100 Fun Facts About FIFA

In which European capital was FIFA founded on 21 May 1904?

Paris hosted the founding after England's Football Association refused to lead a world body, so seven continental nations went ahead alone and gave FIFA the French name it still carries.

Which country joined FIFA by telegram on founding day in 1904 but is not counted as a founder?

Germany wired its intention to join on 21 May 1904, the day the seven founders signed up, but a telegram did not earn founder status. Germany still helped the founders decide the first statutes.

Which football great chose the FIFA 100, a 2004 list of living players that actually ran to 125 names?

Pelé was asked for 50 active and 50 retired players but could not cut the veterans down, so he named 75 of them; the 100 in the title marks FIFA's centenary.

Since VAR entered the Laws in 2018, which decision has been reviewable alongside goals, penalties and straight red cards?

Mistaken identity, when a referee books or sends off the wrong player, was the fourth original category. Clearly wrong second yellow cards and corner kicks have since been added to the protocol.

Which Frenchman led FIFA for 33 years, longer than anyone, and gave his name to the first World Cup trophy?

Jules Rimet was president from 1921 to 1954 and pushed through the vote that created the World Cup; the trophy, first called Victory, was renamed for him in 1946.

FIFA's 211 member associations are 18 more than the member states of which global body?

The United Nations has 193 member states; FIFA reaches 211 because places such as England, Scotland, Hong Kong and Gibraltar field their own teams without being sovereign states.

FIFA International Soccer debuted in December 1993 on which console, with ports to other systems following in 1994?

Sega Mega Drive owners got FIFA International Soccer first, and despite launching only in December 1993 it sold more than half a million copies to become Europe's best-selling game of the year.

Which nation has spent the longest at No. 1 in FIFA's men's ranking, one of only a handful ever to top it?

Brazil had led the ranking for longer than any other nation as of 2026. Germany topped the first list, then Brazil took over on the way to winning the 1994 World Cup.

Which Lausanne-based court rejected Sepp Blatter's appeal against his football ban in December 2016?

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a six-year ban; FIFA's ethics judges had first set it at eight years in December 2015, before an appeal committee trimmed it two months later.

Which player fronted the standard cover of EA Sports FC 24, the first post-FIFA game?

Erling Haaland got the cover months after his 36 goals for Manchester City broke the Premier League's single-season record, as EA relaunched its series without the FIFA name.

Which club represented Spain at FIFA's founding in 1904 because the country had no national federation yet?

Real Madrid, then two years old and known as Madrid Football Club, signed for Spain; the club only became 'Real' when King Alfonso XIII granted it the royal title in 1920.

Which Brazilian, an Olympic swimmer in 1936 and water polo player in 1952, ran FIFA from 1974 to 1998?

João Havelange swam at the 1936 Berlin Olympics without getting past the heats. As FIFA president he doubled the World Cup from 16 teams to 32.

Which referee of the 1934 FA Cup final rewrote the Laws of the Game in 1938, then led FIFA from 1961?

Stanley Rous retired from refereeing the day after that Wembley final, and his 1938 rewrite made the Laws simpler and easier to understand. He ran FIFA until 1974.

Before his 1998 election as president, Sepp Blatter spent the years from 1981 in which FIFA post?

General secretary from 1981 to 1998 was Blatter's route to the top, after six years as technical director. He also married the daughter of the man he replaced in the job.

Which football bodies quit FIFA over the Central Powers, then again in 1928 over payments to amateurs?

The four British associations, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, walked out twice and stayed away until 1946, so none of them played in the first three World Cups.

Which confederation, founded in 1916, is FIFA's oldest and, with ten members, also its smallest?

South America's CONMEBOL was founded in Buenos Aires during the 1916 tournament that marked a century of Argentine independence, the event now known as the Copa América.

Which confederation has the most FIFA member associations, 55 to its nearest rival's 54?

UEFA had 55 members to Africa's 54 as of 2025, helped by teams that do not represent sovereign states: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands.

CAF, Africa's confederation, left Khartoum after a fire for a headquarters near which city?

Cairo's satellite 6th of October City now hosts CAF, founded in Khartoum in 1957. South Africa was barred from its first Cup of Nations that year for refusing to send a multiracial team.

Which nation left the Pacific's confederation for Asia's in 2006?

Australia qualified through Asia for the next five World Cups, 2010 to 2026, having reached only two before, and won the Asian Cup as hosts in 2015.

Which confederation had no guaranteed World Cup place until the 2026 tournament?

