1. Since 1966 and ‘World Cup Willie’ the lion, each FIFA World Cup has had a mascot. These range from a Spanish orange, a Mexican jalapeno pepper to a Brazillian three-banded armadillo – the mascot of the 2014 tournament.
2. The World cup trophy, introduced in 1974, has room for 17 inscriptions of the winners name on its base. This will be enough space for every winner until 2038.
3. 22 World Cup games have been decided by penalty shoot out, as of the start of the 2014 tournament. Germany top the charts for being the most successful with four wins, at the bottom of the pile is England with three loses and zero wins.
4. The fastest goal ever scored in World Cup history was in 2002. Turkey player Haken Suker scored against South Korea 10.8 seconds into the game.
5. When the original Jules Rimet World Cup trophy was stolen in 1966, it was found after a week of searching by a dog named Pickles who was out on a walk with his owner.
For an eyewitness account of the 1966 world cup final, pick up issue 14 of All About History here and you can also find out who won the very first world cup here.