Day 14 brought a notable landmark for the FIFA World Cup™ and also for Italy, but FIFA.com figures show this is not a tournament the Azzurri will look back on with any joy.
games in the FIFA World Cup was reached with the Paraguay-New Zealand fixture in Polokwane.
games for Italy in the competition is not a landmark they will remember with any fondness after today's defeat by Slovakia. Their first fixture took place in Rome on 27 May 1934 when they beat USA 7-1. Only Brazil and Germany (who will both have played 95 matches by the end of the first round) have featured in more games than the Azzurri.
international goals have been scored for Denmark by Jon Dahl Tomasson making him the joint-top scorer in the national team's history along with Poul Nielsen. Tomasson had to show patience before reaching that mark – his previous goal was more than two years ago against Slovenia on 6 February 2008. Tomasson is also Denmark's leading FIFA World Cup marksman with five.
years ago was the last time Italy failed to qualify from the first round of a FIFA World Cup. In the Germany tournament of 1974 they beat Haiti and drew with Argentina but the defeat by Poland in the last group game meant they missed out on a qualifying place on goal difference.
games have been contested by Cameroon at six different FIFA World Cups making them the first African nation to reach the milestone. They have won four games and drawn seven but with three defeats this is their worst-ever campaign.
years and nine days is the full span of Rigobert Song's career in the competition - making him fourth in the list of players for FIFA World Cup longevity. Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal leads the field with a span totalling 16 years and 25 days. Song is the only African player to figure in four editions – 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010.
times the Netherlands have faced African opponents and on each occasion they have won or drawn while at the same time conceding a single goal. They also faced Egypt (1-1 in 1990), Morocco (2-1 in 1994) and Côte d'Ivoire (2-1 in 2006).
draws and a defeat from three group games makes this the worst performance by an Italy side at a FIFA World Cup. It is the first time they failed to win a game in a tournament and the first time they finished bottom of their group.
FIFA World Cup has seen both the previous tournament's finalists depart after the first round stage – South Africa 2010. Since 1954 when the competition's first round became a contest of four groups of four teams the only comparable showing was in 1966 when Czechoslovakia (beaten finalists in 1962) did not qualify and Brazil, reigning world champions, did not survive beyond the first phase.
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