Random World Cup Facts

yes good point. So we need Qatar to beat Netherlands or maybe South Korea can win a game....

 

Saw this somethere: Netherland's 2 total shots against Ecuador is the fewest number of shots by a Uefa WC team since 1966.

 

Japan 0-1 Costa Rica

Most Costa Rica appearances in World Cup history.
10 Keylor Navas (2014, 2018, 2022)
10 Celso Borges (2014, 2018, 2022)
9 Christian Bolaños (2006, 2014, 2018)
8 Cristian Gamboa (2014, 2018)
8 Giancarlo González (2014, 2018)
8 Bryan Ruiz (2014, 2018)

Most Japan appearances in World Cup history.
13 Yuto Nagatomo (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
11 Makoto Hasebe (2010, 2014, 2018)
11 Eiji Kawashima (2010, 2014, 2018)
10 Hidetoshi Nakata (1998, 2002, 2006)
10 Shinji Okazaki (2010, 2014, 2018)
10 Keisuke Honda (2010, 2014, 2018)

History of AFC v CONCACAF in the World Cup.
1986 Iraq 0-1 Mexico
1998 South Korea 1-3 Mexico
1998 Japan 1-2 Jamaica
1998 Iran 2-1 United States
2002 China 0-2 Coast Rica
2002 South Korea 1-1 United States
2006 Iran 1-3 Mexico
2018 South Korea 1-2 Mexico
2022 Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
2022 Iran v United States
2022 Saudi Arabia v Mexico
AFC: 1
CONCACAF: 7
draw: 1
2 pending.

 

...well that's certainly somewhat embarrassing for the US...

 

Belgium 0-2 Morocco

Most Belgium appearances in World Cup history.
17 Enzo Scifo (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
16 Jan Ceulemans (1982, 1986, 1990)
14 Franky van der Elst (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
14 Thibaut Courtois (2014, 2018, 2022)
13 Eden Hazard (2014, 2018, 2022)

Most Belgium appearances in major tournaments (World Cup + Euro).
24 Thibaut Courtois
23 Jan Ceulemans
22 Eden Hazard

Halftime: 0-0
14 of the 26 matches played so far at Qatar 2022. (54%)

Morocco victories in the World Cup.
3-1 v Portugal (1986)
3-0 v Scotland (1998)
2-0 v Belgium (2022)

Most consecutive victories in the World Cup group stage.
8 Brazil 1986-1994
8 Brazil 2002-2010
8 Belgium 2002, 2014-2022 (streak halted)

CAF World Cup victories v group top seed.
1982: Algeria 2-1 West Germany
1990: Cameroon 1-0 Argentina
1998: Nigeria 3-2 Spain
2002: Senegal 1-0 France
2018: Senegal 2-1 Poland
2022: Senegal 3-1 Qatar
2022: Morocco 2-0 Belgium

Victories by CAF v UEFA in the World Cup, minimum 2-goal differential.
1986: Morocco 3-1 Portugal
1994: Nigeria 3-0 Bulgaria
1994: Nigeria 2-0 Greece
1998: Morocco 3-0 Scotland
2006: Ghana 2-0 Czech Republic
2018: Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
2022: Morocco 2-0 Belgium

 

Croatia 4-1 Canada

Most Croatia World Cup appearances.
14 Luka Modric (2006, 2014, 2018, 2022)
12 Dejan Lovren (2014, 2018, 2022)
12 Ivan Perisic (2014, 2018, 2022)
11 Dario Šimic (1998, 2002, 2006)

Croatia players to have scored a brace in a World Cup match.
Mario Mandzukic (2014 v Cameroon)
Andrej Kramaric (2022 v Canada)

Most consecutive defeats to start World Cup appearances.
9 Mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958)
6 El Salvador (1970, 1982), yet to avoid defeat
5 Canada (1986, 2022), yet to avoid defeat