Oceania's OFC now sends its best team straight to the finals, and New Zealand took the first automatic berth in March 2025 by beating New Caledonia 3–0.

Which Brazilian club won the first Club World Championship in 2000 on penalties after a goalless final?

Corinthians beat Vasco da Gama 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw at the Maracanã, an all-Brazilian final that neither European entrant reached; Mexico's Necaxa even beat the Spanish entrant to third place.

Which team won the first U-20 World Cup, held in Tunisia in 1977, beating Mexico on penalties in the final?

The Soviet Union drew 2–2 with Mexico in Tunis, Vladimir Bessonov scoring both goals, then won the shoot-out 9–8; Bessonov was named the tournament's best player.

Which nation has won the U-20 World Cup more often than any other, one more time than its neighbouring rival?

Argentina's six titles, as of 2025, put it one ahead of Brazil. Five of them came between 1995 and 2007, and Lionel Messi was top scorer and best player of the 2005 win.

Which African nation is the most successful in U-17 World Cup history, having also lost three finals?

Nigeria has won five U-17 titles, as of 2025, and Africa seven in all, with Ghana taking the other two. Victor Osimhen scored ten goals as Nigeria won the fifth in 2015.

The Confederations Cup began in 1992 as the King Fahd Cup, organised and hosted by which country?

Saudi Arabia staged the 1992 and 1995 editions, named for its king, and lost the first final 3–1 to Argentina. FIFA took the event over in 1997 and renamed it the Confederations Cup.

Who lost the last Confederations Cup final 1–0 in 2017, two years before FIFA scrapped the tournament?

Chile lost to the reigning world champions, who claimed their first Confederations Cup; FIFA then handed its slot to an expanded Club World Cup.

Which nation beat Tunisia after extra time to win the first FIFA-run Arab Cup in Qatar in 2021?

Algeria's first Arab Cup came with a 2–0 win at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, in venues that were warming up for the 2022 World Cup.

What does Europe's club champion receive in FIFA's Intercontinental Cup, a knockout launched in 2024?

A bye to the final is the European champion's privilege, so the first winners needed only one match, a 3–0 defeat of Mexico's Pachuca in Qatar in December 2024.

Why has men's Olympic football been an under-23 event since 1992?

To avoid rivalling the World Cup, FIFA had the men's Olympic tournament capped at under-23 from Barcelona 1992; since 1996 each squad may add three older players.

Which body, not FIFA itself, writes the Laws of the Game, with FIFA holding half the votes?

The International Football Association Board gives England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland one vote each and FIFA four. A change needs six votes, so FIFA cannot alter a law without two of them.

Which camera network, tried at the 2013 Confederations Cup, gave the 2014 World Cup its goal-line technology?

GoalControl trained 14 high-speed cameras on the two goals, and first decided a World Cup goal on 15 June 2014, confirming that a French effort against Honduras had crossed the line.

Which change, first allowed in 2020 to ease pandemic fixture congestion, became a permanent Law of the Game in 2022?

Five substitutions per team, up from three, must still be made in at most three stoppages plus half-time, a cap added so the extra changes would not disrupt play.

Which nation first reached No. 1 in FIFA's ranking in November 2015 and finished third at the 2018 World Cup?

Belgium took top spot under Marc Wilmots and, as of 2026, remains the only nation to have led the ranking without ever winning a World Cup or a continental title.

FIFA rebuilt its men's ranking in 2018, after years of criticism, on which method borrowed from chess?

The Elo rating system, already the basis of FIFA's women's ranking, adds or subtracts points after every match. Under the old formula points simply expired after a set period, and teams were accused of climbing by playing fewer friendlies.

Which country hosted the first FIFA Futsal World Cup in 1989, before the event settled into a four-year cycle?

The Netherlands staged the first tournament in January 1989 and Brazil won it, the first of the six titles, as of 2024, that make Brazil futsal's most successful nation.

Which country hosted the first FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991, won by the United States?

China staged an event FIFA billed not as a World Cup but as the 1st World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup, with matches of only 80 minutes.

Which Hollywood film composer wrote 'Living Football', FIFA's entrance theme since the 2018 World Cup?

Hans Zimmer's theme replaced the wordless FIFA Anthem by Franz Lambert, which had played teams onto the pitch since the 1994 World Cup.

What is FIFA's main strategic body, the former Executive Committee, which decides matters between congresses?

The Council took over under statutes adopted in 2016, after the corruption arrests, with 37 members led by FIFA's president; the secretary general now reports to it.

