Costa Rica
Did you know- Like Mexico, USA, and Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica sent soccer players to the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006. On that occasion, CR was one of the world’s 31 best national squads. But before it could do that, by 2004, the national team qualified for the Olympics in Athens, the capital city of Greece.
Germany
Did you know – Like Italy, Brazil and Argentina, Germany is listed among the World’s best teams. Out of 19 competitions, Germany won three times. Between June 16 and July 4, 1954, it won its first international event when the German team captured the V World Championship in Switzerland. In the final match, they beat Hungary 3-2. Curiously, in the preliminary round, it lost 8-3 to Hungary. This was the first time in which a nation other than Uruguay and Italy had won the FIFA World Cup. Two decades later, by 1974, the men’s soccer team of West Germany, led by its star Franz Beckenbauer, won its second global title by beating Holland 2 to 1 in the final game. Subsequently, in 1990, the national squad came in first place in the Men’s Soccer World Cup in Rome, Italy.
Ghana
Did you know- For political reasons, the government of Ghana -an international known opponent of apartheid in the 20th century- did not send a national team to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. Later on, by 1992, Ghana’s national football squad won its first ever Olympic medal when it finished third in the Olympiad in Barcelona, Spain. Soccer is the country’s national passion.
Honduras
Did you know- The men’s soccer team from Honduras won the third place, bronze medal, in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Havana, the capital city of Cuba, in 1930.
Kuwait
Did you know- To prepare for the Asian Championships, the under-20 national soccer team visited Brazil, one of the world’s best known soccer centres, in October 1978. Later on, throughout the 1980s, Kuwait, encouraged by Emir Sheik Jabir Al-Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah, competed in two international events. Firstly, it qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. On that occasion, the men’s football team of Kuwait finished sixth, outpacing Algeria, Nigeria, Colombia, and other countries. Then, in 1982, the Arab nation, by virtue of its triumph in the Asian Tournament, sent soccer players to the FIFA World Cup in Madrid, Spain. In the course of the tournament, Kuwait lost to France and England. However, in one of the most memorable moments in Spain’82, Kuwait tied with Czechoslovakia (Olympic gold medalist in 1980) 1-1.