The World Cup is full of firsts, from the first
event in 1930 to the first Middle East nation
to host the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

1930 Uruguay

The FIRST two World Cup matches took
place simultaneously, France defeated
Mexico 4–1, and the United States beat
Belgium 3–0. Both matches were played in
Montevideo, Uruguay on 13 July 1930.

The FIRST player to be sent off was from
Peru in a match against Romania on 14 July
1930. According to FIFA, the player was
defender Plácido Galindo, but other
sources contend that it was midfielder
Mario de las Casas.

The FIRST penalty kick ever in World Cup
history was taken on 19 July 1930 by
Chile's Carlos Vidal, with Alexis 'Alex'
Thépot of France in goals. The shot was
saved, so the FIRST goalkeeper to save a
penalty was Alexis 'Alex' Thépot of France.

The FIRST player to score a penalty goal
was Mexico's Manuel Rosas against
Argentina on 19 July 1930.

The FIRST player to score an own goal was
Mexico's Manuel Rosas in a match against

Chile on July 16th.

The FIRST player to score a hat-trick in a
World Cup match was United States' Bert
Patenaude who did this against Paraguay in
the first round of the 1930 World Cup.

Some records wrongly have the first player
scoring a hat-trick as Guillermo Stabile of
Argentina in their 6:3 win over Mexico on
19 July 1930, two days after Patenaude.

The FIRST player to score in a World Cup
match was Lucien Laurent of France in the
19th minute in the first World Cup match
on 13 July 1930.

The FIRST player to be replaced in World
Cup finals due to injury was French
goalkeeper Alex Thepot. The goalkeeper
was kicked by a Mexican player in the jaw
in the opening match of the 1930 World
Cup. He was replaced by midfielder
Augustin Chantrel.

1934 Italy

The FIRST qualifying match was between
Sweden and Estonia (6:2) on 11 June 1933.

The FIRST African country to qualify to
the world cup was Egypt in 1934.

The FIRST player to miss a penalty in
World Cup finals was Brazil's Valdemar de
Brito. De Brito missed the penalty in
Brazil's 3-1 loss to Spain on 27 May 1934.

That was Brazil's only match in the 1934
finals, and the only finals in which Brazil
did not win any match. He later amended
his reputation as he discovered and
nurtured Pele .

The FIRST ever tied match was between
Italy and Spain, the score one all. The
game was played in Florence, Italy on 31
May 1934.

The FIRST match with extra-time was
Austria vs France on 27 May 1934.

The FIRST final with extra-time was Italy
vs Czechoslovakia on 10 June 1934.

The FIRST and only qualifying match
played by a host country was by Italy
(hosts) 4, Greece 0 on 25 March 1934.

The FIRST player to have scored 4 goals in
a qualifier was Ireland's Paddy Moore who
scored 4 goals in their 4:4 draw with
Belgium on 25 Feb 1934 in Dublin.

The FIRST Asian country to play in a
qualifying match was Palestine which lost
1:7 in Egypt on 10 March 1934.

1938 France

The FIRST Asian country to appear in
finals was the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia) in 1938.

The FIRST time numbers were used on
players' shirts in the World Cup was in the
1938 finals in France.

1954 Switzerland

The FIRST replacement of a player in a
qualifying match was Germany's Horst
Eckel replaced by Richard Gottinger
against Saar on 11 October 1953.

The FIRST time the tradition of swapping
shirts began in World Cup 1954.

The FIRST country to be eliminated by toss
of coin in qualifying round was Spain which
lost to Turkey on toss after a 2:2 tie in a
play-off match on 17 March 1954.

1958 Sweden

The FIRST scoreless match was Brazil vs
England in Stockholm, Sweden on 11 June,
1958.

The FIRST live worldwide TV coverage of
the World Cup was in 1958.
1966 England

The FIRST time drug testing was
introduced was in World Cup finals in 1966.
Players banned after failing in drug
testing include Haiti's Ernest Jean-Joseph
(1974), Scotland's Willie Johnston (1978)
and Argentina's Diego Maradona (1994).

The FIRST World Cup mascot was a lion-
like boy called Willie used for the England
1966 World Cup.

The FIRST player to score a hat-trick in a
World Cup Final was Geoff Hurst of
England in 1966.

The FIRST Asian team to progress beyond
the first round of the World Cup finals was
North Korea in 1966.

1970 Mexico

The FIRST substitution of a goalkeeper
was Romania's Necula Raducanu who
replaced Steve Adamache in a match
against Brazil on 10 June 1970.

The FIRST player to receive a yellow card
was Lovchev of the USSR in the 1970
opening match against Mexico on 31 May
1970.

The FIRST substitute to score a goal was
Mexico's Juan Basaguren in the match
against El Salvador on 7 June 1970.

The FIRST time substitutes were used in
World Cup finals matches was 1970. Before
1970, only injured players were allowed to
be replaced.