Whom did Sepp Blatter beat for the FIFA presidency two days after the May 2015 Zurich arrests?

Prince Ali bin Hussein lost comfortably on 29 May 2015, yet within days Blatter announced he would not serve the term he had just won.

The 2015 US indictment of FIFA officials leaned on which law, written in 1970 to fight the Mafia?

The RICO Act let prosecutors charge 14 defendants with racketeering conspiracy rather than bribery, on the morning seven officials were arrested at a Zurich hotel.

Sepp Blatter's 'disloyal payment' of two million Swiss francs in 2011 went to which former France captain?

Michel Platini, by then head of European football's governing body, was banned from the game along with Blatter, yet Swiss courts acquitted both men of fraud in 2022 and again on appeal in 2025.

Which American FIFA executive, caught over a decade of unpaid taxes, secretly taped colleagues for the FBI?

Chuck Blazer, a member of FIFA's executive committee for 17 years, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and money laundering and was banned from football for life, but died in 2017 before he could be sentenced.

FIFA created 'The Best' award after ending a merger of its World Player prize with whose Ballon d'Or?

France Football and FIFA shared the FIFA Ballon d'Or from 2010 to 2015, with national coaches and captains voting beside the magazine's journalists; after the split each revived its own prize.

Which forward won the first FIFA Puskás Award for the year's best goal, in December 2009?

Cristiano Ronaldo won it for a strike from 40 yards for Manchester United against Porto; the award, created at Sepp Blatter's behest, is named for Hungary's Ferenc Puskás.

Which mode, first sold as a downloadable add-on to FIFA 09, grew to earn EA more than sales of the game itself?

Ultimate Team has players build squads from packs of player cards, and the packs bought with real money were valued at about $1.6 billion in 2021.

Which feature first appeared in EA's football series with FIFA 16, after a player's online petition called for it?

Women's national teams arrived after Spain's Verónica Boquete petitioned EA; designers motion-captured Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and others so that the new players moved realistically.

Which player shared the Ultimate Edition cover with Kylian Mbappé on the final game under the FIFA name?

Sam Kerr was the first woman on the global cover of a FIFA game and also the last: that edition was the 30th and final instalment before EA dropped the FIFA name.

Which Blur track was the theme music of FIFA: Road to World Cup 98?

Song 2 began as a joke: guitarist Graham Coxon expected Blur's record label to find the two-minute blast too extreme for radio, and the executives loved it instead.

Which FIFA 17 story mode follows fictional prospect Alex Hunter into the Premier League?

The Journey soon humbles its hero: his club signs a star, and Alex Hunter is sent on loan to a second-tier side before being recalled.

Sepp Blatter, born in Visp, and Gianni Infantino, born in Brig, both come from which Swiss canton, home of the Matterhorn?

Valais produced both presidents in towns about 9 km apart, a few minutes by train, so when Infantino succeeded Blatter the top job in world football barely left the valley.

Which collie found the stolen World Cup trophy wrapped in newspaper in south London in 1966?

Pickles sniffed out the trophy beside a parked car a week after it vanished from an exhibition. He went on to appear in a film with Eric Sykes.

Which everyday sight gave referee Ken Aston the idea for football's yellow and red cards?

Traffic lights stopped Aston's car on Kensington High Street, and their amber-then-red code struck him as a language every player would understand. The cards arrived at the 1970 World Cup.

Which captain scored both the 'Hand of God' goal and the 'Goal of the Century' against England in 1986?

Diego Maradona scored the two goals four minutes apart: he punched the first past the goalkeeper, then dribbled by five England players for the second.

Which defender did Zinedine Zidane headbutt in extra time of the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin?

Marco Materazzi and Zidane had each scored earlier in the game. The red card that followed was the last act of Zidane's playing career.

Which plastic horn, as loud as 120 decibels up close, became the soundtrack of the 2010 World Cup?

Vuvuzela noise sent fans hunting for earplugs, and many South African pharmacies sold out during the tournament. FIFA at one point proposed banning the horn from stadiums.

What kind of animal was Paul, who correctly predicted eight 2010 World Cup results from his aquarium tank?

An octopus at a Sea Life Centre, Paul was offered two boxes of food marked with team flags. Whichever box he ate from first counted as his pick.

Which Konami football series, renamed eFootball in 2021, was the long-time rival of EA's FIFA games?

Pro Evolution Soccer was sold as Winning Eleven in Konami's home market. The Guardian called its contest with FIFA the greatest rivalry in the history of sports video games.

