The World Cup trophy, which was named after former FIFA president Jules Rimet, was stolen prior to the 1966 tournament before being found by a dog named Pickles.
Italian keeper Dino Zoff's record of not conceding any goals in 1142 minutes was ended by a goal from Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon in the 1974 World Cup.
France defender Laurent Blanc scored the first golden goal in the World Cup, striking home against Paraguay in the 133rd minute in the first knockout round of the 1998 tournament.
The Holland-Portugal clash in the 2006 World Cup round of 16 broke the record for cards as Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handed the players 16 yellow cards and four reds.
English referee Graham Poll mistakenly booked Croatia's Josip Simunic three times before sending him off in the 2006 World Cup.
South Korea and Japan became the first World Cup co-hosts when they hosted the 2002 tournament.
Brazil are the only team who never missed the World Cup.
Uruguay took a public holiday after its team won the 1930 World Cup on home soil.
Indonesia, under the name Dutch East Indies, became the first Asian team to compete at the World Cup after qualifying for the 1938 tournament.
Peru's Mario de Las Casas became the first player to be sent off in the World Cup in a game against Romania in the 1930 tournament.
Luis Monti was the only player to play with two teams in the World Cup - Argentina in 1930 and Italy in 1934.
Austria withdrew from the 1938 World Cup due to its annexation by Germany.
The Italian team received a telegram from dictator Benito Mussolini before the 1938 World Cup final that read: "win or die".
FIFA announced that, from 1950, the World Cup trophy would in the future be known as the Jules Rimet Cup.
The Brazil-Hungary clash in the 1954 World Cup quarter final, which became known as the 'Battle of Berne', witnessed some ugly scenes that included fisticuffs and three red cards.
Fritz and Ottmar Walter of West Germany became the first brothers in a winning World Cup side after their side won the tournament in 1954.
Hungary had a run of 29 unbeaten matches before losing to Germany in the 1954 World Cup final.
France's Juste Fontaine holds the record number of goals scored in one World Cup with 13 goals registered in the 1958 tournament.
Brazil's Garrincha was sent off in the 1962 World Cup semi final against Chile but still played in the final against Czechoslovakia.
Chile were hit by a massive earthquake two years before hosting the World Cup in 1962.