Croatia v CONCACAF in the World Cup.
3-1 v Jamaica (1998)
0-1 v Mexico (2002)
1-3 v Mexico (2014)
4-1 v Canada (2022)

 

Spain 1-1 Germany

Most World Cup appearances by goalkeepers.
18 Sepp Maier (West Germany 1970, 1974, 1978)
18 Claudio Taffarel (Brazil 1990, 1994, 1998)
18 Manuel Neuer (Germany 2010, 2014,2018, 2022)

Most Spain appearances in the World Cup.
17 Iker Casillas (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
17 Sergio Ramos (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
16 Andoni Zubizarreta (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
15 Xavi (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
15 Sergio Busquets (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)

Leading Spain goalscorers in major tournaments (World Cup + Euros).
13 David Villa
9 Fernando Torres
8 Alvaro Morata

Spain v Germany at the World Cup.
1966 : 1-2
1982 : 1-2
1994 : 1-1
2010 : 1-0
2022 : 1-1

 

Kevin De Bruyne also has 13 WC appearances for Belgium, tied with Eden Hazard.

 

I have him at 12.
4 in 2014 - did not play v South Korea
6 in 2018 - did not play v England (group stage)
2 in 2022

 

I couldn't see how Hazard got to 13, as he only started 12. I thought maybe your were counting Eden's brother Thorgan as playing in the South Korea match, as he played, but Eden did not. Then I saw that Eden came on in the 88th minute against England. Mystery solved.

 

Same numbers as De Bruyne except he appeared as a sub v South Korea in 2014.

EDIT:
I don't see the England sub (?)

 

Oh yeah, I got them backwards. Eden came on at 88th minute in 2014. Thorgan played against England in 2018. I don't think Thorgan was even in on the team in 2014.

 

Cameroon 3-3 Serbia

Yugoslavia/Serbia v CAF in the World Cup.
9-0 v Zaire (1974)
2-3 v Ivory Coast (2006)
0-1 v Ghana (2010)
3-3 v Cameroon

Nantes players who have scored in the World Cup.
Maxime Bossis (1982 France v Kuwait)
Jorge Burruchaga (1986 Argentina v Bulgaria and West Germany, 1990 v Soviet Union)
Samson Siasia (1994 Nigeria v Argentina)
Jean-Charles Castelletto (2022 Cameroon v Serbia)

Halftime 1-2
Serbia are the first team in World Cup history to score two goals in first half added/stoppage time. (45'+1', 45'+3')

CAF consecutive World Cup matches without a victory.
13 Tunisia (1978, 1998-2006, 2018)
9 Nigeria (1998-2002, 2010-2014)
9 Cameroon (2002, 2010-2014, 2022)
7 Algeria (1986, 2010-2014)
7 Egypt (1934, 1990, 2018) - yet to record a win

Highest scoring draws in World Cup history.
4-4 Belgium v England, 1954 (a.e.t., 3-3 after 90')
4-4 USSR v Colombia, 1962
3-3 Cuba v Romanía, 1938 (a.e.t., 2-2 after 90')
3-3 Yugoslavia v Paraguay, 1958
3-3 West Germany v France, 1982 (a.e.t., 1-1 after 90')
3-3 Senegal v Uruguay, 2002
3-3 Portugal v Spain, 2018
3-3 Cameroon v Serbia, 2022

 

South Korea 2-3 Ghana

South Korea v CAF in the World Cup
2-1 v Togo (2006)
2-2 v Nigeria (2010)
2-4 v Algeria (2014)
2-3 v Ghana (2022)

Ghana v AFC in the World Cup.
1-1 v Australia (2010)
3-2 v South Korea (2022)

Sixth time Ghana scored first in a World Cup match.
5 victories
1 draw (2010 v Uruguay)

Fastest braces scored in a World Cup match.
1'10'' Toni Kroos (Germany 2014 v Brazil)
2'30'' Ronaldo (Brazil 2002 v Costa Rica)
2'47'' Oleg Salenko (Russia 1994 v Cameroon)
2'47" Cho Gue-sung (2022 South Korea v Ghana)

