1. Did You Know?: The images remain so vivid, even almost fifty years on. Nobby dancing with his toothless grin. Bobby in a flood of tears. Jackie on his knees, head in hands, the enormity of what has been achieved hitting him. Little Alan 'running himself daft' before an estimated TV audience of thirty two million in Great Britain alone. The other Bobby, high on his team-mates shoulders, holding aloft the Jules Rimet trophy. '
It's twelve inches high, solid gold, and it means that England are the World Champions.' The soundtrack is also, comfortingly, familiar. 'Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over ... It is now.' (Unless, of course, you were one of the four people watching on ITV instead, in which case it was Hugh Johns rather than Ken Wolstenholme and the slightly less famous 'Here's Hurst. He might make it three. He has!' instead.) The 1966 World Cup final has become, quite literally, the stuff of myths and legends – what happened to the match ball and the players' shirts became the subject of TV documentaries and tabloid stories over four decades after the event. Just who were those people 'on the pitch' who thought it was all over? 
(Several men have come forward to claim responsibility over the years but proving it, from this distance, is difficult.) And what about Jack Charlton's oft-told story of him spending the night at some groovy house party in Knightsbridge? There's a novel and, probably, a film, in that! There are two radically polar views concerning the events of 30 July 1966: One is that Alf Ramsey's wingless wonders avenged the dead of two wars by giving them uppity West Germans a right good seeing to. Or, somewhat more realistically (and charitably), England - controversially (possibly even, whisper it, luckily) - won a football match. What isn't in dispute is that the game, itself, was a true classic.
2. Did You Know?:
Bora Milutinovic is the only man to coach five different nations to five successive World Cups. (Mexico, 1986; Costa Rica, 1990; United States, 1994; Nigeria, 1998; China, 2002). In 2010, South Africa's Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, is set to equal the record of coaching five different countries in non-consecutive tournaments as well as leading a team into a sixth World Cup finals. He had previously been in charge of Brazil in 1994 and 2006, Kuwait in 1982, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and the United Arab Emirates in 1990.
3. Did You Know?: The highest ever score in a World Cup qualifier was Australia thirty one, American Samoa nil in 2001. And the Aussies still didn't qualify for the finals!
4. Did You Know?: Twenty eight players were sent off during the 2006 World Cup finals, a record beating the twenty two men who were red carded in France in 1998.
It's remarkable to think that once upon a time dismissals in the World Cup were actually quite rare. There was only one instance in the 1930 tournament (Peru's captain Mario de Las Casas in a match against Romania holds the distinction, if that's the right word, of being the first man sent off in the World Cup) and also just one in 1934. Two tournaments - 1950 and 1970 - produced no dismissals at all and even the infamously tetchy 1962 tournament, in Chile, only produced six.
5. Did You Know?: On Guy Fawkes Night 1969, the reigning World Champions, England played a friendly match against a confident young Dutch national side in Amsterdam.
Colin Bell (see right) scored the goal that defeated the Netherlands team which played the more skillful football but without being able to provide the finishing touch to their impressive approach work. The game was into its last five minutes when Bell netted the winning goal latching onto a mishit shot by Bobby Charlton. It was deserved reward for an all-action display from Bell, who had earlier crashed a header against the bar. His energetic performance certainly showed why his Manchester City manager Malcolm Allison had nicknamed him Nijinsky. Reportedly, the talk among the England players after the match was all about the performances of two young Ajax players, Ruud Krol and Johan Cruyff. The prediction was that we would be hearing a lot more about them in years to come.
6. Did You Know?: Haiti didn't do particularly well in their first - and, so far, only - World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974, losing all three of their games. But they did have one moment of proper glory.
In their opening game against Italy, they managed to take the lead with a goal from Emmanuel Sanon whose nickname was 'Mister Football.' Scoring against the Italians in 1974 was no mean achievement. Sanon's goal brought to an end Italy's record-breaking run of matches without conceding a goal. The Italian defence - Dino Zoff, Giacinto Facchetti, the terrifying Romeo Benetti, Guiseppe Wilson et al - had gone through twelve games without a single goal being put past them. They had played a total of nineteen hours and two minutes, without anyone managing to score against them before Sanon struck. Having recovered their wits, goals by Benetti, Gianni Rivera and Pietro Anastasi eventually settled the matter in favour of the Italians. Most viewers watching the game on TV, however, will remember most the extraordinary sight of the red-tracksuited Haitian substitutes and coaches literally dancing with joy on the running track of Munich's Olympiastadion after Sanon's goal.
7. Did You Know?: What is it about Brazilian full backs and spectacular long-range net-busters?
Firstly there was Carlos Alberto's goal in the 1970 final. of which, much more later. Then, in 1978, we had Nelinho's thunderbolt against Poland and even more outrageous stunner in the Third Place play-off against Italy. In 1986, Josmiar got in on the act, scoring two screamers against Northern Ireland and Poland - in his first two international appearances. And that's even before we've got onto Roberto Carlos and his trademark free-kick against China in 2002. Must be something in the coffee.
8. Did You Know?: It may surprise some of our younger readers to know but, once upon a time Michel Platini wasn't merely an annoying FIFA berk in a suit with his tongue rammed so far up Sepp Blatter's arse that there's no room for anybody else.
He was, in actual fact, a footballer – with St Etienne, the hunchbacks of Juventus and France. And, he was actually quite a decent one as well. Goalscoring midfielder. Although, personally, being the contrary sod that he is, yer actual Keith Telly Topping always rather preferred Dominique Rocheteau and Alain Giresse, his team mates in the national side. More flair. Better haircuts, too. Mind you, the biggest debate in football circles during the early 1980s wasn't young Michel's ability but rather how you pronounced his surname. I was always in the Pla-teen-y camp rather than the Plat-i-knee, as so beloved by commentator John Motson.
9. Did You Know?: Two hundred teams took part in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup finals. Eight hundred and forty nine matches were played and two thousand three hundred and thirty seven goals scored. And, Scotland still didn't qualify.
10. Did You Know?: Ruthless. Efficient. Technically gifted but seldom loved. Who'd be a German international footballer? Well, a lot of people if we're honest. When yer actual Keith Telly Topping was growing up, West Germany were one of the genuine cult teams of world football. Right up until Toni Schumacher decided to commit grievous bodily harm on Patrick Battiston in the 1982 World Cup semi final (and, more importantly, got away with it), most football fans actually quite liked the West Germans.
They weren't as beloved as the Dutch, say, or the Brazilians but if it came to straight choice between them and the cynical, cheating, swarthy Italians, it was bockwurst and chips every time for a lot of chaps. This was, after all, the nation of Der Kaiser and Der Bomber. Of Bernd Hölzenbein, Uwe Seller, Günter Netzer and Jürgen Grabowski. Of Sepp Maier and his ridiculously novelty oversized gloves and shorts. Of dignified old Helmut Schön and his flat-cap. And Paul Breitner and his comedy afro. They were all right, the Germans. John Barnes has often said that his favourite international side when he was growing up was West Germany and for those English fans of a certain age who saw Netzer and co. absolutely destroy England at Wembley in 1972, that team will always have a special place in our heart. And, let us never forget the comedy heights that Berti Vogts would one day lead Scotland to. 
But, then came Toni's assault on Patrick. Then penalties. 'What do you think of that Rummenigge?' 'What rumour's that, Des?' Rudi Voller (with Dutchie hockle in his hair). More penalties. Rolling around on the floor to get Gazza booked. Jurgan Klinsmann and his ability to fly, unaided. More penalties. Andy Möller strutting around Wembley like he owned the place. Kuntz ... 'all of them.' 'Carsten Jancker is an ugly wanker.' Mary Shelley's Oliver Kahn … You get the general idea? Technically gifted but really unloved. And I didn't mention the war once. Except there.
11. Did You Know?: Iran's biggest ever international win was 19-0 against Guam in 2000 in a World Cup qualifier.
Guam's coach was the former Newcastle United boss, Willie McFaul. 'In Guam, they're used to a tropical climate which doesn't get much below eighty all year round,’ noted McFaul. 'In Tabriz, it was wet and freezing. I warned them about wearing gloves and long-sleeved undershirts but the only realistic aim was to keep the score below twenty against a team with so many top European-based pros.' They succeeded - just - and two days later they 'triumphed' again. This time only losing 16-0 to Tajikistan.
12. Did You Know?: On 17 October 1973, in response to the escalating Yom Kippur war, OPEC, the Arab oil producing countries, cut production and quadrupled the world price of petroleum. This single move, effectively, ended the relative affluence upon which, as Ian MacDonald wrote in Revolution in the Head, 'the preceding ten years of happy-go-lucky excess in the West had chiefly depended.'
It's a less sentimental suggestion for 'the day the Sixties – conceptually - ended' than some symbolic musical event, but it's probably a much more realistic one. The resulting financial crisis in Europe sent inflation spiralling. It was the moment when, almost overnight, 'the swinging Sixties' turned into the 'sober and soon-to-be-unemployed Seventies.' As a bizarre coincidence, on that very same day England's football team, needing a victory to progress, could only draw 1-1 with Poland in a World Cup qualifier. This failure to reach the final stages of a tournament that England had won eight years previously may seem vastly insignificant to some. But, just as that famous 'some people are on the pitch' victory in 1966 seemed to encapsulate the spirit of an age – when England (and, specifically, London) was, literally, on top of the world – so the gloom that settled over the country during the winter of 1973-4, with its three-day weeks, power cuts and Cod War with Iceland, appeared inextricably tied to the failing fortunes of Sir Alf Ramsey's ageing side. 
England had warmed-up with a 7-0 thrashing of Austria in a friendly a week earlier, but the Poles – the reigning Olympic champions - were a fine side. They had already caned England in Chorzow in June, a match mainly remembered for England's vile canary yellow change strip, a catastrophic error by Bobby Moore which presented the Poles with their second goal and a frustrated Alan Ball being sent-off for fisting a hapless Pole in the mush after an off-the-ball incident. At Wembley, the first half was a tense, nervous affair and, although England had all the possession, it ended goalless. The ITV expert panel, discussing the game at half-time, included the forthright views of Brian Clough. Having been sacked as Derby County's manager two days earlier Clough – 'the best manager that England never had' to many – declared that the, somewhat eccentric, Polish goalkeeper, Jan Tomaszewski, was 'a clown' and that England would score several times in the second half. In the event, Tomaszewski – with a mixture of genuine brilliance and some outrageous pieces of good fortune – managed to get a hand or a foot (or, on one noted occasion, even a head) on virtually everything that the desperate England side could throw at him. 
And the two times when they did get past him, he was saved by the woodwork. Then, with half an hour to go, calamity struck. Norman Hunter missed a simple tackle on the halfway line and the Polish winger, Robert Gadocha, crossed to Domarski who shot straight at Peter Shilton. The England keeper, who'd hardly touched the ball all night, somehow conspired to dive over it and Poland were one-nil ahead. (Barry Davies' commentary - 'Hunter's got to make that. And he's lost it' - is etched on the psyche of every Englishman who watched, horrified, as subsequent events unfolded with all the ineivtable predictability of an oncoming car crash.) England quickly equalised – Allan Clarke, coolly slotting home a penalty after Martin Peters had been tripped – but, thereafter, they could find no way past the stubborn Polish defence and their inspired goalkeeper. With just a couple of minutes left, Alf Ramsey made his final gamble, throwing on Derby's centre-forward, Kevin Hector, for his international debut as substitute replacing the very ineffectual Martin Chivers. Hector's first touch of the ball was to connect with Tony Currie's inswinging corner – but his goal-bound header was somehow scrambled off the line by a Polish defender. England were suddenly faced with having to cancel a bunch of plane tickets to Munich the following summer. Ramsey lasted just two more games – the first, a friendly with Italy in November, in which his team lost one-nil to a Fabio Capello goal – before being unceremoniously dumped by the Football Association in May 1974. 
