Top 10 Unbelievable Football Fun Facts You Never Knew You Needed to Know

1. Scottish Borrowers

When Scotland borrowed England's only footballing "cup of sugar" and never returned it: Berwick Rangers, an English club, played in the Scottish Professional Football League from 1881 until their relegation in 2019, making them the only non-Scottish team to have ever competed in the Scottish league system.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. Leverkusen's Laughter & Near-Misses

Like a jester who moonlights as a goalkeeper, Bayer 04 Leverkusen has cornered the market on laughs and near-misses: Founded by pharmaceutical workers, the team holds a record in German football with five Bundesliga runner-up titles, one DFB-Pokal, one UEFA Cup, and an exhilarating but ultimately bittersweet UEFA Champions League final appearance in 2001-02, where they fell 2-1 to Real Madrid.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

Did you know soccer players run an impressive 11 km per game on average? That's over five times the distance covered by American football players! Discover more fascinating soccer facts here.

=> Fun Facts about Soccer

3. Potty-Mouthed Precision

In the realm of "say it, don't spray it", one footballer took potty-mouthed precision to new heights: Lee Todd was shown a red card just two seconds into a Somerset Sunday League match for spewing foul language, making it one of the fastest red cards in football history and earning copious media attention, albeit still shy of an official Guinness World Record nod.
Source => sportbible.com

4. Hat-Trick Pioneer's Rewardless Feat

Before fashionable fedoras and terrific top hats entered the mix, soccer stars only dreamt of headgear honors: The first football hat-trick was scored by John McDougall in 1878, and despite his triple-goal triumph for Scotland against England in a 7-2 victory, he didn't receive a tiny titfer or any symbolic reward like today's celebrated hat-trick heroes.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Pelé: The Teen Prodigy

Talk about dribbling out of the womb: Pelé, the iconic poverty-born football legend, was scouted by Santos FC and kicked off his professional career by scoring a goal at his debut match at the tender age of 15! This prodigy went on to bag six league titles, two Copa Libertadores with Santos, and an impressive hat trick of World Cup trophies with the Brazilian national team.
Source => the-sun.com

6. WWI Football Allies

In a plot twist that would make Hollywood screenwriters envious, the Western Front during WWI transformed into a friendship zone sprinkled with chocolates and cigars: During the Christmas Truce of 1914, soldiers from both sides engaged in temporary ceasefires, recovering wounded comrades, exchanging gifts, and even playing the occasional casual soccer game, though organized matches with referees and goals were not as common.
Source => latimes.com

7. Ancient Chinese Kickoff

Before the Chinese invented paper to write their takeout menu, they also came up with a kickin' good pastime: Football actually dates back to the third century B.C. when the sport involved kicking a ball into nets, and now it's so popular, it's heading to the Qatar World Cup.
Source => nationalgeographic.com

8. Football: Universal and Unrivaled

Donning their favorite team's jersey and screaming at TVs with unparalleled passion, "GOOOAAAaal" worldwide enthusiasts explode in joy, not just in local pubs but across the entire galaxy: Football does indeed reign supreme with an estimated 250 million active players, making it one of the most popular sports played in most countries, governed by FIFA and its six continental confederations, boasting prestigious competitions like the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. World Cup Tweetstorm

If tweets could play football, they’d be dribbling past defenders and scoring goals left, right, and center: During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a mind-boggling 672 million tweets were sent relating to the tournament, with the semifinals match between Brazil and Germany alone amassing a record of 35 million tweets.
Source => cnn.com

10. Football's Three Stooges Era

Back in the day, football was more like an episode of The Three Stooges than the World Cup we know today: tripping, hacking, and awkward hand shoves were all put to an end with The Football Association's rules in 1863, which also prohibited carrying the ball and snatching it off the ground with one's hands during the game. The offside rule later made its grand debut in 1866, finally adding some semblance of order to the sport.
Source => sqaf.club