10 fun facts about the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Thursday, June 12, 2014

With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil quickly approaching, here are some fun facts about the games sure to get you in the spirit.

1. This will be the first ever World Cup to use goal-line technology. There has been so much controversy surrounding World Cup goals in past years that the referee will now have the benefit of 14 camera and a mainframe computer to help him make calls.

If a goal is scored, a special watch the ref will be wearing will display the word 'goal.'

Goal-line technology will be used in a World Cup match for this first time this year.
AP/Shuji Kajiyama

2. This World Cup will witness only one new nation at the finals, with Bosnia-Herzegovina ready to play in their first major tournament.

3. The 2014 World Cup will see matches take place in 12 different cities, more than any other finals on record. There will be games in Manaus, Fortaleza, Natal, Recife, Salvador, Cuiaba, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, and Porto Alegre.

The Christ the Redeemer statue, located on the top of Corcovado Mountain and the Sugar Loaf Mountain, are seen from the Parque Nacional da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro.
Felipe Dana/AP

4. The smallest stadium, by capacity, is Arena de Baixada, which holds around 38,000 guests. The Maracana will seat up to about 75,000.

Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AP/Silvia Izquierdo

5. FIFA announced that the total Gross Capacity for the 2014 World Cup is estimated at 3,720,225 fans. Tickets were sold through a random selection draw for the first two phases, and the last minute sales phase was first come, first served.

World Cup fans — FIFA announced that the total Gross Capacity for the 2014 World Cup is estimated at 3,720,225 fans.
AP/Leo Correa

6. Brazil has won the World Cup a record of five times, the last of which came in 2002. Eight previous World Cup winners are set to take part in Brazil 2014 - Italy, Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, England, France, and Spain.

World Cup 2014 -- Team Brazil
AP/Ng Han Guan

7. This year's FIFA World Cup mascot is Fuleco the Armadillo, as voted on by the Brazilian public.

The mascot of the 2014 World Cup stands in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Fuleco the Armadillo.
AP/Andre Penner

8. The caxirola, a maraca-like instrument, has been named the official noisemaker of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, federal officials have banned it from all 12 soccer grounds for safety reasons. That hasn't stopped the caxirola (pronounced ka-shee-role-ah) from making noise outside of the matches.

9. This is the second time that Brazil will host the World Cup -- the first time was in 1950 in which they lost to Uruguay. Therefore, Brazil has never won a World Cup on their home turf.