Most appearances at the
World Cup before hosting
Russia (or its predecessor state, the
Soviet Union) has appeared at 10 World
Cup tournaments since 1958. After several
unsuccessful bids, the country was finally
chosen to host a tournament in 2018.
Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, one of
the venues selected for Russia 2018, is
the first stadium chosen to host both
the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.
It was constructed for the Winter Olympics
and Paralympics in 2014 and is set to host
six World Cup games in 2018.
The qualification stages for Russia
2018 brought together the most national
federations of any qualification process so
far, with 210 countries represented. Of these
210 federations, only 32 will be involved in
the finals in Russia.First World Cup goal
Part-time car mechanic Lucien Laurent (FRA)
scored the first-ever World Cup goal, in a game
between France and Mexico at Estadio Pocitos
in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 13 Jul 1930. His
19th-minute volley was the opener in France’s
4–1 victory over Mexico. This match was one of
the opening games of the 1930 World Cup.
An impressive 70 goals were scored at the
1930 tournament, despite only 18 matches
being played – an average of 3.89 goals per
game. The highest goals-per-game in a
World Cup is 5.38, however, set at the 1954
tournament in Switzerland. In 1962, the average
dropped to 2.89 per game, and it hasn’t risen
above three per game since.Most expulsions in a single
World Cup match
Portugal’s second-round victory over the
Netherlands on 25 Jun 2006 was one of the
most famously ill-tempered matches in World
Cup history. The “Battle of Nuremberg” (named
after the city in which it was held) saw four
players sent off (two from each
team) and 16 yellow cards
handed out altogether.
It was another famously
violent World Cup
match – 1962’s
“Battle of Santiago”- that inspired the
introduction of the
FIFA World Cup Preview
SPORTS
MOST WORLD CUP
MATCHES PLAYED
German midfielder
Lothar Matthäus
was called up to
his national team
for every World
Cup tournament
between 1982 and- He was only an
occasional substitute
in 1982 and 1998, but
played a key role in
the German team’s
performances in
1986 (finalists), 1990
(winners) and 1994
(quarter-finalists),
putting in a total of
25 appearances.
MOST WORLD CUP WINS
South American footballing superpower Brazil
has won the World Cup five times. The country’s
first win came in 1958 and was followed by
wins in 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002
(pictured left). Brazil is also the
only country to have appeared
at every single tournament
since the inaugural event
in 1930.
The other World Cup-
winning countries are
Germany and Italy (four wins
each), Argentina and Uruguay
(two wins) and England,
France and Spain, who
have each won once.red-card and yellow-card system in the first
place, by the English referee Ken Aston.Fastest goal in a World Cup match
Hakan Şükür (TUR) scored within 11 sec of
kick-off during Turkey’s match against South
Korea at the 2002 World Cup on 29 Jun.
An unfortunate Sead Kolašinac (BIH) achieved
the flipside of this record on 15 Jun 2014, scoring
the fastest own goal in a World Cup match.
He found his own team’s net after only 2 min
8 sec of play. Bosnia and Herzegovina went on
to lose 2–1 to their opponents, Argentina.Longest World Cup clean sheet
During the 1990 tournament, keeper Walter Zenga
(ITA) played 518 min without letting in a goal.Oldest goal scorer in a World Cup
Legendary Cameroonian striker Roger Milla was
aged 42 years 39 days when he scored a late
goal against Russia in Stanford, California, USA,
on 28 Jun 1994. Milla’s appearance in this game,
which was Cameroon’s last match in the 1994
tournament, made him the oldest player at a
World Cup until the record was broken by Faryd
Mondragón (see opposite).
The youngest goal scorer is Pelé (see
opposite), who was aged just 17 years 239 days
when he scored the only goal in Brazil’s 19 Jun
game against Wales in the 1958 World Cup.Largest attendance at a football match
An amazing 173,850 people crammed into the
Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for
the final of the 1950 World Cup on 16 Jul.
The match saw hosts Brazil lose to rivals
Uruguay in a shock 2–1 result. The defeat was
seen as a national catastrophe in Brazil, where it
is still remembered as the “Maracanaço” (which
roughly translates as the “Maracanã disaster”).In anticipation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,
we present the pick of GWR’s World Cup records.2.21
16
Youngest referee:
Francisco Mateucci (URY),
aged 27 years 62 days when
officiating Yugoslavia vs
Bolivia on 17 Jul 1930Most red cards by a team:
11 for Brazil (10 straight
red cards and one double
yellow card) since 1938The 21st World Cup will
be hosted by Russia from
14 Jun to 15 Jul 2018;
matches will be played in
12 stadiums across 11 cities.
Will any of these World Cup
records be broken?4
Most red cards in a single
game: four were issued
during Portugal vs
Netherlands (two for each
team) on 25 Jun 2006Lowest average goals
per match, set during the
famously defensive 1990
finals in ItalyMost shots saved in
a single World Cup finals
match, set by Tim Howard
(USA) playing against
Belgium on 1 Jul 20142.91
Average goals per match in
a World Cup finals game; for
the highest-scoring World
Cup tournament, see leftThe Dutch national
soccer team has
reached the final of
the World Cup on three
occasions, and the semi-
finals another two times,
but has never actually
won the trophy.Q: The World Cup was
stolen one year. When?
A: 1966. The trophy was on display
in London, UK, and disappeared
in March of that year. It was
recovered within a week, however.