Interesting facts about FIFA World Cup

1. The first goal was scored by France’s Lucien Laurent against Mexico after 19 minutes on 13 July 1930.
2. Fastest goal was scored after 11 seconds by Hakan Şükür of Turkey against Korea Republic in the 3rd place match in 2002.
3. Swiss player Ernst Lörtscher is the first player to score an own goal in the replay match against Nazi Germany in 1938.
4. Ernie Brandt from the Netherlands is the only player to score goals for both teams in the same match. He scored an own goal in the 18th minute, and then scored the equalizer in the 50th minute. His teammate Arie Haan eventually scored the winning goal, giving the Netherlands a 2-1 win against Italy in the second round match in 1978.
5. Hungary registered the biggest win ever against El Salvador by 10-1 in 1982.
   
6. Highest aggregate goal in a single match is 12. In 1954, Austria beat Switzerland by 7-5 in the quarter finals.
7. Brazil is the only country who has played all the championships.
8. Brazil is the only champion who couldn’t win the title in their home soil. All the other champions have achieved that. Uruguay(1930), Italy (1934), England(1966), Germany FR(1974), Argentina(1978) and France(1998).
9. Italy and Brazil are the only champions who successfully defended their title. Italy in 1938 and Brazil in 1962.
10. Uruguay 1930 is the only tournament without any drawn matches.
11. Italy is the only host who had to qualify for the tournament in 1934.
12. Italy 1934 and France 1938 are the only championships where there were no group stage matches (full knock-out tournament).
13. Brazil 1950 is the only championship where the champion was decided not by one match final. The champion was decided through a final group of 4 teams.
14. Uruguay is the only champion who didn’t play the next world cup (Italy 1934). Uruguay declined to participate, in protest at the refusal of several European countries to travel to South America for Uruguay 1930.
15. Placido Galindo of Peru is the first player to be sent off in the 54th minute of the match against Romania in 1930.
16. Yellow and red cards were introduced in Mexico 1970. This is the only championship where no red-card was shown.
17. Carlos Caszely of Chile became the first player to be sent off with a red card during their match against West Germany in 1974.
18. José Batista of Uruguay was the fastest to be sent-off (53 seconds) against Scotland in the group match in 1986.
19. First penalty shootout was held in 1982 semi-final between West Germany and France. Germany won by 5-4.
20. Egypt was the first African country to qualify (Italy 1934).
21. Indonesia was the first Asian country to qualify (France 1938). They played under the name Dutch East Indies.
22. India was the only Asian country to qualify for Brazil 1950. However, they didn’t participate in the championship as FIFA didn’t allow them to play barefoot.

Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
www.fifa.com