Football fiasco
With 48 teams, this is the largest World Cup ever. How does it compare with the first?
– The inaugural World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. It should have had 16 teams, in a format which endured until 1970. However, only 13 turned up. Siam (now Thailand) and Japan accepted invitations but then withdrew.
– Egypt were supposed to travel by ship with the French team, via Marseille. However, a storm in the Mediterranean prevented them making the connection.
– England didn’t compete until 1950, when they were eliminated in the group stage after defeats to the US and Spain.
Health and safety
How have defence and welfare spending changed as a proportion of GDP?
1952 2022
Defence 11.5% 2.25%
Welfare 2.92% 5.84%
State pension 2.18% 7.4%
Healthcare 3.47% 9.17%
Source: Institution of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales
Home economics
Are England’s local authorities really as cash-strapped as they claim? Budgeted spending for 2026/27 compared to 2025/26:
Education £2.4bn (5.2% increase)
Adult social care £1.4bn (+5.2%)
Child social care £1.2bn (+7.4%)
Housing £466m (+14.3%)
Cultural services -£61m (-2.3%)
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
By a whisker
Keiko Fujimori won the Peruvian presidential election by a margin of 50.05% to 49.95% over her rival Roberto Sanchez. Some other close elections:
– Conservative candidate John Addison tied with Liberal candidate Alexander Rowley in the 1886 general election in Ashton under Lyne, both with 3,049 votes. The returning officer used his casting vote in favour of Addison, the incumbent.
– Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten won in Winchester in the 1997 general election by 2 votes. After a successful challenge by his defeated rival, Gerry Malone, the election was re-run – and Oaten won by 21,556.
– Marcus Morton won the 1839 election for Governor of Massachusetts with a majority of 1 vote (51,034 of 102,066 votes cast).
– In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore beat George W. Bush by 48.4 per cent to 47.9 per cent in the popular vote. But, under the electoral college system, Bush won thanks to a margin of 537 votes in Florida.
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