After 4 years of waiting, the World Cup is back on our TV screens! If they haven’t been lucky enough to fly over to Brazil to support their home nation, football fans all over the globe have been turning on the TV to eagerly watch the games.

As one of the world’s most exciting sporting spectacles, the World Cup certainly brings a lot of excitement and to keep you in the spirit, here are some things you may not already know about this year’s tournament, as well as a few golden facts from yesteryear.

In this year’s tournament, each referee carries vanishing spray paint in order to mark the spot for free kicks – this disappears within 60 seconds!
This year’s World Cup marks the first time in history where the tournament has not been hosted in Europe on two consecutive occasions.
Before each World Cup, the qualifying teams make certain demands to FIFA about their living conditions during the tournament. Arguably, this year’s most extravagant demand comes from Japan, who has requested that all their hotel rooms have a Jacuzzi.

World Cup 2014 — The Marcana Stadium, Rio: host of this year’s World Cup final.

After winning their second World Cup title in 1938, Italy suffered a 44 year drought before winning their third in 1982.
Mexico holds the record for the most ever defeats in World Cup history, with a total of 22 losses.
Hungary holds the record for scoring the most goals in a World Cup game when they beat El Salvador 10 – 1 in 1982.
In 1986, FIFA prohibited after match shirt swapping as they didn’t want players to ‘bare their chests’ on the field.

If this has got you into the sporting spirit but you haven’t been able to make it to Brazil this year, why not do something a little closer to home with our range of insightful football stadium tours?