His replacements were, firstly, Joe Mercer as caretaker and then, the following summer, Don Revie. It would be another eight years before England qualified for a World Cup finals tournament again. The Poles, meanwhile, went to West Germany and showed what a very good side they were, finishing third and only losing to the eventual winners, the hosts, in controversial circumstances on a quagmire in Frankfurt. Tomaszewski became a national hero and, these days, he works for Polish television. In 2005, he returned to England to commentate on another England v Poland World Cup match. This time, perhaps because the Poles didn't have him in goal, England won comfortably.
13. Did You Know?: The most yellow cards ever given in a World Cup finals match is sixteen, in a group game on 11 June 2002 (eight to Germany, eight to Cameroon) and also in a second round match on 25 June 2006 (nine to Portugal, seven to the Netherlands).
14. Did You Know?:
Hands up anyone who didn't adore Paraguay's participation at the 2002 World Cup? If only for the delicious prosepct of hearing various TV commentators squirming in their seats over their pronunciation of the Paraguay number two, the brilliantly named Chiqui Arce. That was worth paying your TV licence fee on its own.
15. Did You Know?: Italy was chosen as hosts of the second (1934) World Cup tournament by FIFA at the Stockholm congress in October 1932. It was the first World Cup for which teams would have to qualify in order to take part rather than merely being invited. Thirty two nations entered the competition and, after qualification, sixteen teams participated in the finals tournament.
The British home nations, during a period of haughty self-imposed exile from FIFA, refused to have anything to do with this World Cup malarkey. The Football Association committee member Charles Sutcliffe's view was typical of sniffy and somewhat arrogant and colonialist British attitudes of the time towards anything the rest of the world was getting up to: 'The national associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have quite enough to do in their own International Championship which seems to me a far better "World Championship" than the one to be staged in Rome.' Or, in other words, 'up yours, Johnny Foreinger.'
16. Did You Know?: When China played Costa Rica in the 2002 World Cup, the Costa Rican number four, Mauricio Wright, played the entire match with his name misspelled on his shirt ('Wrigth'). True story.
17. Did You Know?: It's been a long time since Hungary graced the World Cup finals - twenty four years - and even longer since they were regarded as a real power in the game. Indeed, with first-round exits in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 tournaments, you have to go all the way back to 1966 for the last time they reached the knockout stages. The inspiration behind their march to the quarter-finals in England - and four years previously in Chile - was the great Flórián Albert of Ferencvaros, one of the most elegant forwards of his generation. A blacksmith's son from Hercegszanto, a town near the border of the old Yugoslavia, he burst onto the international scene in 1959 while still a teenager and after just two league games for his club.
In the next three years Albert started to make his mark for the Magyars, controlling games with his skilful passing and scoring many goals at vital times. He won an Olympic bronze medal with them in 1960 and was one of the first names to be pencilled into Lajos Baroti's squad for the 1962 finals, even though he was still only twenty. Albert then demonstrated that he was a worthy successor to the 'Magical Magyars' of the 1950s by being named the tournament's best young player and finishing joint top scorer. He got the winner in the 2-1 victory over England and then grabbed a stunning hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Bulgaria. However, Albert couldn't work his magic in the quarter-final with Czechoslovakia, even though Hungary dominated the game. In 1964 the forward was a key member of the Hungarian side which finished third in the European Championships in Spain and a year later he was the leading marksman in the Ferencvaros team that shocked Juventus to win the Inter City Fairs Cup. But it was in the 1966 World Cup finals that Albert produced arguably the greatest performance of his career, being involved in all of Hungary's goals in their breathtaking 3-1 victory over Brazil. 
Albert ran the game and impressed to such an extent that the Goodison Park crowd were chanting his name at the end the way they normally did with Alex Young and Derek Temple. Scousers of a certain age still get a bit misty-eyed at the very mention of Albert and his silky runs. 'Oh, he's a charmer, this boy,' noted Kenneth Wolstenholme in his BBC commentary of the match. The three-man move between Albert, Ferenc Bene and János Farkas for the Hungarians second goal is a thing of rare and balletic beauty and the South Americans first finals defeat since their 1954 loss to another great Hungary side is generally regarded as one of the greatest World Cup matches ever. Another 3-1 success - against Bulgaria - saw the Hungarians through to a quarter-final against the Soviet Union at Roker Park, but Albert was marked out of the game by Valeri Voronin and two defensive errors led to a 2-1 defeat and a disappointingly early exit. 
The following year the player nicknamed 'The Emperor' was voted the European Footballer of the Year, but in 1969 he suffered a serious fracture to his right leg in a World Cup qualifier against Denmark. Although Albert was in the Hungary squad which finished fourth at the 1972 European Championships, he was never the same force after the injury and retired in 1974 after scoring thirty one goals in seventy five appearances for Hungary. He then became a journalist and saw his son, Flórián Albert Jr, follow in his footsteps by playing for Ferencvaros and Hungary, for whom he won six caps in the 1990s. In 2007 Ferencvaros showed how much they appreciated Albert's efforts - he scored over two hundred and forty goals for the Budapest club and helped them to four league titles - by renaming their stadium after him.
18. Did You Know?: Scotland have qualified for the World Cup finals on eight occasions. But they have never managed to progress beyond the first round. Not even once. A pretty poor showing one might argue. But then, they did score one of the best World Cup goals ever through Wee Archie Gemmill. So, every cloud has a silver lining.
19. Did You Know?: Sometimes the media can go overboard on the strength of one good performance.
Case in point, in the second match of the 2006 tournament Argentina thrashed Serbia and Montenegro 6-0. Watching Riquelme, Crespo, Saviola, Carlos Tevez, Messi, Mascherano et al tear into the hapless Serbs, an series of eager pundits lined-up to give the South Americans a damned good arse-licking and claim that here was something really special. The way, for instance, in which the BBC's Mark Lawrenson poo-pah'd any and every suggestion that we hadn't just seen the 2006 world champions playing in blue and white stripes was rather sickening, frankly. Subsequent Argentina matches, struggling to beat Mexico in a thrilling in the second round and then losing on penalties to Germany - amid highly unsavoury scenes - with hindsight proved that the 6-0 game said far more about the thorough wretchedness of Serbia and Montenegro than it did about Argentina's aspirations to genuine greatness.
20. Did You Know?: Antonio Cabrini of Italy was the first player to miss a penalty in a World Cup final, in 1982.
21. Did You Know?: Twenty years after the most painful defeat in the history of Brazilian football in the World Cup final of 1950, Brazil and Uruguay again faced each other in the semi-final in Mexico in 1970. Both teams were strong, although it was the Brazilians who had genuinely captivated the world with their beautiful style as they won all their first round matches, against Czechoslovakia, Romania, and that classic against England.
In the quarter final they defeated Perú 4-2. With Pelé as the star, the Brazilian team around him had some of the most talented players of a generation: Jairzinho, Rivelino, Tostão, Gerson, Clodoaldo and Carlos Alberto. They were, not to put it too mildly, a bit flippin' good. Uruguay, on the other hand, played an entirely different - much more defensive - style of football and had more difficulty in reaching the semis. In the first round group they had finished second behind Italy, defeating Israel but losing to Sweden. Uruguay then beat the USSR 1-0 in dour match after extra time with a goal by Victor Espárrago. Uruguay's star player was their goalkeeper, Ladislao Mazurkiewicz of Peñarol. They didn't concede many but as an attacking force they were limited. When Uruguay went ahead after nineteen minutes through Club Nacional's Luis Cubilla, it seemed the history of the 1950 final could repeat itself. 
Brazil hit back in the last minute of the first half when the extraordinary Clodoaldo dribbled past half-a-dozen Uruguayans to equalise. In the second half Jairzinho put Brazil ahead after a defence-splitting pass from Tostão. Uruguay were unable to respond and, in the last minute, Rivelino put the issue beyond doubt with a shot from the edge of the area and then went completely mental with his post-goal celebrations. The match, however, is perhaps best remembered not for any of the goals, per se, but for a piece of what the BBC's Kenneth Wolstenholme described as 'pure genius' by El Ray in the dying seconds, Pelé tricking the Uruguayan keeper with an outrageous dummy, swivelling and shooting only inches wide.
22. Did You Know?: The first goal scored by an Englishman in the World Cup was by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen in 1950.
23. Did You Know?:
The Netherlands squad at the 1974 World Cup was ... ahem, Ruud Geels, Arie Haan, Wim van Hanegem, Kees van Ierssel, Rinus Israël, Wim Jansen, Theo de Jong, Jan Jongbloed, Piet Keizer, René van de Kerkhof, Willy van de Kerkhof, Ruudi Krol, Johan Neeskens, Johan Cruyff, Rob Rensenbrink, Johnny Rep, Wim Rijsbergen, Piet Schrijvers, Pleun Strik, Wim Suurbier, Eddy Treijtel and Harry Vos. Just to prove I can still do it! That's yer actual Keith Telly Topping's party trick, that is!
24. Did You Know?: An astonishing save by Gordon Banks from a header by Pele found its way into English footballing legend when the reigning champions met their eventual successors, Brazil, at Guadalajara in June 1970. The game was staged in the oppressive heat of midday. Only mad dogs and footballers would have gone out in such sweltering conditions, and at an altitude which made walking, let alone running, a challenge.
Alan Ball recalled that, before the game Alf Ramsey told his team to treat the ball as though it were made of gold and not to give it away. Albeit, some of the England players' decision to wear a sweatband on one wrist only brought an amused response from several of the Brazilians. The match was just ten minutes old when Pele came face-to-face with a genius among goalkeepers - Banks - in what proved to be a memorable duel. Carlos Alberto put a carefully weighted pass down the right-wing into the path of Jairzinho, who dramatically accelerated past Terry Cooper to the by-line. 'He's left Cooper standing,' David Coleman told the viewers back home as the winger put in a cross which seemed to hang, invitingly, for Pele. The Golden Vision had instinctively read the situation and got himself perfectly positioned beyond his marker Alan Mullery. He rose to meet the ball, heading it with ferocious power downwards towards the bottom corner of the net. Mullery remembers that Pele shouted 'Goal!' immediately as the ball flew off his head. 
So did most of the spectators in the stadium, including the commentators. Banks was rooted on the wrong side of goal but suddenly, with the blurring speed of a cheetah, he dived to his right and somehow managed to get an outstretched hand under the ball to scoop it up and over the bar. Pele, open-mouthed, stopped dead in mid-celebration. This moment of astounding gymnastics from Banks inspired England to give the eventual World Champions their hardest match of the tournament by far, but after a magnificent battle they finally succumbed to a superbly drilled shot by Jairzinho on the hour. He cut in from the right to score after an receiving a deft, perfectly delivered pass from Pele. Jeff Astle had a gilt-edged chance to equalise within moments of coming on as a substitute but he snatched at it and the ball flew agonisingly wide. 
Alan Ball also hit the bar late on but it wasn't to be England's day. A lasting memory of the match for all those lucky enough to have witnessed the classic confrontation was of Bobby Moore and Pele embracing each other after the final whistle before swapping shirts, two genuine masters of the game recognising each other's genius. This was probably Moore's finest ninety minutes in an England shirt and his prefectly timed tackle to stop an on-rushing Jairzinho is yet another iconic moment in a match literally full of them. Evidence that the England players had given their all comes from the fact that several of them lost up to ten pounds in weight after running round in the heat.
25. Did You Know?:
The only person to have played both World Cup football and World Cup cricket is the great Vivian Richards of Antigua and the West Indies. The only test cricket umpire to have also officiated in a World Cup football match was the West Indies' Steve Bucknor who took charge of a qualifier between El Salvador and the Netherlands Antilles in 1988.
26. Did You Know?: Many great Newcastle United strikers have appeared in the World Cup finals over the years - George Robledo, Jackie Milburn (see left), Ivor Allchurch, Peter Beardsley and Alan Shearer to name but five. How ironic, then, that the only Toon player ever to actually win a World Cup winners medal whilst at St James' Park was Miss Stéphane Guivarc'h.
