FIFA World Cup Records & Stats

As the World Cup 2022 is not that far away, let’s have a look at the history and see the World Cup’s most impressive records!

World Cup Team Records

Most World Cup titles:

The most World Cup tournaments won by Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002); 5 times.

Most finishes in the top two:

West Germany/Germany reached the final of the World Cup 8 times (1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2014).

Most World Cup final tournament appearances:

Brazil played in 22 World Cup final tournaments (all the tournaments).

Most titles won by a confederation:

UEFA teams won the World Cup for 12 times (1934, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018).

Most consecutive championships:

Italy and Brazil won the World Cup 2 times consecutively (Italy in 1934–1938 and Brazil in 1958–1962).

Most consecutive second-place finishes:

Netherlands and West Germany finished in 2nd place 2 times consecutively (Netherlands in 1974–1978 and West Germany in 1982–1986).

Longest gap between successive titles:

After their 2nd title in 1938, Italy had to wait for 44 years to win their 3rd title in 1982.

Longest holding of the world champion title:

For 16 years, 1 month and 6 days (10 June 1934 – 16 July 1950) Italy held the World Cup champion title.

Best finish by host team:

Hosting the World Cup, Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), England (1966), West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978) and France (1998) won the tournament.

Best finish by a debuting team:

By debuting, Uruguay (1930) and Italy (1934) won the World Cup.

Most finishes in the top two without ever being champion:

The Netherlands reached the final of the World Cup 3 times, but never won it (1974, 1978, 2010).

Biggest margin of victory:

9 goals: Hungary won South Korea 9–0 in 1954; Yugoslavia won Zaire 9–0, in 1974 and Hungary won El Salvador 10–1 in 1982.

Biggest margin of victory, qualifying match:

31 goals: Australia won American Samoa 31–0 in 2001 April 11, 2002 OFC Group 1.

Most goals scored in a match by one team:

Hungary scored 10 goals and beat El Salvador 10–1 in 1982.

Most goals scored in a match by both teams:

Austria 7–5 Switzerland: teams scored 12 goals in a 1954 match.

Highest scoring draw:

4–4 is the highest draw in World Cup history. This score was set in matches England vs Belgium in 1954 and Soviet Union vs Colombia in 1962.

Most goals scored in extra time by both teams:

5 goals; Italy 3–2 West Germany in 1970.

Most goals scored in a final by one team:

Brazil scored 5 goals in the 1958 final.

Fewest goals scored in a final by both teams:

Brazil and Italy played 0-0 in the World Cup 1994 final.

Most goals in a tournament by one team:

Hungary scored 27 goals in the World Cup 1954.

World Cup Individual Records

Most championships:

Pelé won 3 World Cup final tournaments (Brazil, 1958, 1962 (only played in first two matches; medal awarded retroactively by FIFA in 2007) and 1970),

Most tournament appearances:

Antonio Carbajal played 5 World Cup final tournaments (Mexico, 1950–1966), Lothar Matthäus (Germany, 1982–1998), and Rafael Márquez (Mexico, 2002–2018).

Most appearances in All-Star Team:

Djalma Santos (Brazil, 1954–1962), Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany, 1966–1974) and Philipp Lahm (Germany, 2006–2014) have been in the All-Star Team 3 times each.

Most matches played:

Lothar Matthäus played 25 World Cup matches (Germany, 1982–1998).

Most matches won:

Miroslav Klose won 17 World Cup matches (Germany, 2002–2014).

Most appearances in a World Cup final:

Cafu played in 3 World Cup finals (Brazil, 1994, 1998, 2002).

Most appearances as captain:

Rafael Márquez played 17 matches as a captain (Mexico, 2002–2018).

Youngest player:

Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland) was 17 years, 41 days when he played against Yugoslavia on 17 June, 1982.

Oldest player:

Most goals scored in final round:

Miroslav Klose scored the most goals in the World Cup final tournaments; 16 goals (Germany, 2002–2014).

Most goals scored in qualifications:

Carlos Ruiz scored the most goals in the World Cup qualifications; 39 goals (Guatemala, 2002–2016).

Most goals scored in a single tournament:

Just Fontaine scored the most goals in a single World Cup tournament (France, 1958).

Most goals scored in a match:

Oleg Salenko scored the most goals in a single World Cup match (5 goals in the match Russia vs Cameroon, 1994).

Most goals scored in a lost match:

Ernst Wilimowski scored the most goals in a single World Cup lost match (4 goals in the match Poland vs Brazil in 1938.

Most goals scored in a qualifying match:

Archie Thompson scored the most goals in a single World Cup qualification match (13 goals in the match Australia vs American Samoa in 2002 OFC Group 1).

Most goals scored in a final match:

Geoff Hurst scored the most goals in a World Cup final (3 goals in the match England vs West Germany in 1966).

Most hat-tricks:

Sándor Kocsis (Hungary, 1954), Just Fontaine (France, 1958), Gerd Müller (West Germany, 1970) and Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina, 1994 & 1998) scored the most hat-tricks; 2 hat-tricks each.

First goalscorer:

Lucien Laurent (France) was the first goalscorer of the World Cups (against Mexico, 13 July 1930).

100th goal goalscorer:

Edmund Conen (Germany) was the 100th goalscorer of the World Cups (match against Belgium, 27 May 1934).

Youngest goalscorer:

17 years, 239 days, Pelé (Brazil) is the youngest ever goalscorer in the World Cups, scoring against Wales, 19 June 1958.

Youngest goalscorer, final:

17 years, 249 days, Pelé (Brazil) is the youngest ever goalscorer in the World Cup final, scoring in the match against Sweden, 29 June 1958.

Oldest goalscorer:

42 years, 39 days, Roger Milla (Cameroon) is the oldest ever goalscorer in the World Cups, scoring against Russia, 28 June 1994.

Oldest goalscorer, final:

35 years, 264 days, Nils Liedholm (Sweden) is the oldest ever goalscorer in the World Cup final, scoring against Brazil, 29 June 1958.

Fastest goal in a final:

Only 90 seconds were enough for Johan Neeskens (Netherlands) to score against West Germany in the World Cup 1974 final.