1. Jinx edition
The World Cup has accumulated 68 years of history since the memorable first tournament. Here are some traditions and sayings built up over this long history.

The 15 World Cups have given birth to 21 scoring champions. At the 1962 Chile World Cup, 6 players were tied for top scorer (strictly speaking Galinsha won the title by a lottery) and in the 1994 America World Cup, two players tied. However, out of all these 21 players, only 4 were crowned with a championship at the same time. And of these, two were Galinsha and Baba who won the scoring title with a mere four goals in the 1962 tournament. (The other two were Kenpez in 1978 and Rossi in 1982.) Even at the last World Cup, in 1994, two players shared the top scorer honors, Stoychekov of Bulgaria and Sarenko of Russia, who set a record with five goals in one game, but neither one reached the championship. It may be that in the World Cup, having a balanced attack with multiple good strikers is more likely to lead you to the championship than one explosive goal getter.

The World Cup has more or less alternated between the Americas and Europe. Here are the host countries and the championship countries: First Tournament held in Uruguay (Champion: Uruguay) Second Tournament held in Italy (Champion: Italy) Third Tournament held in France (Champion: Italy) Fourth Tournament held in Brazil (Champion: Uruguay) Fifth Tournament held in Switzerland (Champion: West Germany) Sixth Tournament held in Sweden (Champion: Brazil) Seventh Tournament held in Chile (Champion: Brazil) Eight Tournament held in England (Champion: England) Ninth Tournament held in Mexico (Champion: Brazil) Tenth Tournament held in West Germany (Champion: West Germany) Eleventh Tournament held in Argentina (Champion: Argentina) Twelfth Tournament held in Spain (Champion: Italy) Thirteenth Tournament held in Mexico (Champion: Argentina) Fourteenth Tournament held in Italy (Champion: West Germany) Fifteenth Tournament held in the United States (Champion: Brazil) 61 countries have appeared in the 15 World Cups, but only six countries have won a championship (Brazil (4 times), Germany (3 times), Italy (3 times), Uruguay (2 times), Argentina (2 times), and England (1 time). Except for the 1958 Sweden tournament, in the other 14 tournaments, American countries have won all the World Cups held in the Americas and European teams have won all the World Cups held in Europe. If this pattern holds true in the coming World Cup, even a team that is aiming to be the strongest might be tripped up somewhere along the way by the Brazil team . Could this mean that the 2002 tournament will produce a champion from Asia?

The World Cup has been held 16 times since the First World Cup in 1930. The country that has appeared in the most World Cups is the reigning champion, Brazil. As current champion, Brazil is exempt from qualifying and will appear in the World Cup in France, making its 16th consecutive appearance. Never having missed a World Cup is the mark of the proud Kingdom of Soccer. The countries with the next most appearances are Germany and Italy, both of which will be making their 14th appearance in the upcoming World Cup. Also, Japan's first round opponent, Argentina, will be making its 12th appearance. There is an interesting tidbit in this appearance data. Even though Brazil has made the most appearances and Germany the second most, they have never faced each other in the World Cup. This is one of the seven mysteries of the World Cup. This is why a match between these two is called the "Mirage Card" and many fans are hoping to see this match at this World Cup. In this World Cup, Brazil is in Group A and Germany is in Group F, so if they are going to meet, it would be in either the semi-finals or the finals. If they do, there can be no doubt that it will be the match of the century.

The only team to win all its preliminary matches (at least 3), then proceed to the championship with no ties or defeats is the 1970 Brazil team that won the World Cup in Mexico. This feat was accomplished with a collection of mega-stars, starting with Pele and including Jairzinho{?} and Riberinho{?}. However, there were many teams other than that Brazil team that won all their preliminary matches. These include the Soviet Union and Portugal at the 1966 World Cup in England, Poland at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, Italy at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, England and Brazil at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Denmark at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and Italy and Brazil at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. However, the fact that these teams all let the championship slip away shows that in contemporary soccer, with one tough match after another, it is extraordinarily difficult to keep in top condition for the entire month that the tournament lasts. Thinking about it the other way, powerful teams aiming for the championship preserve their strength in the preliminaries, squeaking through on points or on goals for-against, so that they can put out 100% in the championship round. Is that why the team doing best in the preliminaries can not win the championship?