Youngest CAF players to score a brace in a World Cup match.
21-254 Ahmed Musa (2014 Nigeria v Argentina)
22-118 Mohammed Kudus (2022 Ghana v South Korea)

World Cup match dates with more than one match having at least 5 goals.
1990 10 June (Czechoslovakia 5-1 United States, West Germany 4-1 Yugoslavia)
2022 28 November (Cameroon 3-3 Serbia, South Korea 2-3 Ghana)

 

Brazil 1-0 Switzerland

Switzerland v CONMEBOL
2-2 v Brazil (1950)
1-3 v Chile (1962)
0-2 v Argentina (1966)
0-2 v Colombia (1994)
0-1 v Chile (2010)
2-1 v Ecuador (2014)
0-1 aet v Argentina (2014)
1-1 v Brazil (2018)
0-1 v Brazil (2022)

Manchester United players to score for CONMEBOL in the World Cup.
Diego Forlán (Uruguay, 2002 v Senegal)
Marcos Rojo (Argentina, 2018 v Nigeria)
Casemiro (Brazil, 2022 v Switzerland)

Longest unbeaten run in World Cup group phases.
17 Brazil (2002-2022)
16 Germany (1990-2010)

Unbeaten v Brazil in the World Cup, minimum of 2 meetings.
Hungary (4-2 in 1954, 3-1 in 1966)
Portugal (3-1 in 1966, 0-0 in 2010)
Switzerland (2-2 in 1950, 1-1 in 2018)

 

Portugal 2-0 Uruguay

Portugal v CONMEBOL in the World Cup.
3-1 v Brazil (1966)
0-0 v Brazil (2010)
1-2 v Uruguay (2018)
2-0 v Uruguay (2022)

Uruguay v Iberia in the World Cup.
2-2 v Spain (1950)
0-0 v Spain (1990)
2-1 v Portugal (2018)
0-2 v Portugal (2022)

Most World Cup appearances for Uruguay.
16 Fernando Muslera (2010-2018)
16 Diego Godín (2010-2022)
16 Edinson Cavani (2010-2022)
14 Luis Suárez (2010-2022)
13 Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (1966-1970)

Oldest players in a World Cup match, non-goalkeepers.
42-039 Roger Milla (Cameroon, 1994 v Russia)
39-292 Atiba Hutchinson (Canada, 2022 v Croatia)
39-275 Pepe (Portugal, 2022 v Uruguay)

Portugal players to score at least a brace in a World Cup match.
José Augusto (1966 v Hungary)
Eusébio (1966 v Brazil, v North Korea-4 goals)
Pauleta (2002 v Poland-3 goals)
Tiago (2010 v North Korea)
Cristiano Ronaldo (2018 v Spain-3 goals)
Bruno Fernandes (2022 v Uruguay)

Manchester United players who scored a brace in a World Cup match.
Bobby Charlton (1966, England v Portugal)
Bryan Robson (1982, England v France)
Robin van Persie (2014, Netherlands v Spain)
Romelu Lukaku (2018, Belgium v Panama, v Tunisia)
Bruno Fernandes (2022, Portugal v Uruguay)

Portugal starting a World Cup with two victories.
1966 (3-1 v Hungary, 3-0 v Bulgaria) - reached semifinals
2006 (1-0 v Angola, 2-0 v Iran) - reached semifinals
2022 (3-2 v Ghana, 2-0 v Uruguay)

 

Netherlands 2-0 Qatar

Netherlands v AFC in the World Cup.
3-0 v Iran (1978)
2-1 v Saudi Arabia (1994)
5-0 v South Korea (1998)
1-0 v Japan (2010)
3-2 v Australia (2014)
2-0 v Qatar (2022)