For those dear blog readers who've blotted the entire incident from their memories - and, jolly well done for that, incidentally - Miss Guivarc'h was signed by Kenny Dalglish from Auxerre on the eve of the 1998 World Cup. She subsequently started in five of France's games on the way to winning the cup, including the final against Brazil. Perhaps significantly, in a freewheeling, high-scoring team of Zidanes, Djorkaeffs and Deschamps', Miss Guivarc'h kept both Christophe Dugarry and, even more significantly, a young Thierry Henry out of the French side and scored a grand total of no goals in her five games. (Her international record was a solitary goal in fourteen appearances.) The phrase 'the first side to win the World Cup without a recognised centre forward' began to be used about the French soon afterwards. Miss Guivarc'h's subsequent time at Newcastle was nothing short of a disaster. Before she'd even kicked a ball in anger (or, indeed, at all) the manager who signed her had been sacked. 
Dalglish's replacement, Ruud Gullit, clearly didn't fancy the Frenchwoman and after just two starts for the Magpies and two further appearances as substitute (one goal, a mishit shot from six yards that needed the assistance of a post against Liverpool) Miss Guivarc'h was transferred to Rangers. Where she barely lasted six months before returning to France. Least it be thought there's nothing good to be said about her, it should be noted that in October 2009, Guivarc'h appeared at number one in a list, compiled by the Daily Scum Mail, of the Fifty Worst Strikers ever to play in the Premier League. She responded by saying 'It is truly a crap newspaper.' Well said. Mind you, even a broken clock's right twice a day.
27. Did You Know?:
Given that the estimated worldwide television audience for the opening game of the 1998 World Cup tournament (Brazil vs Scotland) was approximately 1.3 billion people, Darren Jackson's clearly audible 'Fekkin' Hell!' when he got booked for a crunching foul of Dunga after twenty four minutes has now been recognised as the world's most widely-heard obscenity.
28. Did You Know?: The greatest moments of televised football analysis came during the 2006 World Cup.
Martin O'Neill, working for the BBC, at half-time in the rather uninvolving Italy vs Ukraine quarter-final suddenly went off on a Charlie Parker-style jazz-solo concerning his appreciation of all things Italian. This culminated in a beautifully delivered punchline about how 'in 60BC Pompey, Caesar and Crassus got together to form The First Triumvurate and, at the same time, invented the offside trap,' a joke so subtle that it left Mssrs Lineker, Shearer and Hansen utterly speechless. Martin O'Neill, what a chap.
29. Did You Know?: That lost generation of English internationals who never got to play in a single World Cup finals match includes - drum-roll please - Terry Venables (two caps, 1964), Mick Jones (three caps, 1965-70),
John Hollins (one cap, 1967), David Sadler (four caps, 1967-70), Cyril Knowles (four caps, 1967-68), Mike Summerbee (eight caps, 1968-72), John Radford (two caps, 1969-71), Ralph Coates (four caps, 1970-71), Martin Chivers (twenty four caps, 1971-73), Joe Royle (six caps, 1971-77), Colin Harvey (one cap, 1971), Peter Storey (nineteen caps, 1971-73), Paul Madeley (twenty four caps, 1971-77), 
Rodney Marsh (see right, nine caps, 1971-73), Malcolm MacDonald (see left, fourteen caps, 1972-76), Colin Todd (twenty seven caps, 1972-77), Tony Currie (seventeen caps, 1972-79), Ray Clemence (sixty one caps, 1972-84), Mick Channon (forty six caps, 1972-77), John Richards (one cap, 1973), Kevin Hector (two caps, 1973), Dave Watson (sixty five caps, 1974-82), Stan Bowles (see left, five caps, 1974-77), Frank Worthington (eight caps, 1974), Gerry Francis (twelve caps, 1974-76), Alan Hudson (two caps, 1975), Kevin Beattie (nine caps, 1975-77), Dennis Tueart (six caps, 1975-77), 
Ray Kennedy (seventeen caps, 1976-80), Brian Greenhoff (eighteen caps, 1976-80), Joe Corrigan (nine caps 1976-82), Charlie George (one cap, 1976), Terry McDermott (twenty five caps, 1977-82), Bob Latchford (twelve caps, 1977-79), Peter Barnes (twenty two caps, 1977-82), Laurie Cunningham (six caps (1979-80), Peter Withe (eleven caps, 1981-85) and Cyrille Regis (five caps, 1982-87). By contrast, Neil Webb did play in the World Cup. Sometimes, truly, there is no justice.
30. Did You Know?: Five teams have remained unbeaten in a World Cup tournament but not become the champions: Scotland in 1974 (one win, two draws), Brazil in 1978 (four wins, three draws), England in 1982 (three wins, two draws), Cameroon in 1982 (three draws) and Belgium in 1998 (three draws).
31. Did You Know?: Johan Cruyff was, pretty much, the perfect footballer. He had the lot - two fabulous feet, mesmeric ball skills, a body-swerve that could send not just a defender but most of the crowd the wrong way and much, much more. Cruyff was at the heart of everything the Netherlands did in the 1974 World Cup - quite literally. All fifteen of their goals in the tournament either started or ended with their captain.
Probably Cruyff's finest moment - and certainly the one that has, since, become the most replayed - was in a group match against Sweden. Marked tightly by the Swedish right-back, Jan Olsson, Cruyff collected a long pass, held off his opponent and then produced, in one movement, an outrageous piece of skill to flick the ball between his own legs and totally bamboozle the hapless Olsson, who suddnely found himself tackling thin-air whilst heading in completely the wrong direction. Cruyff's subsequent cross came to nothing and, indeed, what's often forgotten is that the game itself ended in a 0-0 draw (albeit one of the most entertaining 0-0 draws you've ever seen) but a legend was born. The Cruyff Turn. If ever a single moment defined a World Cup tournament, then this was it.
32. Did You Know?:
Héctor Castro of Uruguay, who played in the first World Cup in 1930, is the only World Cup footballer to have had only one arm. A hugely popular striker with Club Nacional, he lost his right forearm in an accident with an electric saw when he was thirteen. Because of this his nickname among fans was El Manco (meaning 'the maimed').
33. Did You Know?: Last minute goals. They're a little art all of their own, are they not?
When an injury time equaliser by Robbie Rocket-Pants Keane gave plucky Eire a thoroughly merited 1-1 draw against Germany in 2002, yer actual Keith Telly Topping was, at the time, in the Gallowgate Irish club proudly celebrating his own Celtic heritage, singing 'In a Lonely Brixton Prison where an Oirish Rebel Lay' and 'Raglan Road' at the top of his not-inconsiderable voice. Don't knock it, through my County Mayo-born great grandfather, James Gallagher, I was just as qualified to support them as Matti O'Holland was to play for them. Begorrah. I must say, I love Motty's commentry on this goal.
34. Did You Know?: The first World Cup match decided on penalty shoot-out was the semi-final between West Germany and France on 8 July 1982 in which the Germans - against all laws of natural justice - won 5-4.
35. Did You Know?: If Theo Walcott – seventeen years and one hundred days – had got on the pitch during the 2006 World Cup finals he would have become the third youngest player to appear in the competition behind Norman Whiteside (see left, seventeen years,
forty one days for Northern Ireland in 1982) and Samual E'to (seventeen years, ninety nine days for Cameroon in 1998). Whiteside remains, also, the youngest player ever to be booked in the World Cup finals when he got a yellow card in his debut against Yugoslavia - something that he is very proud of, apparently! Rigobert Song of Cameroon is the youngest player to be sent off in the World Cup (seventeen years, three hundred and fifty eight days against Brazil in 1994). Pele is the youngest player to score in the World Cup finals (seventeen years, two hundred and thirty nine days against Wales, 1958).
36. Did You Know?: Led by Hans Krankl and Bruno Pezzey, Austria reached the World Cup finals of both 1978 and 1982 and on each occasion they reached the Second Round and played West Germany. But the circumstances of the two matches were very different. The 1978 Austria team is widely regarded as their best post-World War II side. In Argentina, they were seemingly destined to finish last in their Second Round group, but at Córdoba in their final game against West Germany, they sparked a major upset by eliminated the defending champions, beating them 3-2, thanks to a spectacular winner by centre-forward Krankl (see right).
The celebrating report of radio commentator Edi Finger ('I werd narrisch!') became as famous in Austria as Kenneth Woolstenholme's 'some people are on the pitch' line is in Britain. In Spain in 1982, it was all very different. Austria and West Germany met again, in the last game of round one. Because the other final match in the group had been played the previous day, the two teams knew that a West German win by one goal would see both of them qualify for the next round. A larger win would eliminate Austria and an Austrian win would knock out West Germany. After ten minutes, Horst Hrubesch (see left) scored for West Germany. Thereafter the two teams proceeded to simply kick the ball around meaninglessly for the remaining eighty minutes with virtually no attempt to attack from either side. 
The game became known as the 'de Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón' (the non-aggression pact of Gijon). Algeria had also won two games, including a shock win over Germany in the tournament opener, but were eliminated on goal difference directly because of the Gijon result. The Algerian supporters were understandably furious and even many of the Austrian and West German fans showed themselves to be extremely unhappy with the nature of their progression. As a result of the furore over this game, all future tournaments would see the last group games played simultaneously.
37. Did You Know?: You might not know the name Ilunga Mwepu, but you've almost certainly seen him in action. Mwepu was the Zaire right-back who spectacularly cleared a Brazilian free kick in a 1974 World Cup group game by lashing it up the field ... before any Brazilian had chance to take it.
Obviously, you're not actually allowed to do that under the laws of the game and Mwepu was given a yellow card (much to his, seemingly, surprise) by the, rather sour-faced Romanian referee, Nicolae Rainea. Mwepu has become a figure of fun ever since his moment of madness was broadcast to a global audience of several hundred million. However, according to Mwepu's Wikipedia page, there was more going on than we realised at the time. Mwepu claims that the Zaire players' bonus money was being stolen by the country's dictator Mobutu Sese Sekos's guards and that the guards had threatened the team with violence if they lost by more than three goals to Brazil. Mwepu claims, therefore, that he was merely wasting time. The game did end 3-0 to Brazil and everybody was happy. Well, except for Scotland who were eliminated because they had only scored twice against the Congolese in an earlier group game.
38. Did You Know?: Rubbish moments of World Cup TV analysis, number one: 'That's a dreadful result for England,' said anchorman Bob Wilson after Sweden's 2-1 victory over Nigeria in 2002.
'It means they must get something out of Argentina...' Because, of course, otherwise they were just going to play for a 1-0 defeat, weren't they? Prat. Meanwhile, an ITV spokesman had, apparently, blamed the disastrous ratings figures for their World Cup coverage that year on 'the actions of a simple-minded oaf.' Paul Gascoigne was heard to comment: 'It's nice of the lads to blame it on an oaf, but really I can't help thinking it's partly down to me...' And, whilst I really don't want it to seem like I'm picking on the bloke unnecessarily, who the hell's idiotic idea was it to have David Pleat pass 'expert' comments on the World Cup. That's like having somebody from the local amateur dramatic society introducing the Oscars. My God, he's a fraud that bloke, isn't he? What is he supposed to be an 'expert' on, exactly? Avoiding relegation?
39. Did You Know?: The question of England's World Cup songs is always something of a vexed one. Many people prefer some of the unofficial ones like 'Vindaloo', 'Inertia Kicks' (well, at least it's honest, we are just a bunch of losers!) and 'England's Irie' (particularly as the latter finally saw Joe Strummer finally getting his boat-race on Top of the Pops).
Of the official ones, 'World In Motion' remains a genuine masterpiece - the finest football-related record ever made by anyone ... not that it's got much competition to beat, of course. And John Barnes' rap was his finest performance in an England shirt by about a mile and a half. 'Three Lions' was pretty good too, if a bit self-pitying and it plays up to some daft stereotypes. And even dear old 'Back Home' had a certain cheesy charm that made it loveable then and still a bit loveable now. But, the sooner we all forget 1982's 'This Time (We'll Get It Right)', or 1998's 'On Top of the World' featuring the Spice Girls, the better. Yes, I know the latter was written by Johnny Marr and Ian McCulloch, but it was still crap!