Soccer is a typical sport in which matches are played even in rain and snow. However, the 1994 World Cup in the United States was epoch making because a World Cup match was held indoors for the first time. The site was the Pontiac Stadium in Detroit. This stadium is normally used for football (the American game) and the field is covered with artificial turf. However, since FIFA would not approve an international match on artificial turf, hexagonal panels of natural grass were laid on the field for the match. About \200 million was spent on research into grass that could continue growing and stay in good condition even inside the dome, where sunlight does not reach. Including other costs, such as the personnel costs for setting up the indoor grass field, a total of \1 billion was spent. After the World Cup was over, in order to return the field to its original artificial turf, the natural turf was sold for 77 cents (about \80) per square meter, but there were no buyers, and this natural turf was finally donated to schoolyards and parks in Detroit. However, because this grass has the unusual property of growing even where sunlight does not reach, the recipients of the donation were perplexed, thinking that normal grass would be better.

You never know what will happen in a soccer match. Often a team with a weak reputation casually defeats a team that seems far more powerful. The first big upset in the World Cup was the match between England and the United States in the 1950 World Cup. This was England's first appearance in the World Cup, but this was after all the motherland of soccer and playing alongside "The King" Stanley Matthews, they had Feeney, Milburne, Manion, Mortesen, and a complete lineup of other stars and they were at the head of everyone's list of candidates for the championship. However, although they won their first match, against Chile, 2-0, something unbelievable happened in the next match, against the United States. The United States took the lead on a goal by the Haitian-born Gaetense and survived a ferocious counter-attack by the England team and protected their slim 1-0 lead all the way to the end of the match to capture the victory. Let down by this defeat, England bowed out early from the next World Cup, in Spain, 1-0 too. Also, in the 1966 World Cup in England, the Asian representative North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) shocked the world by defeating Italy, which boasted of two previous championships, on a goal by Bak Doik and sending Italy to defeat in the preliminaries. It is well known that when the Italian players returning from the World Cup reached Genoa Airport, they were pelted with tomatoes by their fans. It is still fresh in the memory, but speaking of major upsets, there was the Cameron vs. Argentina match at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Argentina entered this curtain-opening match as the reigning champion, but even though the 11 from West Africa was saddled with the handicap of playing with only 9 players by the end of the match, they created a sensation by capturing the match by a score of 1-0. Thus, nothing is absolute in soccer. That is why Japan must try its best against powerhouses Argentina and Croatia.

2. Incidents
A complete compilation of that shook the world more than the World Cup matches themselves, accidents that outdo made-up stories, surprising happenings, and unusual episodes

The 1994 World Cup in the United States was marked by the most painful incident in the history of the World Cup. Andres Escobar, a member of the Colombian team picked by some to win the championship, was one of the best stoppers from South America. He appeared in the 1990 World Cup in Italy and was an irreplaceable regular, appearing in all his team's matches. However, he gave up three goals in the first game against Rumania and his team went down to defeat, then Colombia suffered a surprise loss to the United States as well and did not even make it out of the preliminary round. The loss to the United States included one American goal that Escobar put in himself and that finally cost him his life. After Escobar had returned to Colombia and was chatting in a bar with a friend, some mafiosi came up to them. These mafiosi had placed large bets on Colombia in the game against the United States and the upset by the Americans turned their expected winnings into large losses. For revenge, they picked a fight saying "it was your fault that Colombia lost". With his strong sense of justice Escobar responded "you got what you deserved" and both became infuriated, but Escobar's friends stepped in and preventing anything from happening at that bar. However, a foolish tragedy happened immediately afterwards. Four men approached Escobar as he came out of the bar and poured twelve bullets into his body. The last words he heard were "thanks for the own-goal". Colombia had planned to use the World Cup to improve its image, but this incident spread its image as a "lawless zone" farther and farther around the world.

