The draw for the 2014 World Cup – to be held in Brazil – is complete. The UAE won’t be making an appearance (they last qualified in 1990) but the Iranians did qualify and will face Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria in group F.
With six months to go until kickoff, speculation is already rife on who will emerge victorious. Will the Spaniards manage to retain their title? Or will a Brazilian team with home advantage prove unstoppable?
• We’ll have to wait to find out. But in the meantime, we can whet our appetites with a tour of some of the World Cup’s most memorable, and controversial, moments.
In World Cup Stories: A BBC History of the Fifa World Cup, you’ll learn how the first tournament was played in 1930 between just 13 countries. Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in the final. Today, the World Cup qualifying process encompasses some 200 teams, and the final tournament is contested between 32.
• One of the best-known World Cup controversies took place in the now-legendary 101st minute of the 1966 final between England and West Germany. A shot by the English striker Geoff Hurst rebounded off the crossbar and the Soviet linesman Tofiq Bahramov controversially signalled that it had crossed the line. On his deathbed he was asked how he could be sure. He uttered one word: Stalingrad – the Second World War battle in which 500,000 Soviets died and many more were injured. Read 1966 Uncovered by Peter Robinson for more on one of the most memorable World Cup tournaments ever.
• And the most controversial player ever to grace the World Cup stage? It’s got to be Diego Maradona, who famously scored a goal with his fist in the 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England. Maradona created the most famous football quote ever when he attributed his goal to the “hand of God”: read Maradona: The Hand of God (Bloomsbury, £9.99) for more on the tumultuous life of a man who will forever be associated with the world’s most famous football tournament.
[ artslife@thenational.ae ]