The FIRST substitute in World Cup finals
was Soviet player Anatoly Puzach who
replaced Serebrannikov in the 1970 opening
match against Mexico on 31 May 1970.

1974 Germany

The FIRST red-carded player was Chile's
Carlos Caszely in a match against West
Germany on 14 June 1974.

The FIRST time that the newly designed
FIFA World Cup Trophy was awarded was in
1974, replacing the Jules Rimet Trophy.

The FIRST black African nation to play in a
World Cup finals was Zaire (now called the
Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1974.

1978 Argentina

The FIRST qualifying match played on
artificial turf was between Canada and
USA on 24 Sept 1976 in Vancouver, Canada.

The FIRST qualifying match played indoor
was between USA and Canada on 20 Oct

1976 in Seattle, USA.

The FIRST team to win a qualifying match
on penalty shootout was Tunisia, which won
4:2 on penalties over Morocco after a 1:1
tie at home on 9 Jan 1977.

The FIRST country to withdraw from the
World Cup due to the inability to pay the
entrance fee was Sri Lanka which withdrew
from the 1978 World Cup.

The FIRST time penalty shootouts for tied
games were introduced to the World Cup
was in 1978 (though the first to occur was
in 1982)

The FIRST player to score for both teams
in a match was Ernie Brandts of the
Netherlands. In a game in 1978, he first
scored an own goal Italy, and then the
equaliser for his own team.

1982 Spain

The FIRST match decided with a penalty
shoot-out was the semi-final between West
Germany and France on 8 July, 1982, in
which the Germans won the shootout 5:4.

The FIRST player to take penalty in a
shootout in World Cup finals was Alain
Giresse of France, who scored the FIRST
ever penalty in a shootout where France
lost 4:5 to West Germany.

The FIRST substitute to score a hat-trick
was Laszlo Kiss of Hungary in a match
against El Salvador on 15 June 1982.

1986 Mexico

The FIRST match where a coach was sent
off was in a first round match against
Belgium on 11 June 1986, with Paraguayan
coach Cayetano Re being shown his
marching orders.

1994 Usa

The FIRST Final decided on penalty shoot-
out was the 1994 Final in which Brazil beat
Italy 3:2 on penalty shoot-out after the
match finished in a 0:0 tie.

The FIRST player to take a penalty
shootout in a final was Franco Baresi of
Italy, taking the shootout in the 1994 final
but blasted it over the bar.

The FIRST match played indoors was at
the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, USA on
18 June 1994, in a match between USA and
Switzerland.

The FIRST goalkeeper to be sent-off was
Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy in a match
against Norway on 23 June 1994.

The FIRST player to have scored five goals
in a single match was Oleg Salenko during
the 1994 FIFA World Cup match between
Russia and Cameroon.

1998 France

The FIRST player to score a golden goal
was France's Laurent Blanc in the 113th
minute in the Second Round match against

Paraquay on 28 June 1998.

The FIRST French player to be sent off in
World Cup finals was Zindine Zidane , in the
first Round match against Saudi Arabia on
18 June 1998. France had kept a clean
sheet for 68 years until France 98!

2002 South Korea & Japan

The FIRST time there was more than one
host country waa in 2002 when South Korea
and Japan agreed to co-host the event. It
was also the FIRST World Cup held in Asia.

The FIRST time teams from each of
Europe, North America, South America,
Africa, and Asia reached the quarter-
finals of the same tournament was in 2002.

The FIRST match with two own goals was
United States vs Portugal, 2002
2006 Germany

The FIRST Game of the Germany '06
tournament was between the host Germany
and Costa Rica. This is the first time the
Cup holders did not open the tournament.

The FIRST goal scored in Germany 2006
Finals was by the German player Lahm.

The FIRST World Cup not to have at least
one hat-trick scored was the 2006 FIFA
World Cup.

2010 South Africa

The FIRST time the host country had ever
been eliminated in the first round was in
South Africa.

The FIRST World Cup with no debutant
associations was in 2010, although two of
the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have
previously appeared as parts of former
competing nations.

The FIRST European team to win a World
Cup played outside of Europe was by Spain
in 2010.

2014 Brazil

The FIRST time goal-line technology (as
well as vanishing foam for free kicks) was
used at the World Cup was in 2014. The

FIRST World Cup goal to be awarded with
goal-line technology was an own goal by
Noel Valladares, Honduras against France,
2014.

2022 Qatar the FIRST Middle East nation to host the
World Cup is Qatar.

The first player to bite someone in a world cup match is Luis Suarez of Uruguay who bit Giorgio Chellini of Italy

ebamma: The first player to bite someone in a world cup match is Luis Suarez of Uruguay who bit Giorgio Chellini of Italy

Lol, abi o. That one follow sha

Chie! I thought this is sports thread oooo, I just discovered that it is phone thread. Pl moderator, help me out.. Take it to the right thread.