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Brazil is playing host to the World Cup for the first time since 1950. The five-time champions last won the tournament back in 2002. VANDERLEI ALMEIDA AFP/Getty Images/file
Nicky Salapu let in 31 goals during American Samoa's world record defeat to Australia in 2001. But a decade later the team would be transformed. Darren England/ALLSPORT/file
Former U.S. coach Bob Bradley was tasked with guiding Egypt to the World Cup finals in the months following the country's dramatic revolution. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images/file
Football has been a unifying force for Bosnian nationals who were forced to leave their homeland during the bloody conflict in the early 1990s. ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images
The entire team had absconded in 2009, so how would an all-new Eritrean side fare in their World Cup preliminary round match against Rwanda. © James Montague
The Kosovo Football Federation's mission wasn't to qualify for the World Cup, but simply to be officially recognized as a football playing nation. FABRICE COFFRINI AFPGettyImages/file
The spiritual home of football has played host to mass protests in the build up to the World Cup. Will all eyes be on the pitch come June 12? © James Montague
