disciplinary record, there is no denying that Ramos has an excellent fighting spirit that makes him a vital member of any football team he joins. Ramos has just signed for PSG alongside Lionel Messi after spending 16 years at Real Madrid.
4. Highest Goal Scorer in Cup Finals
Cup finals not only determine who wins a football competition but also sets the biggest stage for excellence. So the final is where it matters most for teams. Cristiano Ronaldo is known for his elite mentality and match-winning performances. For this same reason, his desire to be the best is unequalled in modern football.
Even during his younger days at Manchester United, he has a spark of brilliance, dominance, and determination unseen in others. He has achieved legendary status as the greatest and has ruled the football world for the last 15 years alongside Lionel Messi.
Ronald has scored 41 goals in the finals across all competitions. With this record, he has the highest tally in finals. So when it matters most, Ronaldo is the man to depend on, and he only gets better. CR7, as he is fondly called, currently has 5 Balon D’ors, 5 Champions League titles and a European Championship medal among his list of honours.
5. Philipp Lahm Avoided Fouls for A Year
The ex-German international captain and Bayern Munich captain was a mastermind in reading matches. In the German league between September 2015 and October 2015, he went without giving away a single foul. This period covers 13 months of football without committing a single foul on the pitch.
The record sounds too good to be true. However, anyone who has seen him play knows that he is capable of achieving this feat. Lahm is regarded as one of the best defensive right-backs in the world.
He made more than 300 appearances for FC Bayern Munich and over 80 appearances for the German national team. Lahm captained both teams for more than a decade, making him one of the most reliable players of his generation.
Conclusion
While the facts here are mind-blowing, football is ever-evolving. As a result, footballers will likely break many of these records before the next decade. The interesting thing about football is that more facts regularly emerge as players break and set new records often during the season.
If you want to wow your friends with impressive soccer knowledge, you can find more facts here. However, this list is not exhaustive, so that you can find more facts out there.