40. Did You Know?: To date, Brazil remain the only country to have won a World Cup on a continent other than their own. In actual fact, they've done it three times, winning in Europe (1958), North America (1994) and Asia (2002).
41. Did You Know?:
In the 1995 BBC series Football Fussball, Voetbal Jurgan Klinsmann - looking more like Carol Thatcher than ever, these days - said, concerning the utter hatred felt towards the Germans by many Dutchmen: 'I think it goes back to the 1974 World Cup final.' Actually, Jurgen, you'll probably find it goes back to a bunch of goosestepping fascist bullyboys occupying the Netherlands for six years and half-starving their population to death during the winter of 1944. Just a wild stab in the dark, there.
42. Did You Know?: The USSR refused to play the second-leg of a World Cup qualifying play-off in Chile in 1973.
This was because thousands of left-wing prisoners and protestors against the vile Pinochet military regime – including the noted folk musician Victor Jara - had been interned, tortured and murdered in the national stadium in Santiago where the match was scheduled to be played. The Chileans, of course, turned up on the scheduled day, scored a symbolic 'goal' and then went back to cheerfully murdering more dissidents. FIFA - those noted cowardly appeasers of bullies and fascists - nevertheless awarded the match to Chile, 2-0 and they thus qualified for the finals in West Germany. Where, thankfully, they couldn't even beat Australia and went home after the first round. Good. The stadium itself - Estadio Nacional de Chile – is now regularly used as a venue for outdoor concerts and people like Whitney Houston, Guns N' Roses, Peter Gabriel and Sting continue to torture poor innocent Chileans who just want to be left alone. The utter bastards.
43. Did You Know?:
Italy - usually - play in azure blue shirts rather than the colours of its national flag – red, green and white - a custom that dates back to the country's pre-republican days. Blue was the official colour of the Royal House of Savoy and the Azzurri tribute to the Italian monarchy survives to this day. Plus, most of the players look pure drop dead sexy in them.
44. Did You Know?: Robbie Rensenbrink, of the Netherlands, scored the one thousandth goal in World Cup finals history. Rensenbrink netted from the penalty spot in that famous 3-2 defeat against Scotland in 1978 in the final group stage match. You know, the one where Wee Archie score that goal.
But, it was the Scots who went home in ignominy and shame following their calamitous defeat to Peru and draw with Iran - not to mention a drug-scandal - whilst the Dutch marched on to the final. There, Rensenbrink had the chance, in the final minute of normal time, to beat the hosts, win the World Cup and, in all probability, start a popular political movement in Argentine society that would have led the fall of the criminally psychopathic military Junta. Alas, the stupid plank hit the post instead with just seconds to spare, the Argy-bargies - of course - won it in extra time and there would be four more years of oppression and disperaus before a disastrous war with Britain over the Falkland Islands finally saw the right-wing bastards fall. All your fault, Robbie. Including the sinking of the Belgrano.
45. Did You Know?: A spectacular refereeing error by Ali Kandil of Egypt during the 1970 first-round game between hosts Mexico and first time qualifiers El Salvador left the Central Americans apoplectic.
The minnows had held out bravely until the forty fourth minute and were awarded a free-kick deep in their own half. However, as they casually looked at each other wondering who was going to take it, Mexico's Padilla stepped up quickly took the kick, passing to a team mate who ran down the wing – unchallenged by any of the bewildered Salvadorans – and crossed for Valdivia to poke home the opener. The furious Salvadorans promptly surrounded Kandil and his linesman, kicking the ball into the crowd and challenging the referee to book or send them off. Kandil, wisely, blew for half-time and, literally, ran from the pitch to the protection of the dressing room. The Mexicans just stood around looking a bit sheepish about the whole thing. In the second half, El Salvador, by now with a collective chimney well and truly on, big-style, continued to kick the ball into the crowd as often as possible and generally act all pissed-off, outraged and morally indignant. They lost the match 4-0.
46. Did You Know?:
Jairzinho scored in all of Brazil's six matches in the 1970 World Cup for which he received the epithet 'Furacão da Copa' (World Cup Hurricane). Four years later, it took Brazil until the twelfth minute of their third game - against Zaire - to fashion any sort of a goal, from anyone. Typically, it was scored by yer man Jairzinho, by now looking like a lost sixth member of The Jackson Five.
47. Did You Know?: In Mexico in 1970, Uwe Seeler of West Germany became the first European player to appear in four consecutive World Cup finals when appearing in the 2-1 win against Morocco.
48. Did You Know?: Because of the time difference between Central America and Western Europe, the powerful European TV companies in Britain, Italy and West Germany insisted to FIFA that the original planned evening kick-off times for the 1970 World Cup be changed so that matches could broadcast during European peak-hours. This resulted in some games kicking-off at noon Mexico time in truly terrifying heat and altitude. The pictures were less than perfect because the Mexicans used a different television system, the 525-line NTSC, and the live feed had to go through a conversion process. In some ways, this almost seemed to help with the aura which surrounded that particular World Cup, the first to be broadcast in colour.
The near-artificial hues of the 1970 TV pictures - bright almost to the point of halluncinogenic - still makes watching highlights of Mexico 70 perilously close to the experience of viewing Yellow Submarine whilst on Very Hard Drugs. It is still, generally, considered to be the best World Cup finals tournament of all time as experienced through the medium of TV (although, being the contrary individual that he is, yer actual Keith Telly Topping slightly prefers 1974). Certainly 1970 was a resounding success for ITV whose viewing figures bettered those of the BBC (the only time this has ever happened). This was in part due to the - often heated - London studio debates chaired by Jimmy Hill who had selected the analysis panellists to appear on ITV's World Cup broadcasts. Malcolm Allison (then manager of Manchester City), Derek Dougan (of Wolves and Northern Ireland), Pat Crerand (Manchester United and Scotland) and Bob McNab (Arsenal and England). The ITV commentary team in Mexico comprised Hugh Johns, Gerald Sinstadt, Roger Malone and Gerry Harrison. Billy Wright joined Johns as co-commentator whilt, after England's quarter-final elimination, Bobby Moore co-commentated on a semi-final and the final. Brian Moore stayed behind in London to present the programmes. Back in the 1960s, according to Moore, 'Football criticism on television had been fairly mealy-mouthed up until 1970. It was important you said the right thing. And then we came to the 1970 World Cup. Jimmy ... decided we would have a panel with a difference. We wanted one or two extroverts.' It was the biggest extrovert of all, Champagne Malcolm who was the undoubted star. Packing an enormous cigar - sometimes blowing smoke in Dougan's face to put the Irishman off - and looking as though he'd been having an absolutely great time in the Green Room beforehand, Malcolm used the opportunity to give the viewers his - never dull - thoughts on many aspects of the world of football, and beyond: 'Why are we technically better in Europe? Because we play against peasants!' 
Either that, or he'd spend the programme criticising Dougan's choice of shirt. Four years later it was even better when ITV's 1974 World Cup panel consisted, again of Dougan, Allison and Crerand (for Scotland's games) plus Big Jack Charlton (who spent the entire tournament referring to the Netherlands' captain as 'Cruff'!), Bob Moncur and Brian Clough. It was often like Gunfight at the OK Corral. The BBC's 1970 coverage, by contrast was hosted by Frank Bough in London and David Coleman in Mexico. Among the ever changing BBC panellists were two future ITV mainstays, Cloughie (who memorably said that the Brazilians must be the greatest team of all time because 'their goalkeeper is rubbish and they still keep beating teams!') and Ian St John. Others included Joe Mercer and Don Revie who memorably contributed analysis to the England vs Brazil game, along with Ray Wilson, Bob Wilson and Johnny Haynes. The commentators in Mexico were Ken Wolstenholme, Coleman, Barry Davies, Alan Weeks and the now pretty much forgotten Idwal Robling. The BBC's World Cup theme tune was 'Mexico Grandstand' performed by the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. It was released as a single on the Fontana label. But, it couldn't match the success of 'Back Home.'
49. Did You Know?: The lowest ever attendance for a World Cup finals match was three hundred for the game between Romania and Peru in Montevideo in 1930.
50. Did You Know?: It was a clash of two footballing titans in the second group stage of the 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany when the Netherlands met Brazil. This was the golden generation of Dutch football, all rock-star hair, sideburns and stunning innovation. It was the team of 'Total Football,' where defenders attacked and attackers ...
attacked as well. And at the centre of it all was Johan Cruyff. Because of a potential colour clash, both sides wore their change strip. The Dutch chose white shirts with orange socks whilst Brazil changed from their famous canary yellow tops to dark blue. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come. With the Dutch needing only a draw to reach the final, the game was always going to be fierce and competitive and the match was a catalogue of often savage fouls that went largely unpunished by the thoroughly uninvolved referee, Herr Tschenscher of Germany. Both sides had good chances in an ill-tempered first half with the Brazilians committing the majority of the fouls. If they hadn't already cast a shadow over their marvellous displays in Mexico four years earlier, they certainly did so in this game; Cruyff was rugby tackled by Zé Maria, Neeskens was punched in the face and flattened in an off-the-ball incident with Marinho Peres, Wim Jansen was floored by a blatant body-check and the impressive, but excitable Luis Pereira was sent off six minutes from time for a wild and potentially career-ending knee-high hack on Neeskens having already been booked earlier in the match for starting an ugly scuffle. 
Pereira then, foolishly, remonstrated with hostile Dutch fans in the crowd as he left the field. The Dutch were presented with the best scoring opportunities of the first half although Brazil's attacks were more incisive: Valdomiro rounded Arie Haan, Jongbloed flapped at the ball, and was very relieved to see it ricochet to safety after being half-blocked by Rijsbergen (all this happening whilst Neeskens lay flat out at the other end following the incident with Peres). The Netherlands, relied heavily on the offside trap - far more than in previous games - but the World Champions had, it seemed, been well-briefed, and opened up the Dutch defence on several occasions; Dirceu put Paulo César Lima through, only for the veteran of 1970 to shoot wide. Subsequently, Van Hanegem found Suurbier in a good position on the left. 
The shot was saved at the near post, before Suurbier's somewhat late challenge the Brazilian goalkeeper provoked a ten man brawl with a lot of angry Brazilians. It was following this that Pereira received his yellow card. In the next attack Johnny Rep, having been balked off the ball, charged straight into Pereira to more puishing and shoving. It had to be said, though, that even in a fast developing war of attrition, the Dutch's decision to mix it was still touched with quality. Even their fouls seemed to have a splash of class about them. Early in the second half, the Netherlands won a free-kick in their own half, which the great van Hanegem (the most impressive player on the pitch) took quickly, the ball swiftly arriving at the feet of Cruyff on the right. He centred it to Neeskens who stretched out a leg and toe-poked a shot that looped over the keeper and into the net. Fifteen minutes later the Clockwork Oranje sealed the victory - Ruud Krol received the ball from a suspiciously offside-looking Rob Rensenbrink and crossed to Cruyff who volleyed home, brilliantly, from close range. The contest wasn't quite over. Marinho Chagas flicked the ball over the defence and Jongbloed fumbled nervously. Rinus Israël came on when Neeskens was injured by Pereira's horrible tackle. Mirandinha then tried to provoke a controntation with the big centre back: a contemptuous shrug of the Dutchman's shoulders was all he got for his efforts. 
In the dying minutes, Jairzinho even managed to foul the inoffensive Jongbloed, swinging wildly at the goalkeeper's ankles as he ambled out to clear another speculative through ball. The crowd, strongly pro-Netherlands, were so incensed after this particular piece of needless aggression that they refused to return the ball - despite some pleading by Cruyff - and replacement had to be found. The Netherlands, it seemed, had won more than a football game. They had proved that Brazil could be matched and beaten at their own brand of the beautiful game. It appeared a sign of the times with the end of unadulterated free-flowing football and its replacement with Cruyff and co's version. But, four days later, it would all came to pieces in their hands.