Currently, the World Cup championship team receives a trophy called the "FIFA World Cup", but from the 1st World Cup in Uruguay to the 9th World Cup in Mexico, the championship team received a different trophy. That trophy was at first simply called the "championship trophy", but from the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, that trophy was called the Jules Rimet trophy after the third chairman of FIFA, who made a major contribution to launching the World Cup. This trophy, which was a four-kilogram pure gold statue of a goddess, was thought to have disappeared in the confusion of World War 2. There is a story that Ballezi, the head of the Italian Soccer Association, which was holding the trophy at the time, was afraid of the trophy being confiscated as a military asset and hid it under the bed and avoided trouble. Also, in 1966 when the trophy was on display at Central Hall in Westminster in England, someone stole it. However that time, one week after the theft, the pet dog Pickles belonging to someone named Corbet in Norwood was digging in its owner's yard and found the trophy buried in the garden. However, the criminal was never caught. This Jules Rimet trophy was worth $10 million and was covered with $30 million of theft insurance.

However, that was not the end of the troubles for the Jules Rimet trophy. When Brazil won its 3rd World Cup at the 1970 tournament in Mexico City (after winning the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and the 1962 World Cup in Chile), it earned the right to retain the permanently. However, on December 19, 1983 the Jules Rimet trophy disappeared forever from human sight. A pair of thieves entered the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Federation in Rio de Janeiro and carried off the most expensive of the many trophies there, the Jules Rimet trophy. Thus, the Jules Rimet trophy is no more. The Brazilian Football Federation now holds a trophy given by FIFA in 1984. Since the 1974 tournament on, the champion has received the current "FIFA World Cup". This trophy was designed by Silvio Gazeniga of Milan, weighs 5 kilograms, and is made of 18 carat gold. After the championship team has held this trophy for three years after its victory, it returns it to FIFA and receives a replica of the same size to keep. Which team will win this trophy this time?

Diego Armand Maradona. He seems to have two sides, a bright side as a spectacular soccer player and a dark side as a problem child creating scandals. Maradona, who displayed special talent even when still young, had a child with the daughter of a stadium manager when he was 16. However, because the father of the girl saw him as a youth with a future as a soccer player, he did not complain at all. Then when he was 20, he got the wife of the chairman of the club he then belonged to pregnant. However, this time too, the chairman had to say nothing because he absolutely needed Maradona's talent to make his club the champion. Later, Maradona went to Spain and in 1982 when he was beginning to grow into a world-class athlete, he made his memorable World Cup debut, but the results were not good.

However, at the Mexico World Cup four years later, he came with a solidly built-up body and displayed such spectacular play as to succeed in becoming a superstar both in name and deed. In the following World Cup in 1990, although he had put on much weight compared to four years before, he led his team to the championship. Before and after that, he was the main engine of the Napoli team to which he belonged, but when his cocaine usage was revealed, he was shut out from world stadiums for the next eighteen months. The Italian Soccer Association handed down this suspension and FIFA also agreed. After this punishment was over, Maradona played in Spain again, but he was released from his team and floated back to Argentina. He signed a contract with the Nouvelle Old Boys, but was released again. At this time, there was another scandal when he shot an air gun at journalists crowding around the mansion where he was holed up and he had come to the brink of retirement. However, with the 1994 World Cup approaching and Argentina continuing to experience difficulties in the South American qualifying matches, the call went up to bring back Maradona to the Argentine team and he came back as the captain in the game against Australia with Argentina's participation in the World Cup on the line. Having dramatically gained Argentina's admission to the World Cup, he played as a central figure on the team in the World Cup too. In the first and second matches of the World Cup, the Argentine team played so well with Maradona participating that it was hard to believe that the same team had done so poorly in the South American qualifying matches. However... In the doping testing after the match, there was a positive reaction with Maradona's urine and although Maradona claimed that he had merely used a nasal spray containing Ephedrine, retesting showed a total of six types of banned substances beside Ephedrine including Methylephedrine, Busoid Ephedrine, Norbusoid Ephedrine, and Norephedrine. In the end, the Argentine Soccer Association had to remove Maradona from the team and the team lost its next two matches and disappeared quickly from the tournament. This proved that for better or worse the Argentine team at this World Cup was centered around Maradona.