⚽ FUN FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD CUP

Are you ready for the World Cup? I certainly am! To get you into the spirit, here are five really really interesting facts about the world's biggest sporting event:

• It’s Absolute Massive: The last World Cup final between Argentina and France drew a staggering 1.5 billion viewers. To put that into perspective, that is roughly twelve times the audience of the Super Bowl!

• Don’t Blink: The fastest goal in World Cup history was scored by Turkey’s Hakan Şükür. It took him a mere 10.89 seconds to find the back of the net against South Korea right after kickoff.

• A Four-Legged Hero: In 1966, the World Cup trophy was stolen in London just months before the big tournament. Fans were panicking. Thankfully, a heroic dog named Pickles sniffed out the wrapped trophy hidden in a suburban garden, saving the tournament and becoming a national hero.

• The Good & The Bad for Mexico: Mexico holds a proud record as the country with the fourth-most World Cup appearances (behind only Brazil, Germany, and Argentina). Unfortunately, more games mean more chances for losses…Mexico also holds the record for the most tournament losses with 28, just ahead of Argentina's 24.

• The U.S. Took Third Place? Believe it or not, the United States holds a third-place World Cup medal! In the inaugural 1930 tournament, the U.S. made a historic run to the semifinals before losing to Argentina. Since there wasn't a third-place playoff match back then, FIFA officially awarded third place to the U.S. squad because they had a better overall goal difference than the other semifinalist, Yugoslavia.

What do you think of these fun facts? Did they score a GOOOOOOOOOL with you? 😊