Which England striker appeared on seven straight UK covers of the FIFA games, from FIFA 06 to FIFA 12?

Wayne Rooney shared the first four of those covers with Ronaldinho, the series' worldwide cover star from FIFA 06 to FIFA 09.

Which pop singer's deal for the FIFA 2000 theme song put his club Port Vale in the game?

Robbie Williams supplied the track 'It's Only Us', and EA added the team he supports even though their division was otherwise missing from the game.

Which singer recorded 'Waka Waka', the official song of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?

Shakira recorded it with the South African band Freshlyground, building the track on an older Cameroonian song by the group Golden Sounds.

Which sportswear brand made the Telstar ball of the 1970 World Cup and every World Cup ball for the next 50 years?

Adidas shares the Telstar's name with a 1962 communications satellite, whose round body dotted with solar panels looked rather like the ball.

Which company published its first World Cup sticker album for Mexico 1970?

Panini takes its name from the brothers who started it in 1961. Collecting and swapping its stickers has been part of the World Cup experience ever since that first album.

What kind of animal was World Cup Willie, the first World Cup mascot, who wore a Union Jack jersey in 1966?

A lion drawn by children's book illustrator Reg Hoye, Willie was one of the first mascots attached to any major sporting event.

Which England striker scored the first hat-trick in a World Cup final, at Wembley in 1966?

Geoff Hurst completed the hat-trick with two goals in extra time. The first of them struck the crossbar and bounced down on the goal line before it was awarded.

Which forward, known as the Divine Ponytail, sent the decisive penalty over the bar in the 1994 World Cup final?

Roberto Baggio had dragged Italy to the final with five goals in the knockout rounds, and arrived at the tournament as the reigning Ballon d'Or winner.

Which England midfielder was sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup?

David Beckham was blamed by many supporters for England's exit that night. An effigy of him was hung outside a London pub, and one newspaper printed a dartboard of him.

Which striker was banned from all football for four months for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup?

Luis Suárez was also suspended for nine international matches. It was the third time in his career that he had bitten an opponent.

Which country joined the United States and Mexico as hosts of the 2026 World Cup, the first staged by three nations?

Canada staged its share of the games in Toronto and Vancouver. The 2026 tournament was also the first to field 48 teams, up from 32.

Which country shared the 2002 World Cup with South Korea, the first tournament held in Asia?

Japan staged the final in Yokohama, yet no match of the tournament was played in its capital, Tokyo. The two hosts had begun as rival bidders.

Which forward became the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice, in 2014 and 2022?

Lionel Messi took the first award as a beaten finalist and the second as a champion, finishing the 2022 tournament with the trophy in his hands.

Which England captain won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup with six goals?

Harry Kane scored three of the six in a single match, a 6–1 win over Panama that set a record as England's biggest World Cup victory.

Which nation became the first from Africa to reach a World Cup semi-final, at the 2022 tournament?

Morocco finished fourth, and became only the third semi-finalist in World Cup history to come from outside Europe and South America.

Which English club won the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United States in 2025?

Chelsea won the final 3–0 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the same ground that staged the World Cup final a year later.

Which Croatia captain won the Golden Ball at the 2018 World Cup after his team lost the final?

Luka Modrić went on to win that year's Ballon d'Or, the first since 2007 to go to anyone other than the sport's two dominant forwards.

Which American midfielder scored a hat-trick within 16 minutes of the 2015 Women's World Cup final?

Carli Lloyd struck her third goal from the halfway line. No player had scored three in a Women's World Cup final before.

Which Cameroon striker danced at the corner flag after scoring four goals at the 1990 World Cup, aged 38?

Roger Milla came back four years later and scored again at 42, breaking his own record as the oldest goalscorer the World Cup had seen.

Which goalkeeper won the Golden Ball as best player of the 2002 World Cup, a first for his position?

Oliver Kahn let in only one goal on the way to the final. He then fumbled a shot in it while playing with torn ligaments in a finger.

Which striker scored a record 13 goals in six matches at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden?

Just Fontaine scored four of the 13 in the third-place match alone, against the defending champions. No one has scored more at a single World Cup.

Which Caribbean island became the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup, reaching the 2026 finals?

Curaçao sealed its place in November 2025 with a goalless draw against Jamaica, five weeks after Cape Verde had set the record for the smallest qualifier by area.

Which fictional club from the TV comedy Ted Lasso became a playable team in FIFA 23?

