The sun finally set on the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, after Germany defeated Argentina 1-0 in the Maracana Stadium on Sunday Night to become World Champions for the fourth time in their history.
The tournament has come and gone but it would be remembered for so many reasons. Here are some memorable facts about the four weeks soccer fiesta.
For the first time in World Cup history, two African teams qualified for the second round; Nigeria and Algeria.
Germany became the first country to score 7 goals in a World Cup semifinal.
Miroslav Klose became the all-time highest goal scorer at the World Cup with 16 goals.
Tim Howard in the USA second round match against Belgium became the first goalkeeper to make 16 saves in a World Cup match.
Spain became the second defending champion to crash out at the group stage of the World Cup after Italy in 2010.
Algeria, Greece, Costa Rica, Colombia all made it to the knock-out stage for the first time in their history.
Colombia Goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon made an appearance against Japan to become the oldest player in World Cup history at 43 years, 3 days.
136 Group stage goals, the most in World Cup history; six more than when Korea and Japan co-hosted in 2002.
Colombia’s James Rodriguez at 22, became the youngest player to score six goals in a World Cup since Pele in 1958.
Brazil’s 7-1 trashing by Germany was the most tweeted about sporting event in history: 35.6 people tweeted.
Rafael Marquez became the first man to captain a team to four different World Cups.
Karim Benzema’s goal against Honduras was the first goal decided by goal-line technology in the World Cup.
Mario Gotze became the first ever substitute to score the winning goal in a World Cup final.
Germany became the first European nation to win the World Cup on South American soil.
The 2014 World Cup produced 171 goals to become the joint highest scoring World Cup with France 98.