It's twelve inches high, solid gold, and it means that England are the World Champions.' The soundtrack is also, comfortingly, familiar. 'Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over ... It is now.' (Unless, of course, you were one of the four people watching on ITV instead, in which case it was Hugh Johns rather than Ken Wolstenholme and the slightly less famous 'Here's Hurst. He might make it three. He has!' instead.) The 1966 World Cup final has become, quite literally, the stuff of myths and legends – what happened to the match ball and the players' shirts became the subject of TV documentaries and tabloid stories over four decades after the event. Just who were those people 'on the pitch' who thought it was all over? 
(Several men have come forward to claim responsibility over the years but proving it, from this distance, is difficult.) And what about Jack Charlton's oft-told story of him spending the night at some groovy house party in Knightsbridge? There's a novel and, probably, a film, in that! There are two radically polar views concerning the events of 30 July 1966: One is that Alf Ramsey's wingless wonders avenged the dead of two wars by giving them uppity West Germans a right good seeing to. Or, somewhat more realistically (and charitably), England - controversially (possibly even, whisper it, luckily) - won a football match. What isn't in dispute is that the game, itself, was a true classic.2. Did You Know?:
Bora Milutinovic is the only man to coach five different nations to five successive World Cups. (Mexico, 1986; Costa Rica, 1990; United States, 1994; Nigeria, 1998; China, 2002). In 2010, South Africa's Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, is set to equal the record of coaching five different countries in non-consecutive tournaments as well as leading a team into a sixth World Cup finals. He had previously been in charge of Brazil in 1994 and 2006, Kuwait in 1982, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and the United Arab Emirates in 1990.3. Did You Know?: The highest ever score in a World Cup qualifier was Australia thirty one, American Samoa nil in 2001. And the Aussies still didn't qualify for the finals!
4. Did You Know?: Twenty eight players were sent off during the 2006 World Cup finals, a record beating the twenty two men who were red carded in France in 1998.
It's remarkable to think that once upon a time dismissals in the World Cup were actually quite rare. There was only one instance in the 1930 tournament (Peru's captain Mario de Las Casas in a match against Romania holds the distinction, if that's the right word, of being the first man sent off in the World Cup) and also just one in 1934. Two tournaments - 1950 and 1970 - produced no dismissals at all and even the infamously tetchy 1962 tournament, in Chile, only produced six.5. Did You Know?: On Guy Fawkes Night 1969, the reigning World Champions, England played a friendly match against a confident young Dutch national side in Amsterdam.
Colin Bell (see right) scored the goal that defeated the Netherlands team which played the more skillful football but without being able to provide the finishing touch to their impressive approach work. The game was into its last five minutes when Bell netted the winning goal latching onto a mishit shot by Bobby Charlton. It was deserved reward for an all-action display from Bell, who had earlier crashed a header against the bar. His energetic performance certainly showed why his Manchester City manager Malcolm Allison had nicknamed him Nijinsky. Reportedly, the talk among the England players after the match was all about the performances of two young Ajax players, Ruud Krol and Johan Cruyff. The prediction was that we would be hearing a lot more about them in years to come.6. Did You Know?: Haiti didn't do particularly well in their first - and, so far, only - World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974, losing all three of their games. But they did have one moment of proper glory.
In their opening game against Italy, they managed to take the lead with a goal from Emmanuel Sanon whose nickname was 'Mister Football.' Scoring against the Italians in 1974 was no mean achievement. Sanon's goal brought to an end Italy's record-breaking run of matches without conceding a goal. The Italian defence - Dino Zoff, Giacinto Facchetti, the terrifying Romeo Benetti, Guiseppe Wilson et al - had gone through twelve games without a single goal being put past them. They had played a total of nineteen hours and two minutes, without anyone managing to score against them before Sanon struck. Having recovered their wits, goals by Benetti, Gianni Rivera and Pietro Anastasi eventually settled the matter in favour of the Italians. Most viewers watching the game on TV, however, will remember most the extraordinary sight of the red-tracksuited Haitian substitutes and coaches literally dancing with joy on the running track of Munich's Olympiastadion after Sanon's goal.7. Did You Know?: What is it about Brazilian full backs and spectacular long-range net-busters?
Firstly there was Carlos Alberto's goal in the 1970 final. of which, much more later. Then, in 1978, we had Nelinho's thunderbolt against Poland and even more outrageous stunner in the Third Place play-off against Italy. In 1986, Josmiar got in on the act, scoring two screamers against Northern Ireland and Poland - in his first two international appearances. And that's even before we've got onto Roberto Carlos and his trademark free-kick against China in 2002. Must be something in the coffee.8. Did You Know?: It may surprise some of our younger readers to know but, once upon a time Michel Platini wasn't merely an annoying FIFA berk in a suit with his tongue rammed so far up Sepp Blatter's arse that there's no room for anybody else.
He was, in actual fact, a footballer – with St Etienne, the hunchbacks of Juventus and France. And, he was actually quite a decent one as well. Goalscoring midfielder. Although, personally, being the contrary sod that he is, yer actual Keith Telly Topping always rather preferred Dominique Rocheteau and Alain Giresse, his team mates in the national side. More flair. Better haircuts, too. Mind you, the biggest debate in football circles during the early 1980s wasn't young Michel's ability but rather how you pronounced his surname. I was always in the Pla-teen-y camp rather than the Plat-i-knee, as so beloved by commentator John Motson.9. Did You Know?: Two hundred teams took part in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup finals. Eight hundred and forty nine matches were played and two thousand three hundred and thirty seven goals scored. And, Scotland still didn't qualify.
10. Did You Know?: Ruthless. Efficient. Technically gifted but seldom loved. Who'd be a German international footballer? Well, a lot of people if we're honest. When yer actual Keith Telly Topping was growing up, West Germany were one of the genuine cult teams of world football. Right up until Toni Schumacher decided to commit grievous bodily harm on Patrick Battiston in the 1982 World Cup semi final (and, more importantly, got away with it), most football fans actually quite liked the West Germans.
They weren't as beloved as the Dutch, say, or the Brazilians but if it came to straight choice between them and the cynical, cheating, swarthy Italians, it was bockwurst and chips every time for a lot of chaps. This was, after all, the nation of Der Kaiser and Der Bomber. Of Bernd Hölzenbein, Uwe Seller, Günter Netzer and Jürgen Grabowski. Of Sepp Maier and his ridiculously novelty oversized gloves and shorts. Of dignified old Helmut Schön and his flat-cap. And Paul Breitner and his comedy afro. They were all right, the Germans. John Barnes has often said that his favourite international side when he was growing up was West Germany and for those English fans of a certain age who saw Netzer and co. absolutely destroy England at Wembley in 1972, that team will always have a special place in our heart. And, let us never forget the comedy heights that Berti Vogts would one day lead Scotland to. 
But, then came Toni's assault on Patrick. Then penalties. 'What do you think of that Rummenigge?' 'What rumour's that, Des?' Rudi Voller (with Dutchie hockle in his hair). More penalties. Rolling around on the floor to get Gazza booked. Jurgan Klinsmann and his ability to fly, unaided. More penalties. Andy Möller strutting around Wembley like he owned the place. Kuntz ... 'all of them.' 'Carsten Jancker is an ugly wanker.' Mary Shelley's Oliver Kahn … You get the general idea? Technically gifted but really unloved. And I didn't mention the war once. Except there.11. Did You Know?: Iran's biggest ever international win was 19-0 against Guam in 2000 in a World Cup qualifier.
Guam's coach was the former Newcastle United boss, Willie McFaul. 'In Guam, they're used to a tropical climate which doesn't get much below eighty all year round,’ noted McFaul. 'In Tabriz, it was wet and freezing. I warned them about wearing gloves and long-sleeved undershirts but the only realistic aim was to keep the score below twenty against a team with so many top European-based pros.' They succeeded - just - and two days later they 'triumphed' again. This time only losing 16-0 to Tajikistan.12. Did You Know?: On 17 October 1973, in response to the escalating Yom Kippur war, OPEC, the Arab oil producing countries, cut production and quadrupled the world price of petroleum. This single move, effectively, ended the relative affluence upon which, as Ian MacDonald wrote in Revolution in the Head, 'the preceding ten years of happy-go-lucky excess in the West had chiefly depended.'
It's a less sentimental suggestion for 'the day the Sixties – conceptually - ended' than some symbolic musical event, but it's probably a much more realistic one. The resulting financial crisis in Europe sent inflation spiralling. It was the moment when, almost overnight, 'the swinging Sixties' turned into the 'sober and soon-to-be-unemployed Seventies.' As a bizarre coincidence, on that very same day England's football team, needing a victory to progress, could only draw 1-1 with Poland in a World Cup qualifier. This failure to reach the final stages of a tournament that England had won eight years previously may seem vastly insignificant to some. But, just as that famous 'some people are on the pitch' victory in 1966 seemed to encapsulate the spirit of an age – when England (and, specifically, London) was, literally, on top of the world – so the gloom that settled over the country during the winter of 1973-4, with its three-day weeks, power cuts and Cod War with Iceland, appeared inextricably tied to the failing fortunes of Sir Alf Ramsey's ageing side. 
England had warmed-up with a 7-0 thrashing of Austria in a friendly a week earlier, but the Poles – the reigning Olympic champions - were a fine side. They had already caned England in Chorzow in June, a match mainly remembered for England's vile canary yellow change strip, a catastrophic error by Bobby Moore which presented the Poles with their second goal and a frustrated Alan Ball being sent-off for fisting a hapless Pole in the mush after an off-the-ball incident. At Wembley, the first half was a tense, nervous affair and, although England had all the possession, it ended goalless. The ITV expert panel, discussing the game at half-time, included the forthright views of Brian Clough. Having been sacked as Derby County's manager two days earlier Clough – 'the best manager that England never had' to many – declared that the, somewhat eccentric, Polish goalkeeper, Jan Tomaszewski, was 'a clown' and that England would score several times in the second half. In the event, Tomaszewski – with a mixture of genuine brilliance and some outrageous pieces of good fortune – managed to get a hand or a foot (or, on one noted occasion, even a head) on virtually everything that the desperate England side could throw at him. 
And the two times when they did get past him, he was saved by the woodwork. Then, with half an hour to go, calamity struck. Norman Hunter missed a simple tackle on the halfway line and the Polish winger, Robert Gadocha, crossed to Domarski who shot straight at Peter Shilton. The England keeper, who'd hardly touched the ball all night, somehow conspired to dive over it and Poland were one-nil ahead. (Barry Davies' commentary - 'Hunter's got to make that. And he's lost it' - is etched on the psyche of every Englishman who watched, horrified, as subsequent events unfolded with all the ineivtable predictability of an oncoming car crash.) England quickly equalised – Allan Clarke, coolly slotting home a penalty after Martin Peters had been tripped – but, thereafter, they could find no way past the stubborn Polish defence and their inspired goalkeeper. With just a couple of minutes left, Alf Ramsey made his final gamble, throwing on Derby's centre-forward, Kevin Hector, for his international debut as substitute replacing the very ineffectual Martin Chivers. Hector's first touch of the ball was to connect with Tony Currie's inswinging corner – but his goal-bound header was somehow scrambled off the line by a Polish defender. England were suddenly faced with having to cancel a bunch of plane tickets to Munich the following summer. Ramsey lasted just two more games – the first, a friendly with Italy in November, in which his team lost one-nil to a Fabio Capello goal – before being unceremoniously dumped by the Football Association in May 1974. 