Netherlands v World Cup host nations.
1-2 v West Germany (1974)
1-3 aet v Argentina (1978)
3-0 v Brazil (2014)
2-0 v Qatar (2022)

Players who scored the first goal in all three of his team's World Cup first round group stage matches.
Alessandro Altobelli (1986)
Cody Gakpo (2022)

Clubs whose players have scored the most goals in Qatar 2022.
6 Barcelona (Ferrán Torres [2], Christensen, De Jong, Gavi, Lewandowski)
6 PSG (Mbappé [3], Messi [2], Soler)

Clubs whose players have scored the most goals in World Cup history.
79 Barcelonaa
78 Bayern Munich
75 Real Madrid
71 Internazionale

Group top seeded teams that failed to win a match at the World Cup.
1974 Uruguay (1 draw, 2 defeats)
2002 France (1 draw, 2 defeats)
2010 Italy (2 draws, 1 defeat)
2022 Qatar (3 defeats)

 

Ecuador 1-2 Senegal

Senegal v CONMEBOL in the World Cup.
3-3 v Uruguay (2002)
0-1 v Colombia (2018)
2-1 v Senegal (2022)

Moises Caicedo is the first player of Brighton & Hove Albion to score a World Cup goal.

CAF teams that have advanced to the World Cup knockout stage on at least two occasions.
3 Nigeria (1994, 1998, 2014)
2 Ghana (2006, 2010)
2 Senegal (2002, 2022)

▪️ finished 3rd: 2022 Ecuador (13th team on the list)

 

Wales 0-3 England

0-3 England
Marcus Rashford scores England's 100th World Cup goal.

Teams that have scored at least 100 goals in the World Cup.
232 Brazil
228 (West) Germany
140 Argentina
128 Italy
126 France
101 Spain
100 England

England finish the World Cup group phase with 2 victories, 1 draw.
1966 : Champions
2006 : Quarterfinalists
2022 : ???

 

Iran 0-1 United States

Most Iran appearances in World Cup history.
9 Ehsan Hajsafi (2014, 2018, 2022)
9 Alireza Jahanbakhsh (2014, 2018, 2022)
6 Mehdi Mahdavikia (1998, 2006)
6 Andranik Teymourian (2006, 2014)

United States avoided defeat in its opening group phase match of the World Cup.
1930 : Semifinalists
1994 : Round of 16
2002 : Quarterfinalists
2010 : Round of 16
2014 : Round of 16
2022 : ???

History of AFC v CONCACAF in the World Cup.
1986 Iraq 0-1 Mexico
1998 South Korea 1-3 Mexico
1998 Japan 1-2 Jamaica
1998 Iran 2-1 United States
2002 China 0-2 Coast Rica
2002 South Korea 1-1 United States
2006 Iran 1-3 Mexico
2018 South Korea 1-2 Mexico
2022 Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
2022 Iran 0-1 United States
2022 Saudi Arabia v Mexico
AFC: 1
CONCACAF: 8
draw: 1
1 pending.

 

So Mexico's run of 7 consecutive qualifications to the round of 16 finally stopped.

At least, we will not read about "el quinto partido" until 2026...

"Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores..."

 

Australia has only once qualified to the second round, in 2006, where they were eliminated (in a controversial way) by the eventual champion.

Will it happen again in 2022? For that to happen, Argentina would need to break the "curse" of the Copa America's champion of never winning the World Cup...

 

Did not know where to put it, so I'll add it here.

Of all the WC matches I have seen live:

• Every time that a CONCACAF team played, they won.
• Every time that a CAF team played, they won.
• Every time that a CONMEBOL team played, they lost.
  
• Every time that a AFC team played, they lost.

The next matches I will see are: CRO-BEL, JAP-ESP, GHA-URU, SRB-SUI, NED-USA, ARG-AUS, FRA-POL, ENG-SEN, and the rest of the round of 16 and QFs.

Maybe some of you may want to take a bet against Japan, and for Ghana, USA and Senegal...