New World Cup Trivia

Another FIFA World Cup is over, and some of the trivia that I published before is no longer true. It is time to update the list. I will also add some more trivia.

Flags
There is red in all of the flags of European World Cup winners, but in none of the flags of South American World Cup winners.

The only European World Cup winner with a flag that has a significant amount of blue in it is France, which also has the area French Guyana on the South American continent.

Gold Medals
There are as many gold medals won by Spanish speaking countries (Uruguay '30 and '50, Argentina '78 and '86, Spain '10) as Portugese speaking countries (Brazil '58, '62, '70, '94, '02). There are four gold medals won by German speaking countries (Germany in '54, '74, '90, '14).

Spain is, so far, the only football World Cup gold medalist of the 21st century not to have won gold in the 20th century too.

Four countries have won gold in the World Cup before winning any other medals: Uruguay ('30 - first ever World Cup), Italy ('34), England ('66), and Spain ('10).

All the three countries which have won gold but no other kind of medal has fourth as next best result: Spain in '50, Uruguay in '54, '70, and '10, England in '90.

Silver Medals
The Netherlands is alone on top of the list of "number of World Cup finals of countries which has been there but never won gold": three: the Netherlands ('74, '78, '10), two: Czechoslovakia ('34, '62) and Hungary ('38, '54), one: Sweden ('58).

Germany has lost four finals ('66, '82, '86, and '02), but has won just as many ('54, '74, '90. '14).

Most countries reaching the World Cup final have been there more than once. Out of the four countries that have been there only once - England in ´66, Spain in ´10, Sweden in ´58, and Uruguay in ´30 (Uruguay technically did not take part in a final game when winning gold in 1950) - only Sweden lost its final.

 Four countries have won silver before winning any other medals: Argentina ('30), Czechoslovakia ('34), Hungary ('38), and the Netherlands ('74).

There are only two countries that have won silver and bronze without winning gold: the Netherlands (see above) and Sweden, which has won one silver ('58) and two bronze medals ('50 and '94). Brazil, France, Germany, and Italy have also won both silver and bronze, but they have all won gold too.

Bronze Medals
The Netherlands won against Brazil 3-0 in the bronze game '14. The biggest victory in any bronze game is still 4-0, the result when Sweden won against Bulgaria in 1994.

Argentina has been in five World Cup finals (´30, ´78, ´86, ´90, ´14), won two (´78, ´86), but has never been in a bronze game.

Most goals scored in a bronze game was when France beat West Germany by 6-3 in '58.

The only country that has won more than one bronze medal but never any other kind of medal is Poland, which won bronze in '74 and '82.

Most Medals
Germany has more World Cup medals than any other country: gold in ´54, ´74, ´90, ´14, silver in ´66, ´82, ´86, ´02, bronze in ´34, ´70, ´06, ´10.

 Brazil has more golds than any other country, ´58, ´62, ´70, ´94, ´02, but has two silvers, ´50, ´98, and two bronzes, ´38, ´78.

Germany is the only country which has won medals in four consecutive football World Cups, with silver in ´02, bronze in ´06 and ´10, and gold in ´14.

Many Different Medalists
Out of all the 20 World Cups played so far, there are only eight when all the medalists have won medals before: '70, '78, '82, '86, '90, '94, '06, and '14.

The World Cup 2010 was the seventh where medals have only been awarded European countries, the others being '34, '54, '66, '74, '82, and '06. There has been no World Cup with only South American medalists.

Out of all the nineteen medalists, there are as many as seven that has not won more than 1 bronze each.

The USA (bronze '30) is the only medalist not to come from the football associations of either Europe nor South America.

Top Scorers
In three World Cups, there have been more than one player who has won the list of top scorers: '62, '94, and '10.

Fans
Some people living in Africa can say that they live in the country winning the first World Cup played in Africa: inhabitants of the Spanish towns of Ceuta and Melilla and of the Canary Islands.

While Brazil is the only South American country to have won gold when the World Cup was played in Europe ('58), other South Americans can also say their home country won the World Cup when it was played in Europe: inhabitants of French Guyana, since France won in '98.

Football and Rugby
The football World Cup is the largest sports event in the world. After the summer Olympic Games, the rugby union World Cup is the third. One nation has won both: England, which won the football World Cup in 1966 and the rugby union World Cup in 2003.