1. The tournament will feature players from 22 different leagues! Italy will be giving the tournament 34 players and Spain 25. Germany, despite not featuring in the tournament, will hand 13 players to the tournament from its very own Bundesliga.
2. Only two teams have officially won each and every FIFA tournament- Uruguay and France. With a little bit of luck and tactical genius from Cesare Prandelli, Italy could become the third such team.
3. Only two teams have ever won this beautiful trophy on home soil. Mexico achieved the feat in 1999 and France in 2003. However, never has a Confederations Cup winner gone on to lift the golden trophy itself. Brazil won the last two editions; however both their previous two World Cup journeys ended in the quarterfinal stage.
4. This is the first international tournament in which Goal Line Technology will be used. GLT was used in the FIFA Club World Cup previously in Japan too. Following the controversial Frank Lampard goal in the 2010 World Cup which was not allowed and many other such incidents, FIFA has finally opened up to using technology to support the beautiful game.
5. Italy boasts a squad made up of almost entirely home grown players. 22 players in the 23 man squad ply their trade in Italy. Only Salvatore Sirigu plies his trade outside Serie A. He plays for Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1. Tahiti also boasts a 23 man squad in which 22 members feature in their domestic league.
6. Comparatively, the Spanish squad has more members plying their trades outside Spain. Seven of the Spanish squad feature in the English Premier League in Juan Mata, Nacho Monreal, Santi Cazorla, David Silva, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and Cesar Azpilicueta. Meanwhile, they also have a Bundesliga member in the squad in the treble winner, Javier Martinez.
7. Uruguay is the team with the least number of players in the domestic league. Only three players from the squad play in Uruguay, namely Juan Castillo of Danubio, Matias Aguirregaray of Penarol and Andres Scotti of Nacional. Only Aguirregaray is under 30 years of age in that triplet.
8. At 19 years of age, Kenneth Omeruo of Chelsea and Solomon Kwambe of Sunshine Stars, both of Nigeria, are the youngest players in the tournament of champions. Omeruo is younger than Kwambe by a matter of days. Andres Scotti is the oldest at 37; he is in the Uruguay squad.
9. Saudi Arabia has hosted the tournament the most number of times. They have been given the honor of doing so three times including 1992, 1995 and 1997. Of course, in 92 and 95, the competition was under the other name, the King Fahd Cup.
10. The best the current European and World Champions achieved was third place. They achieved this feat in the previous edition in 2009. They will be looking to add this trophy to their ever-growing trophy collection.
