21 — the four European teams that competed at the first World Cup (Romania, Belgium, France and Yugoslavia) set sail for Uruguay on June 21, 1930.
22 — North Korea took a shocking 3-0 lead after only 22 minutes against Portugal in the quarter-finals of the 1966 World Cup, only to see the Portuguese storm back to win the game 5-3.
23 — Uruguay's Alcides Ghiggia was 23 when he scored the winning goal against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup decider at Rio's Maracana Stadium. Years later, Ghiggia famously said: "Only three people have ever silenced 200,000 people at the Maracana with a single gesture: Frank Sinatra, Pope John Paul II and me."
24 — the number of consecutive passes made by Argentina before midfielder Esteban Cambiasso scored against Serbia and Montenegro during the first round of the 2006 World Cup.
25 — Germany’s Lothar Matthaus has played in a tournament record 25 games at the World Cup.
26 — on May 26, 1928, at its Amsterdam conference, FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, announced plans to stage a World Cup tournament independent of the Olympics. Two years later, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay.
27 — Hungary scored the most goals by one team at a single tournament, finding the back of the net 27 times in 1954 in Switzerland.
28 — Hungary entered the 1954 World Cup as the favourites, having gone undefeated in their previous 28 games (24 wins, four draws) in international play, before losing to West Germany in the final.
29 — 1929 was the year in which FIFA awarded Uruguay the right to host the first World Cup.
30 — the number of referees who will work the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. They'll come from 28 countries.
31 — Australia defeated American Samoa 31-0 in 2001, the largest margin of victory ever in a World Cup qualifying game.
32 — the number of teams the tournament expanded to (from 24) in 1998 in France.
33 — Ireland asked FIFA to let it enter the 2010 World Cup as the tournament's 33rd team after Thierry Henry's infamous handball helped France qualify for the competition at the expense of the Irish. Their request was denied.
34 — born in Buenos Aires, Luis Monti is the only person to have played in two World Cup finals for different countries, representing Italy in 1934 after playing for Argentina four years earlier.
35 — the height (in centimetres) of the World Cup trophy presented to Uruguay after it defeated Argentina in the final of the first World Cup, in 1930.
36 — Polish legend Zbigniew Boniek was the 36th player in World Cup history to record a hat trick, scoring three past Belgium in 1982. Regarded as one of the best players of his era, Boniek was suspended for the semifinals that year against Italy, which easily won 2-0.
37 — the minute in which Guillermo Stabile scored to give Argentina a 2-1 lead in the 1930 World Cup final. Uruguay came from behind to win 4-2.
38 — Joe Gaetjens scored in the 38th minute for the U.S. against England in the first round of the 1950 World Cup. The Americans went on to win 1-0, registering the greatest upset in tournament history.
39 — Gary Lineker, one of only two English players to score three goals in a game at the World Cup, recorded the 39th hat trick in tournament history in 1986.
40 — Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff was 40 when he became the oldest player ever to win the World Cup, at the 1982 tournament in Spain.
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