During Brazil’s match against Poland (1938), legendary forward Leônidas da Silva removed his boots and briefly played barefoot before the referee ordered him to put them back on. He later went on to score again in one of the highest-scoring matches in World Cup history.
Did you know India almost played all the FIFA World Cups? One enduring myth claims India withdrew from the ’50 tourney because FIFA wouldn’t allow the team to play barefoot. In reality, FIFA had no such rule. Instead, financial constraints and the team’s decision to prioritise the Olympic Games meant India never made the trip to Brazil.
Ahead of the 1966 World Cup in England, the original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from an exhibition in London, sparking a nationwide police search that turned up nothing. Days later, a black-and-white dog named Pickles discovered the missing trophy wrapped in newspaper beneath a garden bush while out on a walk with his owner. Pickles became an international celebrity and was even honoured for his role in solving football’s greatest theft mystery.
After winning their third World Cup title in 1970, Brazil was awarded permanent ownership of the Jules Rimet Trophy. FIFA subsequently commissioned a brand-new trophy, the one the world recognises today, which debuted at the 1974 tournament. Unlike its predecessor, the current FIFA World Cup Trophy never permanently leaves FIFA’s possession, with champions receiving a gold-plated replica instead. Ironically, the original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen once again in Brazil in 1983 and was never recovered.
During Argentina’s quarter-final against England in 1986, Diego Maradona scored one of football’s most controversial goals by punching the ball into the net with his hand, an infringement missed by officials. Maradona later described it as being scored ‘a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God’. Only minutes later, he dribbled past five players to score what is widely considered one of the greatest goals ever seen at a World Cup.
Turkey’s Hakan Şükür needed only 11 seconds to score against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup, setting the record for the fastest goal in tournament history – a mark that still stands 24 years later. Şükür retired in 2008.
Paul, the Octopus, became a sensation during the 2010 World Cup by predicting the outcomes of Germany’s matches and Spain’s victory in the finals. Presented with two boxes containing mussels, decorated with competing teams’ flags, Paul would choose one to eat from. He correctly predicted 12 out of 14 matches before he passed away in 2012.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup reached an estimated audience of 3.2 billion people worldwide, representing almost 46 per cent of the global population at the time. Few events in human history have attracted such a massive audience, with World Cup finals regularly drawing more than one billion viewers.
The official match ball for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Trionda, is packed with cutting-edge technology. Hidden inside is a tiny 14-gram sensor featuring a 500Hz motion chip that works alongside tracking cameras to provide real-time data to the Video Assistant Referee system. The technology helps officials make quicker and more accurate offside and handball decisions. The sensor is rechargeable and carries enough battery life to comfortably last through an entire match and extra time.
The race for World Cup goals has featured legendary names, including Miroslav Klose, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi. During the 2026 tournament, in Argentina’s second group-stage match against Austria, Messi moved clear at the top of the all-time scoring charts, surpassing previous records to become the tournament’s leading goalscorer.