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When Zaire qualified for the 1974 finals, they became the first sub-Saharan African nation to advance beyond the qualifying stage into the finals. The Zairean president promised each player a house, a car, and free holidays. All of these offers were withdrawn when Zaire lost all three matches, scored no goals, and gave up 14 goals.

Quickies

Did you know …

that in a 1978 World Cup finals match, Peruvian goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga was cautioned for pulling down a Polish player — in Poland’s half of the field?

Which country has participated in every World Cup qualifying competition but never made it through to the finals?

From 1934 to 2005, Luxembourg played 104 qualifying matches and lost 100, scoring 50 goals and giving up 356. The only two teams that Luxembourg has defeated in qualifiers are Portugal (4–2 on October 8, 1961) and Turkey (2–0 on October 22, 1972) — not quite good enough to get them in.

Why was Prince Fahid, the Kuwaiti FA president, fined $14,000 U.S.after a 1982 World Cup finals match against France?