| 20 red cards were shown during a 1993 game between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero in Paraguay. |
| ASEC Abidjan of Cote D’Ivoire went unbeaten for 108 games between 1989 and 1994. |
| Carlos Caszely of Chile was the first player red carded in a World Cup tournament on June 14, 1974. |
| European Teams have reached the final of every World Cup except in 1930 and 1950. |
| Goalkeeper Arthur Wharton was the first black professional soccer player. He was born in Ghana (then Gold Coast) and played for English League team Rotherham United in 1889. |
| In 1950 India withdrew form the World Cup because FIFA refused to let their team play barefoot. |
| In 1954 Turkey knocked out Spain from during a World Cup qualifier by drawing straws. Blindfolded Italian boy Luigi Franco Gemma picked the straws to decide the winner. |
| In 1957 with only 30 minutes remaining, Charlton Athletic game back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat Huddersfield Town 7-6. |
| In 1968, Penarol of Urugauy conceded only five goals in 18 games on the way to an unbeaten season. |
| In 1996 George Weah paid for his teammates uniforms and expenses so that Liberia could enter the African Nations Cup. |
| In 1997 Nigerian international Celestine Babayaro broke his leg while celebrating a goal in his Chelsea debut during a preseason game. |
| In 1998 English referee Martin Sylvester sent himself off after punching a player during a game in the Andover and District Sunday League. |
| In the 1938 World Cup semifinal, Guiseppe Meazza of Italy’s shorts fell down as he was taking a penalty shot. He held his shorts up and calmly scored past Brazil’s Valter. |
| In the 1970s legendary coaches Jock Stein and Brian Clough both had 44 day stints at Leeds United. |
| Jean Langenus of Belgium wore a suit jacket, golfing plus fours and a red striped tie when he refereed the 1930 World Cup final. |
| Luigi Riva once broke the arm of a spectator with one of his powerful shots. |
| Madagascan team Stade Olympique L’Emryne scored 149 own goals against champions AS Adema in 2002. They repeatedly scored own goals in protest of a refereeing decision in their previous game. |
| Michael Laudrup appeared for Real Madrid in a 5-0 win over Barcelona and also Barcelona when they beat Real Madrid 5-0. |
| Non flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp’s fear of flying caused him to miss many international and European games for Arsenal. |
| Sir Alex Ferguson was fired by St. Mirren in 1978 for swearing at a lady. |
| Sir Stanley Matthews never received a booking in his 33 year long career. |
| Under Herbert Chapman, The Arsenal changed their name to simply Arsenal in order to appear at the top of the alphabetical list of old Division One clubs. |
| The first televised game was an Arsenal practice match at the Highbury ground in 1937. |
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Interesting Football/Soccer Facts
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