His replacements were, firstly, Joe Mercer as caretaker and then, the following summer, Don Revie. It would be another eight years before England qualified for a World Cup finals tournament again. The Poles, meanwhile, went to West Germany and showed what a very good side they were, finishing third and only losing to the eventual winners, the hosts, in controversial circumstances on a quagmire in Frankfurt. Tomaszewski became a national hero and, these days, he works for Polish television. In 2005, he returned to England to commentate on another England v Poland World Cup match. This time, perhaps because the Poles didn't have him in goal, England won comfortably.13. Did You Know?: The most yellow cards ever given in a World Cup finals match is sixteen, in a group game on 11 June 2002 (eight to Germany, eight to Cameroon) and also in a second round match on 25 June 2006 (nine to Portugal, seven to the Netherlands).
14. Did You Know?:
Hands up anyone who didn't adore Paraguay's participation at the 2002 World Cup? If only for the delicious prosepct of hearing various TV commentators squirming in their seats over their pronunciation of the Paraguay number two, the brilliantly named Chiqui Arce. That was worth paying your TV licence fee on its own.15. Did You Know?: Italy was chosen as hosts of the second (1934) World Cup tournament by FIFA at the Stockholm congress in October 1932. It was the first World Cup for which teams would have to qualify in order to take part rather than merely being invited. Thirty two nations entered the competition and, after qualification, sixteen teams participated in the finals tournament.
The British home nations, during a period of haughty self-imposed exile from FIFA, refused to have anything to do with this World Cup malarkey. The Football Association committee member Charles Sutcliffe's view was typical of sniffy and somewhat arrogant and colonialist British attitudes of the time towards anything the rest of the world was getting up to: 'The national associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have quite enough to do in their own International Championship which seems to me a far better "World Championship" than the one to be staged in Rome.' Or, in other words, 'up yours, Johnny Foreinger.'16. Did You Know?: When China played Costa Rica in the 2002 World Cup, the Costa Rican number four, Mauricio Wright, played the entire match with his name misspelled on his shirt ('Wrigth'). True story.
17. Did You Know?: It's been a long time since Hungary graced the World Cup finals - twenty four years - and even longer since they were regarded as a real power in the game. Indeed, with first-round exits in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 tournaments, you have to go all the way back to 1966 for the last time they reached the knockout stages. The inspiration behind their march to the quarter-finals in England - and four years previously in Chile - was the great Flórián Albert of Ferencvaros, one of the most elegant forwards of his generation. A blacksmith's son from Hercegszanto, a town near the border of the old Yugoslavia, he burst onto the international scene in 1959 while still a teenager and after just two league games for his club.
In the next three years Albert started to make his mark for the Magyars, controlling games with his skilful passing and scoring many goals at vital times. He won an Olympic bronze medal with them in 1960 and was one of the first names to be pencilled into Lajos Baroti's squad for the 1962 finals, even though he was still only twenty. Albert then demonstrated that he was a worthy successor to the 'Magical Magyars' of the 1950s by being named the tournament's best young player and finishing joint top scorer. He got the winner in the 2-1 victory over England and then grabbed a stunning hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Bulgaria. However, Albert couldn't work his magic in the quarter-final with Czechoslovakia, even though Hungary dominated the game. In 1964 the forward was a key member of the Hungarian side which finished third in the European Championships in Spain and a year later he was the leading marksman in the Ferencvaros team that shocked Juventus to win the Inter City Fairs Cup. But it was in the 1966 World Cup finals that Albert produced arguably the greatest performance of his career, being involved in all of Hungary's goals in their breathtaking 3-1 victory over Brazil. 
Albert ran the game and impressed to such an extent that the Goodison Park crowd were chanting his name at the end the way they normally did with Alex Young and Derek Temple. Scousers of a certain age still get a bit misty-eyed at the very mention of Albert and his silky runs. 'Oh, he's a charmer, this boy,' noted Kenneth Wolstenholme in his BBC commentary of the match. The three-man move between Albert, Ferenc Bene and János Farkas for the Hungarians second goal is a thing of rare and balletic beauty and the South Americans first finals defeat since their 1954 loss to another great Hungary side is generally regarded as one of the greatest World Cup matches ever. Another 3-1 success - against Bulgaria - saw the Hungarians through to a quarter-final against the Soviet Union at Roker Park, but Albert was marked out of the game by Valeri Voronin and two defensive errors led to a 2-1 defeat and a disappointingly early exit. 
The following year the player nicknamed 'The Emperor' was voted the European Footballer of the Year, but in 1969 he suffered a serious fracture to his right leg in a World Cup qualifier against Denmark. Although Albert was in the Hungary squad which finished fourth at the 1972 European Championships, he was never the same force after the injury and retired in 1974 after scoring thirty one goals in seventy five appearances for Hungary. He then became a journalist and saw his son, Flórián Albert Jr, follow in his footsteps by playing for Ferencvaros and Hungary, for whom he won six caps in the 1990s. In 2007 Ferencvaros showed how much they appreciated Albert's efforts - he scored over two hundred and forty goals for the Budapest club and helped them to four league titles - by renaming their stadium after him.18. Did You Know?: Scotland have qualified for the World Cup finals on eight occasions. But they have never managed to progress beyond the first round. Not even once. A pretty poor showing one might argue. But then, they did score one of the best World Cup goals ever through Wee Archie Gemmill. So, every cloud has a silver lining.
19. Did You Know?: Sometimes the media can go overboard on the strength of one good performance.
Case in point, in the second match of the 2006 tournament Argentina thrashed Serbia and Montenegro 6-0. Watching Riquelme, Crespo, Saviola, Carlos Tevez, Messi, Mascherano et al tear into the hapless Serbs, an series of eager pundits lined-up to give the South Americans a damned good arse-licking and claim that here was something really special. The way, for instance, in which the BBC's Mark Lawrenson poo-pah'd any and every suggestion that we hadn't just seen the 2006 world champions playing in blue and white stripes was rather sickening, frankly. Subsequent Argentina matches, struggling to beat Mexico in a thrilling in the second round and then losing on penalties to Germany - amid highly unsavoury scenes - with hindsight proved that the 6-0 game said far more about the thorough wretchedness of Serbia and Montenegro than it did about Argentina's aspirations to genuine greatness.20. Did You Know?: Antonio Cabrini of Italy was the first player to miss a penalty in a World Cup final, in 1982.
21. Did You Know?: Twenty years after the most painful defeat in the history of Brazilian football in the World Cup final of 1950, Brazil and Uruguay again faced each other in the semi-final in Mexico in 1970. Both teams were strong, although it was the Brazilians who had genuinely captivated the world with their beautiful style as they won all their first round matches, against Czechoslovakia, Romania, and that classic against England.
In the quarter final they defeated Perú 4-2. With Pelé as the star, the Brazilian team around him had some of the most talented players of a generation: Jairzinho, Rivelino, Tostão, Gerson, Clodoaldo and Carlos Alberto. They were, not to put it too mildly, a bit flippin' good. Uruguay, on the other hand, played an entirely different - much more defensive - style of football and had more difficulty in reaching the semis. In the first round group they had finished second behind Italy, defeating Israel but losing to Sweden. Uruguay then beat the USSR 1-0 in dour match after extra time with a goal by Victor Espárrago. Uruguay's star player was their goalkeeper, Ladislao Mazurkiewicz of Peñarol. They didn't concede many but as an attacking force they were limited. When Uruguay went ahead after nineteen minutes through Club Nacional's Luis Cubilla, it seemed the history of the 1950 final could repeat itself. 
Brazil hit back in the last minute of the first half when the extraordinary Clodoaldo dribbled past half-a-dozen Uruguayans to equalise. In the second half Jairzinho put Brazil ahead after a defence-splitting pass from Tostão. Uruguay were unable to respond and, in the last minute, Rivelino put the issue beyond doubt with a shot from the edge of the area and then went completely mental with his post-goal celebrations. The match, however, is perhaps best remembered not for any of the goals, per se, but for a piece of what the BBC's Kenneth Wolstenholme described as 'pure genius' by El Ray in the dying seconds, Pelé tricking the Uruguayan keeper with an outrageous dummy, swivelling and shooting only inches wide.22. Did You Know?: The first goal scored by an Englishman in the World Cup was by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen in 1950.
23. Did You Know?:
The Netherlands squad at the 1974 World Cup was ... ahem, Ruud Geels, Arie Haan, Wim van Hanegem, Kees van Ierssel, Rinus Israël, Wim Jansen, Theo de Jong, Jan Jongbloed, Piet Keizer, René van de Kerkhof, Willy van de Kerkhof, Ruudi Krol, Johan Neeskens, Johan Cruyff, Rob Rensenbrink, Johnny Rep, Wim Rijsbergen, Piet Schrijvers, Pleun Strik, Wim Suurbier, Eddy Treijtel and Harry Vos. Just to prove I can still do it! That's yer actual Keith Telly Topping's party trick, that is!24. Did You Know?: An astonishing save by Gordon Banks from a header by Pele found its way into English footballing legend when the reigning champions met their eventual successors, Brazil, at Guadalajara in June 1970. The game was staged in the oppressive heat of midday. Only mad dogs and footballers would have gone out in such sweltering conditions, and at an altitude which made walking, let alone running, a challenge.
Alan Ball recalled that, before the game Alf Ramsey told his team to treat the ball as though it were made of gold and not to give it away. Albeit, some of the England players' decision to wear a sweatband on one wrist only brought an amused response from several of the Brazilians. The match was just ten minutes old when Pele came face-to-face with a genius among goalkeepers - Banks - in what proved to be a memorable duel. Carlos Alberto put a carefully weighted pass down the right-wing into the path of Jairzinho, who dramatically accelerated past Terry Cooper to the by-line. 'He's left Cooper standing,' David Coleman told the viewers back home as the winger put in a cross which seemed to hang, invitingly, for Pele. The Golden Vision had instinctively read the situation and got himself perfectly positioned beyond his marker Alan Mullery. He rose to meet the ball, heading it with ferocious power downwards towards the bottom corner of the net. Mullery remembers that Pele shouted 'Goal!' immediately as the ball flew off his head. 
So did most of the spectators in the stadium, including the commentators. Banks was rooted on the wrong side of goal but suddenly, with the blurring speed of a cheetah, he dived to his right and somehow managed to get an outstretched hand under the ball to scoop it up and over the bar. Pele, open-mouthed, stopped dead in mid-celebration. This moment of astounding gymnastics from Banks inspired England to give the eventual World Champions their hardest match of the tournament by far, but after a magnificent battle they finally succumbed to a superbly drilled shot by Jairzinho on the hour. He cut in from the right to score after an receiving a deft, perfectly delivered pass from Pele. Jeff Astle had a gilt-edged chance to equalise within moments of coming on as a substitute but he snatched at it and the ball flew agonisingly wide. 
Alan Ball also hit the bar late on but it wasn't to be England's day. A lasting memory of the match for all those lucky enough to have witnessed the classic confrontation was of Bobby Moore and Pele embracing each other after the final whistle before swapping shirts, two genuine masters of the game recognising each other's genius. This was probably Moore's finest ninety minutes in an England shirt and his prefectly timed tackle to stop an on-rushing Jairzinho is yet another iconic moment in a match literally full of them. Evidence that the England players had given their all comes from the fact that several of them lost up to ten pounds in weight after running round in the heat.25. Did You Know?:
The only person to have played both World Cup football and World Cup cricket is the great Vivian Richards of Antigua and the West Indies. The only test cricket umpire to have also officiated in a World Cup football match was the West Indies' Steve Bucknor who took charge of a qualifier between El Salvador and the Netherlands Antilles in 1988.26. Did You Know?: Many great Newcastle United strikers have appeared in the World Cup finals over the years - George Robledo, Jackie Milburn (see left), Ivor Allchurch, Peter Beardsley and Alan Shearer to name but five. How ironic, then, that the only Toon player ever to actually win a World Cup winners medal whilst at St James' Park was Miss Stéphane Guivarc'h.
