Short to Long: The Beautiful Game

For any football fan the next month is going to be special. The World Cup starts tomorrow. Has it really been four years? Living in Toronto is a treat since there are dedicated lifelong fans of each and every team residing here. In the next month there will also be new fans of every powerhouse that plays well and every underdog that performs much better than expected. This is modern cross-multiculturalism at its finest.

The flags that are already displayed out of car windows will constantly change over the next month as allegiances change to follow those teams that are successful. My early unofficial poll shows Brazil winning the flag battle. So with fans primed and ready it's time to settle down and watch the beautiful game being played by the world's best.

The Short

Need a way to follow what's going on? Trying to keep up with the various groups or your favourite team? The Spanish magazine Marca has a flash app (why do I feel tempted to type the full word 'application'?) that allows you to view the results by day, team, group and stage, and even by host city. Just keep the World Cup calendar open in a browser window and you can stay on top of developments.

The Medium

If you just need a recap of the previous World Cups so you know who won what and when... then Dzinepress has The Ultimate Resource About Football World Cup History. But... while it gives details on who won the various groups or stages it isn't really the ultimate resource.

The Long

The award for most stats and details of World Cups goes to worldcup-history. Pick a World Cup... I'm going back to Uruguay in 1930. On July 13th France played Mexico in Pocitos stadium. One thousand people watched France beat Mexico 4-1 in the first World Cup game played.

Want to know who played on the French side? It's there. Want to know who scored for Mexico? It's there. Did you know that Lucien Laurent scored the first World Cup goal? Or that in that same game Andre Maschinot became the first player to score twice in a World Cup game? When it comes to the level of detail worldcup-history is the best site I've found so far. The only stat it doesn't seem to have is who should have received the equivalent of an Oscar for the best acting that drew an unnecessary red card, or which announcer had the most colourful and excited delivery.

There you go. Now you can follow the matches, check up on history, and end up with stories and memories to last another four years.