Although there are hundreds of other popular sports around the world, football (soccer) is hands down the most popular. Before we get into the why though, lets talk about the elephant in the room. Is it football? Is it soccer? The United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and several countries in southern Africa all call it soccer. The rest of the world either calls it some variation of “football” or another word altogether. Italy actually calls it calcio. So why does everyone blame the US for the word soccer? Well, the truth is that the British came up with the word soccer. Back in the day rugger (Association Rugby) and soccer (Association Soccer) were two popular sports in England. Many British colonies adopted the word soccer and the name stuck. The British ended up moving away from soccer towards the more European variation of “football” because they saw “soccer” as being American. At any rate, the deed is done and people will call it what they like but football/soccer is still the most popular sport on the planet. No matter what country you live in, chances are you have friends that play. These are 25 reasons that football is the most popular sport in history!
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Harald Bohr was the brother of Niels Bohr, the famous physicist. Harald was himself a famous mathematician as well as a footballer. In fact, his skills as a footballer were so great that when he was defending his doctoral thesis, the audience consisted of more football fans than mathematicians
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe North Korean fans at the World Cup are actually Chinese volunteers because North Koreans aren't allowed to leave the country
Source: standard.co.ukIt is called football not because you kick the ball, but because back in the day it was played by peasants on foot rather than on horseback like all of the rich-people sports
Source: todayifoundout.com, Image: wikipediaDuring a football match in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lightning struck and killed all 11 players of one team while leaving the other team unhurt
Source: bbc, Image: wikipediaAbby Wambach was switched from the girls team to the boys team when she was just 4 years old because she had scored 27 goals in the first 3 games
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaFootball is said to have evolved from Mob Football. This was a sport played between villages with the goal being to the get the ball to the other village. The rules were very lax and basically only forbid killing the other team
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaGreenland has been unable to join FIFA because it is unable to grow enough grass for regulation grass pitches
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe term "soccer" was actually first used in Britain. In fact, only in the 1970s did it come to be seen as an Americanism and fell out of favor
Source: todayifoundout.comThe eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was only put out once and that was accomplished by intoxicated Mexican football fans who ended up urinating on it during the 1998 World Cup
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn the middle of World War 1, on Christmas Day in 1914, some officers from the UK and Germany called a truce. The men exchanged gifts and even played a game of football among themselves
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaNorway is the only team on Earth to never have lost a game to Brazil
Source: wikipediaSpeaking of Football (Soccer), you should check out these 25 Hilarious Soccer Moments You Won’t Believe Weren´t Photoshopped.
In 1967, two warring sides in the Nigerian Civil War declared a 48 hour cease fire so that they could watch Brazilian legend Pelé play
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaGreek soccer player Giorgos Katidis was banned from Greek football for life after unwittingly giving a Nazi salute after scoring a goal
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaMesut Ozil, a German soccer player, donated all of his bonus for winning the World Cup so that children in Brazil could have surgeries
Source: espnfc.com, Image: wikipediaWhen Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho was just 13 he scored every single goal in a game that his team won 23-0. This was the first time he started to gain media attention
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaBy hosting the 2006 World Cup Germany underwent a baby boom. 9 months later the birthrate was up by 30%.
Source: theguardian.com, Image: wikipediaHitler hated soccer because it couldn't be fixed to ensure German victory
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaWhen Korean soccer star Ahn Jung-hwan knocked Italy out of the 2002 World Cup, his Italian team let him go because he "ruined Italian soccer"
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn 2002, during a match in Madagascar, a team scored 149 own goals in protest of a referee's decision
Source: wikipediaAndres Escobar, a football player from Colombia, was murdered following the 1994 World Cup match where he scored an own goal. The gunman yelled "goal" with every shot
Source: wikipediaDuring her teenage years, Queen Elizabeth II would dress in disguise and participate in football matches near Buckingham Palace
Source: reddit, Image: wikipediaFC Barcelona, one of the largest football clubs on Earth, is in a reverse sponsorship with UNICEF. The football team wears the UNICEF logo and donates nearly $2 million every year
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaDrogheda United FC has a logo that pays tribute to the Ottoman Empire because it smuggled food into the region during the Great Famine
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn 1985, British football hooligans injured nearly 600 people which caused all British teams to be banned from international competition for a period of 5 years
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia20 month old Bryce Brites of Belgium became the youngest professional footballer ever when he was signed by FC Racing Boxberg
Source: metro.co.ukLists Going Viral Right Now
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