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for most World Cup wins, with five wins. Italy have won it four times and Germany three times.

- Only seven nations have won the World Cup. Joining Brazil, Italy and Germany on the podium have been Argentina, Uruguay, England and France.

- Real Madrid hold the record for the most Champions Cup wins, with nine. AC Milan have seven wins and Liverpool five.

- In 2008, Manchester United won the FIFA World Club Cup, having already won the English Premier League and the Champions League in the same year. This meant that they had become reigning domestic champions, champions of Europe and champions of the world.

Quirky Facts:

- Lucien Laurent, of France, was the first ever player to score in a World Cup. His goal for France against Mexico in the opening game of the inaugural World Cup, in 1930, must have made the fifteen day sea journey worthwhile. Laurent was an amateur and had to ask his employer to allow him time off work. They agreed but it was unpaid leave.

- One of the most famous football scams was played out on Southampton's Scottish manager, Graeme Souness. Souness had been known as an extremely tough tackling player but, as a manager, his defensive qualities were less in evidence as he was fooled into signing a Senegalese player, called Ali Dia. Dia was an amateur player of limited ability and Southampton were an established top flight team in England. Souness received a call purporting to be from famous Liberian international George Weah. The fake Weah told Souness that Dia was an international and had played for Paris St Germain in the French league. On the basis of this, Souness signed up Dia and brought him on as a substitute in a match against Leeds. They say that everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame but in Dia's case it was 21 minutes and then he was substituted, having proven to be woefully short of ability!

Sources:

The World Cup's Strangest Moments' by Peter Seddon.

Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.
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