FIFA World Cup
The world championship for men’s national football teams, organized by FIFA and generally held every four years.
Starting with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, covering your mouth during a confrontation can draw a red card. The rule followed Vinícius Júnior accusing a Benfica opponent of racial abuse—but the opponent had covered his mouth, so UEFA couldn't gather evidence.
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Many 2026 FIFA World Cup stadiums are NFL venues that normally use turf. Since FIFA requires real grass, sod grown for months at farms is cut, trucked in, and relaid weeks before matches. MetLife Stadium got an entirely new grass field shipped from a North Carolina farm.
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FIFA erases non-sponsor logos from World Cup stadiums under its "clean stadium" rule. In 2026, Levi's Stadium got a sheet over its logo and a new name, "San Francisco Bay Area Stadium" — but photos of the cover-up went viral, giving Levi's more buzz than its old signage ever did.
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In 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo scored against Uzbekistan to become the first man ever to net a goal in six different FIFA World Cups (2006–2026).
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A smoother ball might seem better, but Trionda was designed with intentionally deep seams. The grooves create sufficient, evenly distributed drag across its surface to keep its flight more stable.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup ball, Trionda, is made from just four panels — the fewest in men's World Cup history and one-fifth of the 20 used in the previous tournament's ball.
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Only twice in World Cup history has a match ended 0-9: Korea lost 0-9 to Hungary at the 1954 Swiss World Cup, and Zaire lost 0-9 to Yugoslavia in 1974. Zaire's players had all but downed tools, protesting a government that siphoned off their wages and bonuses.
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In the 1974 World Cup, Zaire defender Mwepu Ilunga bolted from the wall and cleared the ball before Brazil's free kick, getting carded. Not ignorance: dictator Mobutu Sese Seko warned that losing by over 0-4 meant nobody returned alive. He stalled; Zaire held on 0-3.
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The trophy FIFA World Cup winners lift is a gold-plated replica. FIFA keeps the genuine 18-karat gold original. After Brazil kept the Jules Rimet Trophy outright in 1970, it was stolen in 1983 and never recovered, likely melted for gold. FIFA has never handed over the current original.
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The first FIFA World Cup final in 1930 used two different balls. Argentina and Uruguay both wanted their own ball, so FIFA split the match: Argentina’s ball in the first half, Uruguay’s in the second. Argentina led 2-1 at halftime; Uruguay came back to win 4-2.
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Four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a London exhibition. A week later, a dog named Pickles found it wrapped in newspaper under a south London hedge, and his owner received the reward.
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