Two members of the Basement Sports community recently had a blast kicking a soccer ball around our Jersey City space, among them our team’s youngest and most enthusiastic participant. This is, of course, just one small sample of the popularity that soccer enjoys around the world.

In light of our company’s expansion from baseball into soccer and beyond, I curated seven fun facts about the world’s most beloved game. Kicking things off (pun intended) . . .

1. The earliest game that resembled soccer is the Chinese game cuju. Cuju dates back to the Han Dynasty, circa 206 BC to 220 CE.
2. A traditional soccer ball has 32 panels. Each panel represents a country in Europe.
3. On average, soccer players run 7 miles per game, via an exhausting combination of short sprints and long distances.
4. The United States has dominated the Women’s World Cup since the inaugural 1991 tournament. Of the eight tournaments played, they boast four titles and one runner up.
5. The highest scoring soccer game ever was a 149–0 win by Madagascar’s AS Adema against Stade Olympique de L’Emyrne on October 31, 2002. Stade Olympique L’Emyrne purposefully scored 149 own goals during the game in protest of previous refereeing decisions. No other professional soccer game has even come close to matching such a lopsided outcome.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only known player in the history of soccer to score a goal in every minute of a soccer match.
7. And last but not least, soccer matches in England did not have referees until 1881. Prior to that point, they relied on good sportsmanship, and players were responsible for making their own calls.

Got any fun soccer facts of your own? Let us know! Leave a comment below or email us at [email protected].