Compiled below are some interesting facts as they relate to the upcoming 2006 World Cup and past World Cups.

1 FIFA has granted German Evangelical churches the rights to screen World Cup matches next year free of charge. Football is a vital part of life, said Bishop Wolfgang Huber of the Evangelical Church.

2 All but one of the previous World Cup winners will take part in the 2006 World Cup: Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Argentina, England. The missing link? Uruguay, winners in 1930 and 1950.

3 FIFA's ranking system suggests Australia will be the second-worst team at year's finals. The Socceroos, currently ranked 54th, are considered better than only 60th-ranked Angola. The highest-ranked nation not to qualify is Turkey (No.11).

4 A cumulative TV audience of 28.8 billion people watched the 2002 World Cup hosted by Japan and South Korea. More than 30 billion people are expected to watch the 2006 World Cup tournament.

5 Pele played in the 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cups. Diego Maradona took part in the 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994 tournaments.

6 Trinidad and Tobago, and the African qualifiers Togo, Angola, Ivory Coast and Ghana, are all making their World Cup finals debut in Germany.

7 Alongside Aussie Guus Hiddink, there will be three other Dutch coaches at the year's finals. Dick Advocaat will lead South Korea, Leo Beenhakker has ensured minnows Trinidad and Tobago will be in Germany, while Marco van Basten is coach of Holland's own national team.

8 The 32 qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup finals were whittled down from 197 original entrants. In all, 207 nations have competed for the World Cup but only seven countries have won: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay.

9 The final will take place at the Berlin Olympic Stadium. The stadium's previous biggest moment was when sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics.

10 Austria qualified for the 1938 World Cup in France but did not participate because the country did not exist by the time the tournament began because of its unification with Germany.

11 Just Fontaine of France scored a record 13 goals during the 1958 tournament in Sweden.

12 Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany) is the only person to win the tournament as both a player and a manager.

13 In 2002, Hakan Unsal became the 100th player to be sent off during the World Cup finals.

14 In 2002, France became the only defending champions to fail to score a single goal in the tournament.

15 The final of the 1974 World Cup between West Germany and Netherlands was delayed because no corner posts could be found.

16 Cameroon's Roger Milla is the oldest player to appear in a World Cup tournament, aged 42 years and 39 days.

17 Brazil and Sweden have played each other six times in the World Cup, more than any other pair of nations.

18 Lothar Matthaus (Germany) and Antonio Carbajal (Mexico) are the only two players to appear in five World Cup finals.

19 Brazil is the only nation to appear at all 18 World Cup finals and has a record 60 wins from 87 games.

20 Italy has lost all three penalty shoot-outs it has played in at the World Cup.

21 Pickles the dog found the World Cup (Jules Rimet Trophy) under a bush after it was stolen while on public display at Westminster Hall in London in 1966.

22 In 1997, Australia became the only country not to qualify for the World Cup despite not losing a match.

23 Burma was the only country excluded by FIFA from entering the qualification for the 2006 World Cup.

24 Australian champion racehorse Schillaci was named after Italy's leading scorer at the 1990 tournament, "Toto" Schillaci.

25 Former FIFA president Joao Havelange represented Brazil in swimming at the 1936 Olympic Games and in water polo at the 1952 Games.

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Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published December 3, 2005 7:26 pm EST