Sports Facts

SPORTS FACTS

Sports Facts section contains facts about sports and their histories in general.

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> Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned 3 sports for us to learn: Swimming, Equestrian sport (Horse Riding), and Archery. Also he (pbuh) advised us to practice Jogging.

- First tournament for Football World Cup was in 1930 in Uruguay. The winner was Uruguay defeating Argentina 4-2.

- the first country to win the Football World Cup in 2 consecutive times was Italy: 1934 and 1938.

- Netherlands has reached the final match for Football World Cup 3 times, but couldn't win the trophy.

- Football World Cup was changed in 1974. It was Jules Reme from 1930 until 1970. Brazil kept the Jules Reme cup since it was the first country to win 3 World Cups besides Italy and Uruguay, which was 2 times for each.

- The first final match in Football World Cup to end with 0-0 was between Brazil and Italy in 1994 in USA. Both teams had to go through overtime then penalty shootouts. Brazil won 4-3 by penalty shootouts.

- In 1998 World Cup, the teams were changed from 24 to 32, and from 6 groups to 8. Making it only the first 2 winning teams from each group to advance to the second round.

- In 1986 Argentina defeated Germany 3-2, and in 1990 Germany defeated Argentina 1-0.

- First modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896.

- The name "Marathon" came from a person who ran about 26 miles from the city of Marathon to Athens to inform his king that they defeated the Persians in 490 B.C.

- The distance for Olympics Marathon stayed 26 miles until Olympics 1908 in London, England. By orders from Queen Alexandra, the distance was changed to 26 miles and 385 yards.

- The first Winter Olympics started in 1924 in Chamonix, France.

- Artificial snow started in Winter Olympics 1980 in Lake Placid, USA.

- Muhammad Ali received his only gold medal in Boxing in Summer Olympics 1960 in Rome, Italy. But then it was stolen. He was given a replacement medal in 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA.

- Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia was the first person to win an Olympic Marathon barefooted in 1960 in Rome, Italy. Radhi Abd Al-Salaam was the runner up and the first Arab (Moroccan) to win the Marathon.

- Both Summer and Winter Olympic events were in the same year until 1992. Winter Olympics then started 2 years later, making both Olympic events 2 years apart.

- Turkey, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria were not welcomed in the Summer Olympics of 1920 because they were against the Alias during WWI.

- Both Football World Cup tournaments and Olympics were cancelled during WWI and WWII.

- Fred Lorz was the first to win the Olympics Marathon in 1904. He was injured during the race, then was put in a car that drove him for about 11 miles to the finish line, and he was still declared the winner.

- Qatar will be the first Arab country to host Football World Cup in 2022. It will be facing some challenges, some of them is the hot weather. But Qatar managed to make their stadiums built with air conditioning to make the stadium temperature suitable for the players and the audience.

- In 2026 Football World Cup, three countries are going to host the tournament. Canada, USA, and Mexico after winning by votes against Morocco to host the World Cup. It will be the first time where three countries join together to arrange a tournament. The same incident happened before, but with two countries instead of three, which was in 2002 World Cup, when Japan and South Korea hosted the trournament.

- In 2026 Football World Cup. The teams are expected to increase from 32 to 48, and from 8 groups to 16, where there will be 3 countries in each group. Two countries in each group will advance to the second round, while the remaining country will leave the tournament. This means 32 countries will advance to the second round.

Sources:
www.britannica.com
www.factmonster.com
www.kooora.com
www.aljazeera.net

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