Soccer to me

Compiled by Michael Wills

Morgan Park Academy

Around the globe, more than 30 nations seek to qualify and compete for the sport's coveted title every four years in the World Cup. It’s here to stay. Here are a few facts worth sharing about the World Cup played June 11 to July 11, 2010.

1. Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, adorns the front of the World Cup trophy, which is made of 18-karat gold and weighs about 13 pounds.

2. The competition began in 1930, with Uruguay taking home the first trophy, and has grown from 13 countries being involved at the start to 32 countries qualifying in 2010.

3. The first African country to ever qualify for the World Cup was Egypt in 1934.

4. Two of the seven countries - the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Korea and Spain - that went unbeaten during the 2010 qualifying campaign would meet in the title match.

5. Until Spain’s victory this year, no European team has taken home the title when the World Cup is held outside Europe.

6. Teams from Africa, Asia, Central America, North America and the Caribbean have failed to win the World Cup.

7. Brazilian Pele is the only player to win three World Cups - 1958, 1962 and 1970.

8. In beating North Korea 7-0 on June 21, 2010, Portugal walked away with the biggest margin of victory in the 2010 matchups. Hungary holds the record when its team beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982.

9. In the second-round match against Ghana on June 26, 2010, Landon Donovan played in his 12th World Cup final match, the most for any U.S. player. He also scored four goals in the tournament, making him the highest scoring American in World Cup history.

10. The Spain-Netherlands tournament finale on July 12, 2010 drew 15,545,000 U.S. viewers on ABC. Another 8,821,000 viewers -- up 49 percent from 5,903,000 for 2006 -- watched the Spanish-language coverage on Univision. The numbers reflect a growing soccer TV audience in the U.S. for the World Cup.

Sources: Worldcupfacts.com, Soccerlens.com, Yahoo.com, Internationalsoccer.suite101.com, Interpublic Group's Initiative, Nielsen Media Research and Federation Internationale de Football Association.