AFC Richmond came with its fictional home ground, Nelson Road, so players could take the sitcom's underdogs into matches against real clubs.

Which mode, new in FIFA 20, replaced eleven-a-side stadium play with small-sided futsal-style matches?

Volta Football offered 17 locations and a storyline played with the gamer's own character, a change from the scripted hero of the three previous games.

Which Italian club appeared as 'Piemonte Calcio' in FIFA 20 after signing an exclusive deal with a rival game?

Juventus was one of four clubs renamed that year. Boca Juniors, River Plate and Colo-Colo also lost their names after signing with the competing series.

Which commentator was the default English voice of the FIFA games from 2006 to 2020, latterly beside Alan Smith?

Martin Tyler first shared the microphone with Andy Gray. He and Smith were replaced by Derek Rae and Lee Dixon in FIFA 21.

Which name did FIFA 18 give its cards of retired greats, previously called Legends and exclusive to Xbox?

Icons brought the retired stars to PlayStation 4 and PC for the first time. Until then only Xbox owners could field them.

Which player won a public vote to be the cover star of FIFA 17?

Marco Reus beat the game's three other official ambassadors in the poll: Eden Hazard, James Rodríguez and Anthony Martial.

Which game engine, first built for the Battlefield shooters, did the FIFA series adopt with FIFA 17?

Frostbite was developed by the studio DICE and made its debut in Battlefield: Bad Company in 2008, eight years before it reached a football pitch.

Which Mexico City stadium was the first to host two World Cup finals, in 1970 and 1986?

Estadio Azteca added a third tournament in 2026, when it staged the opening game. No other stadium has hosted matches at three World Cups.

Which 2010 World Cup match ball was criticised for swerving unpredictably?

Jabulani, Zulu for 'be happy', drew more complaints than the balls of the two previous tournaments. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon called it inadequate for a competition of that size.

The original World Cup trophy, awarded from 1930 to 1970, showed which winged Greek goddess holding up a cup?

Nike, the goddess of victory, was the work of sculptor Abel Lafleur, who set the gold-plated silver figure on a base of blue lapis lazuli.

The World Cup's Golden Glove began in 1994 under the name of which goalkeeper, nicknamed the Black Spider?

Lev Yashin earned the nickname by dressing head to toe in dark colours. He is the only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d'Or.

Which Italian striker, back from a two-year betting ban, won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 1982 World Cup?

Paolo Rossi had come back only at the tail end of the club season, yet scored six times in Spain, including both goals in the semi-final against Poland.

Which referee became the first woman to take charge of a men's World Cup match, in 2022?

Stéphanie Frappart led an all-female refereeing trio that night. A year earlier she had been the first woman to referee a men's World Cup qualifier.

Which FIFA 22 technology was built from motion capture of 22 players in a full, high-intensity match?

HyperMotion was limited to the newest consoles and Stadia, so anyone playing FIFA 22 on older machines got the game without its headline feature.

Which Turkey striker scored after about 11 seconds at the 2002 World Cup, the fastest goal the tournament had seen?

Hakan Şükür struck 10.8 seconds into the third-place play-off against South Korea, a match Turkey went on to win 3–2.

FIFA International Soccer broke with rivals such as Sensible Soccer in 1993 by using which camera viewpoint?

Isometric graphics were the choice of EA's UK team, who wanted more realism than the bird's-eye and overhead views of the football games already on sale.

Which England midfielder appeared on the cover of the very first FIFA game, FIFA International Soccer?

David Platt shared the cover with Piotr Świerczewski, while some versions of the game showed Packie Bonner and Ruud Gullit instead.

Which midfielder scored the only goal of the 2010 World Cup final, four minutes from the end of extra time?

Andrés Iniesta struck from a short pass by Cesc Fàbregas to give Spain its first world title, and was named man of the match in Johannesburg.

Which Puerto Rican singer performed 'The Cup of Life', the official song of the 1998 World Cup, at the final?

Ricky Martin took the song on to the 1999 Grammy Awards, where his performance was greeted with a standing ovation.

Which referee's aid, used to keep defensive walls ten yards back at free kicks, made its World Cup debut in 2014?

Vanishing spray looks like watered-down shaving foam when it goes on, then disappears within about a minute, leaving no visible mark on the pitch.

Which Italian referee, nicknamed Kojak for his bald head, took charge of the 2002 World Cup final?

Pierluigi Collina lost all his hair to a severe form of alopecia early in his refereeing career. He had already refereed the 1999 Champions League final.