The World Cup fever is here and with the global football tournament just months away, the excitement is slowly gathering.
Well, with it will come a lot of fake football fanatics and prophets and thus to separate the chaff from the wheat; here are some facts that you can use to arm yourself.
First things first, this year's World Cup will be held in Russia from 14 June to 15 July so brace yourself.
[caption caption="FIFA World Cup 2018 logo "]
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Winner’s reward
Other than bragging rights for clinching the cup, the winning team bags Ksh3.5 Billion while the runner-up takes home Ksh2.5 Billion for their valiant effort.
By just appearing in the group stages, a team gets Ksh808 Million.
[caption caption="2014 World Cup winners, Germany "]
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If you are wondering how FIFA manages to make the disbursements, well it is recorded that the football tournament rakes in a staggering Ksh404.4 Billion during the month-long tournament.
Increased birth rates
You may be wondering, what does birth rates have to do with football. well...
“Nine months after Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006 their country’s birth rate increased more than 10 percent,” reads a report on the FIFA website.
Maybe it’s the general feel-good atmosphere and the droves of beer available that encourages people to have babies.
Expensive budgets
When it comes to huge budgets, Brazil’s World Cup was by far the most expensive. Brazil’s budget of over $14 Billion eclipsed the five previous tournaments’ budgets combined.
[caption caption="FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014"]
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Here’s a breakdown of how much those tournaments cost:
1994 (US) – Ksh3 Billion
1998 (France) – Ksh34.3 Billion
2002 (Japan/South Korea) – Ksh500 Billion
2006 (Germany) – Ksh600 Billion
2010 (South Africa) – Ksh400 Billion
A couple of onfield facts that will guarantee you a win include:
The most goals scored by a player in a world cup match were five by Russia’s Oleg Salenko.
Austria’s match against Switzerland in 1954 is the highest scoring game in the World Cup's history with a scoreline of 7-5.
Italy has the most number of draws in the tournament's history with 21 while Mexico holds the record for the most losses (25).
The fastest goal scored was by Turk’s Hakan Sukur who netted the ball in just 11 seconds of the start of the match in the 2002 World Cup.
[caption caption="Turk’s Hakan Sukur"]
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When you want to sound futurist, hit your opposers with the fact that while 32 teams qualified for this year’s tournament, the number will be much higher in 2026 with 48 teams participating.
You too can be part of history by attending this year’s FIFA tournament in Russia simply by continuing being an ardent user of your Co-op Visa card.
Be it at the supermarket, the mall, at your favourite restaurant or even the fuelling station- continue making payments with the card and you could stand a chance to go to Russia and become part of this global tournament.
[caption caption="Co-op Visa Card"]
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