For those dear blog readers who've blotted the entire incident from their memories - and, jolly well done for that, incidentally - Miss Guivarc'h was signed by Kenny Dalglish from Auxerre on the eve of the 1998 World Cup. She subsequently started in five of France's games on the way to winning the cup, including the final against Brazil. Perhaps significantly, in a freewheeling, high-scoring team of Zidanes, Djorkaeffs and Deschamps', Miss Guivarc'h kept both Christophe Dugarry and, even more significantly, a young Thierry Henry out of the French side and scored a grand total of no goals in her five games. (Her international record was a solitary goal in fourteen appearances.) The phrase 'the first side to win the World Cup without a recognised centre forward' began to be used about the French soon afterwards. Miss Guivarc'h's subsequent time at Newcastle was nothing short of a disaster. Before she'd even kicked a ball in anger (or, indeed, at all) the manager who signed her had been sacked. 
Dalglish's replacement, Ruud Gullit, clearly didn't fancy the Frenchwoman and after just two starts for the Magpies and two further appearances as substitute (one goal, a mishit shot from six yards that needed the assistance of a post against Liverpool) Miss Guivarc'h was transferred to Rangers. Where she barely lasted six months before returning to France. Least it be thought there's nothing good to be said about her, it should be noted that in October 2009, Guivarc'h appeared at number one in a list, compiled by the Daily Scum Mail, of the Fifty Worst Strikers ever to play in the Premier League. She responded by saying 'It is truly a crap newspaper.' Well said. Mind you, even a broken clock's right twice a day.27. Did You Know?:
Given that the estimated worldwide television audience for the opening game of the 1998 World Cup tournament (Brazil vs Scotland) was approximately 1.3 billion people, Darren Jackson's clearly audible 'Fekkin' Hell!' when he got booked for a crunching foul of Dunga after twenty four minutes has now been recognised as the world's most widely-heard obscenity.28. Did You Know?: The greatest moments of televised football analysis came during the 2006 World Cup.
Martin O'Neill, working for the BBC, at half-time in the rather uninvolving Italy vs Ukraine quarter-final suddenly went off on a Charlie Parker-style jazz-solo concerning his appreciation of all things Italian. This culminated in a beautifully delivered punchline about how 'in 60BC Pompey, Caesar and Crassus got together to form The First Triumvurate and, at the same time, invented the offside trap,' a joke so subtle that it left Mssrs Lineker, Shearer and Hansen utterly speechless. Martin O'Neill, what a chap.29. Did You Know?: That lost generation of English internationals who never got to play in a single World Cup finals match includes - drum-roll please - Terry Venables (two caps, 1964), Mick Jones (three caps, 1965-70),
John Hollins (one cap, 1967), David Sadler (four caps, 1967-70), Cyril Knowles (four caps, 1967-68), Mike Summerbee (eight caps, 1968-72), John Radford (two caps, 1969-71), Ralph Coates (four caps, 1970-71), Martin Chivers (twenty four caps, 1971-73), Joe Royle (six caps, 1971-77), Colin Harvey (one cap, 1971), Peter Storey (nineteen caps, 1971-73), Paul Madeley (twenty four caps, 1971-77), 
Rodney Marsh (see right, nine caps, 1971-73), Malcolm MacDonald (see left, fourteen caps, 1972-76), Colin Todd (twenty seven caps, 1972-77), Tony Currie (seventeen caps, 1972-79), Ray Clemence (sixty one caps, 1972-84), Mick Channon (forty six caps, 1972-77), John Richards (one cap, 1973), Kevin Hector (two caps, 1973), Dave Watson (sixty five caps, 1974-82), Stan Bowles (see left, five caps, 1974-77), Frank Worthington (eight caps, 1974), Gerry Francis (twelve caps, 1974-76), Alan Hudson (two caps, 1975), Kevin Beattie (nine caps, 1975-77), Dennis Tueart (six caps, 1975-77), 
Ray Kennedy (seventeen caps, 1976-80), Brian Greenhoff (eighteen caps, 1976-80), Joe Corrigan (nine caps 1976-82), Charlie George (one cap, 1976), Terry McDermott (twenty five caps, 1977-82), Bob Latchford (twelve caps, 1977-79), Peter Barnes (twenty two caps, 1977-82), Laurie Cunningham (six caps (1979-80), Peter Withe (eleven caps, 1981-85) and Cyrille Regis (five caps, 1982-87). By contrast, Neil Webb did play in the World Cup. Sometimes, truly, there is no justice.30. Did You Know?: Five teams have remained unbeaten in a World Cup tournament but not become the champions: Scotland in 1974 (one win, two draws), Brazil in 1978 (four wins, three draws), England in 1982 (three wins, two draws), Cameroon in 1982 (three draws) and Belgium in 1998 (three draws).
31. Did You Know?: Johan Cruyff was, pretty much, the perfect footballer. He had the lot - two fabulous feet, mesmeric ball skills, a body-swerve that could send not just a defender but most of the crowd the wrong way and much, much more. Cruyff was at the heart of everything the Netherlands did in the 1974 World Cup - quite literally. All fifteen of their goals in the tournament either started or ended with their captain.
Probably Cruyff's finest moment - and certainly the one that has, since, become the most replayed - was in a group match against Sweden. Marked tightly by the Swedish right-back, Jan Olsson, Cruyff collected a long pass, held off his opponent and then produced, in one movement, an outrageous piece of skill to flick the ball between his own legs and totally bamboozle the hapless Olsson, who suddnely found himself tackling thin-air whilst heading in completely the wrong direction. Cruyff's subsequent cross came to nothing and, indeed, what's often forgotten is that the game itself ended in a 0-0 draw (albeit one of the most entertaining 0-0 draws you've ever seen) but a legend was born. The Cruyff Turn. If ever a single moment defined a World Cup tournament, then this was it.32. Did You Know?:
Héctor Castro of Uruguay, who played in the first World Cup in 1930, is the only World Cup footballer to have had only one arm. A hugely popular striker with Club Nacional, he lost his right forearm in an accident with an electric saw when he was thirteen. Because of this his nickname among fans was El Manco (meaning 'the maimed').33. Did You Know?: Last minute goals. They're a little art all of their own, are they not?
When an injury time equaliser by Robbie Rocket-Pants Keane gave plucky Eire a thoroughly merited 1-1 draw against Germany in 2002, yer actual Keith Telly Topping was, at the time, in the Gallowgate Irish club proudly celebrating his own Celtic heritage, singing 'In a Lonely Brixton Prison where an Oirish Rebel Lay' and 'Raglan Road' at the top of his not-inconsiderable voice. Don't knock it, through my County Mayo-born great grandfather, James Gallagher, I was just as qualified to support them as Matti O'Holland was to play for them. Begorrah. I must say, I love Motty's commentry on this goal.34. Did You Know?: The first World Cup match decided on penalty shoot-out was the semi-final between West Germany and France on 8 July 1982 in which the Germans - against all laws of natural justice - won 5-4.
35. Did You Know?: If Theo Walcott – seventeen years and one hundred days – had got on the pitch during the 2006 World Cup finals he would have become the third youngest player to appear in the competition behind Norman Whiteside (see left, seventeen years,
forty one days for Northern Ireland in 1982) and Samual E'to (seventeen years, ninety nine days for Cameroon in 1998). Whiteside remains, also, the youngest player ever to be booked in the World Cup finals when he got a yellow card in his debut against Yugoslavia - something that he is very proud of, apparently! Rigobert Song of Cameroon is the youngest player to be sent off in the World Cup (seventeen years, three hundred and fifty eight days against Brazil in 1994). Pele is the youngest player to score in the World Cup finals (seventeen years, two hundred and thirty nine days against Wales, 1958).36. Did You Know?: Led by Hans Krankl and Bruno Pezzey, Austria reached the World Cup finals of both 1978 and 1982 and on each occasion they reached the Second Round and played West Germany. But the circumstances of the two matches were very different. The 1978 Austria team is widely regarded as their best post-World War II side. In Argentina, they were seemingly destined to finish last in their Second Round group, but at Córdoba in their final game against West Germany, they sparked a major upset by eliminated the defending champions, beating them 3-2, thanks to a spectacular winner by centre-forward Krankl (see right).
The celebrating report of radio commentator Edi Finger ('I werd narrisch!') became as famous in Austria as Kenneth Woolstenholme's 'some people are on the pitch' line is in Britain. In Spain in 1982, it was all very different. Austria and West Germany met again, in the last game of round one. Because the other final match in the group had been played the previous day, the two teams knew that a West German win by one goal would see both of them qualify for the next round. A larger win would eliminate Austria and an Austrian win would knock out West Germany. After ten minutes, Horst Hrubesch (see left) scored for West Germany. Thereafter the two teams proceeded to simply kick the ball around meaninglessly for the remaining eighty minutes with virtually no attempt to attack from either side. 
The game became known as the 'de Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón' (the non-aggression pact of Gijon). Algeria had also won two games, including a shock win over Germany in the tournament opener, but were eliminated on goal difference directly because of the Gijon result. The Algerian supporters were understandably furious and even many of the Austrian and West German fans showed themselves to be extremely unhappy with the nature of their progression. As a result of the furore over this game, all future tournaments would see the last group games played simultaneously.37. Did You Know?: You might not know the name Ilunga Mwepu, but you've almost certainly seen him in action. Mwepu was the Zaire right-back who spectacularly cleared a Brazilian free kick in a 1974 World Cup group game by lashing it up the field ... before any Brazilian had chance to take it.
Obviously, you're not actually allowed to do that under the laws of the game and Mwepu was given a yellow card (much to his, seemingly, surprise) by the, rather sour-faced Romanian referee, Nicolae Rainea. Mwepu has become a figure of fun ever since his moment of madness was broadcast to a global audience of several hundred million. However, according to Mwepu's Wikipedia page, there was more going on than we realised at the time. Mwepu claims that the Zaire players' bonus money was being stolen by the country's dictator Mobutu Sese Sekos's guards and that the guards had threatened the team with violence if they lost by more than three goals to Brazil. Mwepu claims, therefore, that he was merely wasting time. The game did end 3-0 to Brazil and everybody was happy. Well, except for Scotland who were eliminated because they had only scored twice against the Congolese in an earlier group game.38. Did You Know?: Rubbish moments of World Cup TV analysis, number one: 'That's a dreadful result for England,' said anchorman Bob Wilson after Sweden's 2-1 victory over Nigeria in 2002.
'It means they must get something out of Argentina...' Because, of course, otherwise they were just going to play for a 1-0 defeat, weren't they? Prat. Meanwhile, an ITV spokesman had, apparently, blamed the disastrous ratings figures for their World Cup coverage that year on 'the actions of a simple-minded oaf.' Paul Gascoigne was heard to comment: 'It's nice of the lads to blame it on an oaf, but really I can't help thinking it's partly down to me...' And, whilst I really don't want it to seem like I'm picking on the bloke unnecessarily, who the hell's idiotic idea was it to have David Pleat pass 'expert' comments on the World Cup. That's like having somebody from the local amateur dramatic society introducing the Oscars. My God, he's a fraud that bloke, isn't he? What is he supposed to be an 'expert' on, exactly? Avoiding relegation?39. Did You Know?: The question of England's World Cup songs is always something of a vexed one. Many people prefer some of the unofficial ones like 'Vindaloo', 'Inertia Kicks' (well, at least it's honest, we are just a bunch of losers!) and 'England's Irie' (particularly as the latter finally saw Joe Strummer finally getting his boat-race on Top of the Pops).
Of the official ones, 'World In Motion' remains a genuine masterpiece - the finest football-related record ever made by anyone ... not that it's got much competition to beat, of course. And John Barnes' rap was his finest performance in an England shirt by about a mile and a half. 'Three Lions' was pretty good too, if a bit self-pitying and it plays up to some daft stereotypes. And even dear old 'Back Home' had a certain cheesy charm that made it loveable then and still a bit loveable now. But, the sooner we all forget 1982's 'This Time (We'll Get It Right)', or 1998's 'On Top of the World' featuring the Spice Girls, the better. Yes, I know the latter was written by Johnny Marr and Ian McCulloch, but it was still crap!40. Did You Know?: To date, Brazil remain the only country to have won a World Cup on a continent other than their own. In actual fact, they've done it three times, winning in Europe (1958), North America (1994) and Asia (2002).
41. Did You Know?:
In the 1995 BBC series Football Fussball, Voetbal Jurgan Klinsmann - looking more like Carol Thatcher than ever, these days - said, concerning the utter hatred felt towards the Germans by many Dutchmen: 'I think it goes back to the 1974 World Cup final.' Actually, Jurgen, you'll probably find it goes back to a bunch of goosestepping fascist bullyboys occupying the Netherlands for six years and half-starving their population to death during the winter of 1944. Just a wild stab in the dark, there.42. Did You Know?: The USSR refused to play the second-leg of a World Cup qualifying play-off in Chile in 1973.
This was because thousands of left-wing prisoners and protestors against the vile Pinochet military regime – including the noted folk musician Victor Jara - had been interned, tortured and murdered in the national stadium in Santiago where the match was scheduled to be played. The Chileans, of course, turned up on the scheduled day, scored a symbolic 'goal' and then went back to cheerfully murdering more dissidents. FIFA - those noted cowardly appeasers of bullies and fascists - nevertheless awarded the match to Chile, 2-0 and they thus qualified for the finals in West Germany. Where, thankfully, they couldn't even beat Australia and went home after the first round. Good. The stadium itself - Estadio Nacional de Chile – is now regularly used as a venue for outdoor concerts and people like Whitney Houston, Guns N' Roses, Peter Gabriel and Sting continue to torture poor innocent Chileans who just want to be left alone. The utter bastards.43. Did You Know?:
Italy - usually - play in azure blue shirts rather than the colours of its national flag – red, green and white - a custom that dates back to the country's pre-republican days. Blue was the official colour of the Royal House of Savoy and the Azzurri tribute to the Italian monarchy survives to this day. Plus, most of the players look pure drop dead sexy in them.44. Did You Know?: Robbie Rensenbrink, of the Netherlands, scored the one thousandth goal in World Cup finals history. Rensenbrink netted from the penalty spot in that famous 3-2 defeat against Scotland in 1978 in the final group stage match. You know, the one where Wee Archie score that goal.
But, it was the Scots who went home in ignominy and shame following their calamitous defeat to Peru and draw with Iran - not to mention a drug-scandal - whilst the Dutch marched on to the final. There, Rensenbrink had the chance, in the final minute of normal time, to beat the hosts, win the World Cup and, in all probability, start a popular political movement in Argentine society that would have led the fall of the criminally psychopathic military Junta. Alas, the stupid plank hit the post instead with just seconds to spare, the Argy-bargies - of course - won it in extra time and there would be four more years of oppression and disperaus before a disastrous war with Britain over the Falkland Islands finally saw the right-wing bastards fall. All your fault, Robbie. Including the sinking of the Belgrano.45. Did You Know?: A spectacular refereeing error by Ali Kandil of Egypt during the 1970 first-round game between hosts Mexico and first time qualifiers El Salvador left the Central Americans apoplectic.
The minnows had held out bravely until the forty fourth minute and were awarded a free-kick deep in their own half. However, as they casually looked at each other wondering who was going to take it, Mexico's Padilla stepped up quickly took the kick, passing to a team mate who ran down the wing – unchallenged by any of the bewildered Salvadorans – and crossed for Valdivia to poke home the opener. The furious Salvadorans promptly surrounded Kandil and his linesman, kicking the ball into the crowd and challenging the referee to book or send them off. Kandil, wisely, blew for half-time and, literally, ran from the pitch to the protection of the dressing room. The Mexicans just stood around looking a bit sheepish about the whole thing. In the second half, El Salvador, by now with a collective chimney well and truly on, big-style, continued to kick the ball into the crowd as often as possible and generally act all pissed-off, outraged and morally indignant. They lost the match 4-0.46. Did You Know?:
Jairzinho scored in all of Brazil's six matches in the 1970 World Cup for which he received the epithet 'Furacão da Copa' (World Cup Hurricane). Four years later, it took Brazil until the twelfth minute of their third game - against Zaire - to fashion any sort of a goal, from anyone. Typically, it was scored by yer man Jairzinho, by now looking like a lost sixth member of The Jackson Five.47. Did You Know?: In Mexico in 1970, Uwe Seeler of West Germany became the first European player to appear in four consecutive World Cup finals when appearing in the 2-1 win against Morocco.
48. Did You Know?: Because of the time difference between Central America and Western Europe, the powerful European TV companies in Britain, Italy and West Germany insisted to FIFA that the original planned evening kick-off times for the 1970 World Cup be changed so that matches could broadcast during European peak-hours. This resulted in some games kicking-off at noon Mexico time in truly terrifying heat and altitude. The pictures were less than perfect because the Mexicans used a different television system, the 525-line NTSC, and the live feed had to go through a conversion process. In some ways, this almost seemed to help with the aura which surrounded that particular World Cup, the first to be broadcast in colour.
The near-artificial hues of the 1970 TV pictures - bright almost to the point of halluncinogenic - still makes watching highlights of Mexico 70 perilously close to the experience of viewing Yellow Submarine whilst on Very Hard Drugs. It is still, generally, considered to be the best World Cup finals tournament of all time as experienced through the medium of TV (although, being the contrary individual that he is, yer actual Keith Telly Topping slightly prefers 1974). Certainly 1970 was a resounding success for ITV whose viewing figures bettered those of the BBC (the only time this has ever happened). This was in part due to the - often heated - London studio debates chaired by Jimmy Hill who had selected the analysis panellists to appear on ITV's World Cup broadcasts. Malcolm Allison (then manager of Manchester City), Derek Dougan (of Wolves and Northern Ireland), Pat Crerand (Manchester United and Scotland) and Bob McNab (Arsenal and England). The ITV commentary team in Mexico comprised Hugh Johns, Gerald Sinstadt, Roger Malone and Gerry Harrison. Billy Wright joined Johns as co-commentator whilt, after England's quarter-final elimination, Bobby Moore co-commentated on a semi-final and the final. Brian Moore stayed behind in London to present the programmes. Back in the 1960s, according to Moore, 'Football criticism on television had been fairly mealy-mouthed up until 1970. It was important you said the right thing. And then we came to the 1970 World Cup. Jimmy ... decided we would have a panel with a difference. We wanted one or two extroverts.' It was the biggest extrovert of all, Champagne Malcolm who was the undoubted star. Packing an enormous cigar - sometimes blowing smoke in Dougan's face to put the Irishman off - and looking as though he'd been having an absolutely great time in the Green Room beforehand, Malcolm used the opportunity to give the viewers his - never dull - thoughts on many aspects of the world of football, and beyond: 'Why are we technically better in Europe? Because we play against peasants!' 
Either that, or he'd spend the programme criticising Dougan's choice of shirt. Four years later it was even better when ITV's 1974 World Cup panel consisted, again of Dougan, Allison and Crerand (for Scotland's games) plus Big Jack Charlton (who spent the entire tournament referring to the Netherlands' captain as 'Cruff'!), Bob Moncur and Brian Clough. It was often like Gunfight at the OK Corral. The BBC's 1970 coverage, by contrast was hosted by Frank Bough in London and David Coleman in Mexico. Among the ever changing BBC panellists were two future ITV mainstays, Cloughie (who memorably said that the Brazilians must be the greatest team of all time because 'their goalkeeper is rubbish and they still keep beating teams!') and Ian St John. Others included Joe Mercer and Don Revie who memorably contributed analysis to the England vs Brazil game, along with Ray Wilson, Bob Wilson and Johnny Haynes. The commentators in Mexico were Ken Wolstenholme, Coleman, Barry Davies, Alan Weeks and the now pretty much forgotten Idwal Robling. The BBC's World Cup theme tune was 'Mexico Grandstand' performed by the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. It was released as a single on the Fontana label. But, it couldn't match the success of 'Back Home.'49. Did You Know?: The lowest ever attendance for a World Cup finals match was three hundred for the game between Romania and Peru in Montevideo in 1930.
50. Did You Know?: It was a clash of two footballing titans in the second group stage of the 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany when the Netherlands met Brazil. This was the golden generation of Dutch football, all rock-star hair, sideburns and stunning innovation. It was the team of 'Total Football,' where defenders attacked and attackers ...
attacked as well. And at the centre of it all was Johan Cruyff. Because of a potential colour clash, both sides wore their change strip. The Dutch chose white shirts with orange socks whilst Brazil changed from their famous canary yellow tops to dark blue. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come. With the Dutch needing only a draw to reach the final, the game was always going to be fierce and competitive and the match was a catalogue of often savage fouls that went largely unpunished by the thoroughly uninvolved referee, Herr Tschenscher of Germany. Both sides had good chances in an ill-tempered first half with the Brazilians committing the majority of the fouls. If they hadn't already cast a shadow over their marvellous displays in Mexico four years earlier, they certainly did so in this game; Cruyff was rugby tackled by Zé Maria, Neeskens was punched in the face and flattened in an off-the-ball incident with Marinho Peres, Wim Jansen was floored by a blatant body-check and the impressive, but excitable Luis Pereira was sent off six minutes from time for a wild and potentially career-ending knee-high hack on Neeskens having already been booked earlier in the match for starting an ugly scuffle. 
Pereira then, foolishly, remonstrated with hostile Dutch fans in the crowd as he left the field. The Dutch were presented with the best scoring opportunities of the first half although Brazil's attacks were more incisive: Valdomiro rounded Arie Haan, Jongbloed flapped at the ball, and was very relieved to see it ricochet to safety after being half-blocked by Rijsbergen (all this happening whilst Neeskens lay flat out at the other end following the incident with Peres). The Netherlands, relied heavily on the offside trap - far more than in previous games - but the World Champions had, it seemed, been well-briefed, and opened up the Dutch defence on several occasions; Dirceu put Paulo César Lima through, only for the veteran of 1970 to shoot wide. Subsequently, Van Hanegem found Suurbier in a good position on the left. 
The shot was saved at the near post, before Suurbier's somewhat late challenge the Brazilian goalkeeper provoked a ten man brawl with a lot of angry Brazilians. It was following this that Pereira received his yellow card. In the next attack Johnny Rep, having been balked off the ball, charged straight into Pereira to more puishing and shoving. It had to be said, though, that even in a fast developing war of attrition, the Dutch's decision to mix it was still touched with quality. Even their fouls seemed to have a splash of class about them. Early in the second half, the Netherlands won a free-kick in their own half, which the great van Hanegem (the most impressive player on the pitch) took quickly, the ball swiftly arriving at the feet of Cruyff on the right. He centred it to Neeskens who stretched out a leg and toe-poked a shot that looped over the keeper and into the net. Fifteen minutes later the Clockwork Oranje sealed the victory - Ruud Krol received the ball from a suspiciously offside-looking Rob Rensenbrink and crossed to Cruyff who volleyed home, brilliantly, from close range. The contest wasn't quite over. Marinho Chagas flicked the ball over the defence and Jongbloed fumbled nervously. Rinus Israël came on when Neeskens was injured by Pereira's horrible tackle. Mirandinha then tried to provoke a controntation with the big centre back: a contemptuous shrug of the Dutchman's shoulders was all he got for his efforts. 
In the dying minutes, Jairzinho even managed to foul the inoffensive Jongbloed, swinging wildly at the goalkeeper's ankles as he ambled out to clear another speculative through ball. The crowd, strongly pro-Netherlands, were so incensed after this particular piece of needless aggression that they refused to return the ball - despite some pleading by Cruyff - and replacement had to be found. The Netherlands, it seemed, had won more than a football game. They had proved that Brazil could be matched and beaten at their own brand of the beautiful game. It appeared a sign of the times with the end of unadulterated free-flowing football and its replacement with Cruyff and co's version. But, four days later, it would all came to pieces in their hands.
