30 curious records and facts in World Cup history
By 90min Staff
It’s a festival of football, it’s a feast for the eyes, it’s what billions around the planet wait so patiently for, and it’s a month that passes by infinitely too quickly - it’s the FIFA World Cup.
Rolling around every four years, it’s an event that captivates every corner of the globe, with a combined viewership of over half the world’s population for the 2018 edition in Russia.
As we gear up for the first-ever winter edition (geography-dependent) of the World Cup - there’s a fact for free - let’s take a look at 30 records and facts in the history of the competition.
1. One city hosted the first tournament
Part of the joy of major tournaments is seeing the feverish celebrations across host nations, enjoying the scenes of elation as foreign and domestic fans mix in picturesque town squares in different locations.
But that’s just not very practical, is it? This, we suppose, is exactly why the 1930 World Cup took place - in its entirety - in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital city. The tournament’s 18 matches were played across three stadia in the city - one boasting a capacity of a whopping 90,000 while the other two held a combined 30,000.
2. Scorer of the first-ever World Cup goal
What a thing to tell the grandkids, eh?
Frenchman Lucien Laurent can claim to be the scorer of the first-ever World Cup goal. The forward only netted twice for his country but, having bagged in the 19th minute of Les Bleus’ 4-1 thrashing of Mexico in the inaugural World Cup curtain-raiser, who actually needs a second?
3. The strangest goal in World Cup history
From first-ever to weirdest-ever…
Arguably the strangest goal in World Cup history came back in 1938, a goal that ensured eventual winners Italy progressed to the final at the expense of an impressive Brazil side.
With his side 1-0 up in the contest, Italian great Giuseppe Meazza stepped up to take a penalty on the hour-mark, only to feel his shorts slip to his ankles during his run-up. Undeterred, the then-skipper readjusted himself, and planted the ball in the net while the goalkeeper was still laughing… or so the legend goes! The semi-final eventually finished 2-1, before I Azzurri claimed a 4-2 win over Hungary in the final.
4. Most goals in one World Cup campaign
What makes Just Fontaine’s fourth-place ranking in the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorers list all the more impressive is that the French icon only featured in one edition of the competition.
France would eventually bow out at the semi-final stage to champions Brazil in 1958 but Fontaine’s impeccable individual campaign, in which he staggeringly scored all of his 13 World Cup goals, will forever live in footballing memory.
5. Most goals in one World Cup match
Although Fontaine can claim that famous, goal-riddled campaign and a World Cup hat-trick during it, he’ll never be able to say he’s scored five goals in a single World Cup match. In fact, no one but Oleg Salenko can!
The Russian added a second-half brace to his first-half hat-trick to net five times during a group-stage bout with Cameroon in 1994, a game they would go on to win 6-1.
6. Biggest gap between World Cup tournaments
We’re all used to feeling the bustling excitement as the World Cup approaches every four years, but there was of course a 12-year hiatus of the competition from 1938 until 1950 - the biggest gap between World Cups.
While there would have been 23 tournaments up to this point, the absence of the competition in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War means Qatar will host the 22nd, rather than 24th, edition of the World Cup.
7. Biggest attendance at a World Cup match
While millions or, in more recent years, billions of people tune in on their televisions to witness history unfold, it’s a privilege to experience it pan out in front of one’s eyes.
Well, in 1950, a whopping 173,850 (the actual figure is believed to be somewhere closer to 200,000) people had that privilege, turning up to the Maracana to watch hosts Brazil lose 2-1 to Uruguay in the World Cup final - the match remains the most-attended in football history.
And, here’s a fact for free - the lowest-attended match in World Cup history happened in 1930, as a measly 300 people showed their faces to watch Romania play Peru.
8. Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy
A tale of colossal canine curiosity, Pickles the dog remains forever a national icon for his role in finding the Jules Rimet trophy while enjoying his walkies.
Stolen from a display cabinet in Westminster in March 1966 prior to the World Cup in England, the trophy was found by David Corbett (who probably doesn't get enough credit in this tale) and his dog Pickles in south-east London just a week later.
Unwrapping a Jule Rimet trophy-shaped newspaper parcel and recognising what he’d found, Corbett safely returned the beautiful piece to the police and thereafter the Football Association.
The thief was identified as petty theft specialist Edward Betchley and received jail time for his crime, Corbett subsequently attended the players’ celebration dinner following their success against West Germany in the final as well as receiving financial rewards, and Pickles was forever remembered as England’s good boy.
9. It’s still missing
No, this isn’t a conspiracy theory about Corbett and his delightful dog; the Jules Rimet trophy was actually stolen for a second time in 1983 and was never recovered.
After securing its third World Cup triumph in 1970, Brazil was awarded the trophy in perpetuity but 13 years later found it to be stolen.
It didn’t take long for three men and a subsequent fourth to be arrested, offering the unlikely suggestion that they’d melted the trophy down, but they all fled when given their sentences; three were re-arrested and one was shot dead in a bar over the following years, but the whereabouts of the original Jules Rimet trophy remains a mystery, with the Brazilian Football Confederation being given a replica.
10. The player with the most World Cup triumphs
Staying in Brazil, the iconic Pele reflects his country’s record as the World Cup’s most successful nation, winning the competition more times than any other individual.
Largely regarded as football’s greatest, the diminutive Brazilian was a glistening star on the international stage and earned himself three World Cup winner’s medals, quite incredibly lifting the trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
11. The player with the most World Cup assists
Guess who? Yep, it’s Pele again.
We all know Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals will be hugely difficult to trump, but so will Pele’s tally of 10 assists, including a haul of six at Mexico ‘70.
12. The players with the most World Cup appearances
It’s not Pele! The player to have played in more World Cup matches than any other is Germany legend Lothar Matthaus, who played a staggering 25 times across five different tournaments from 1982 to 1998.
The Ballon d’Or winner and most-capped German of all time also skippered his nation at two World Cups, captaining Germany to triumph at Italia ‘90.
13. The players with the most World Cup participations
Rather unsurprisingly, given his 25 appearances, Lothar Matthaus boasts the most World Cup participations, having featured at five tournaments.
However, he shares that record with two Mexican legends. Goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal was selected for five successive World Cup squads from 1950 to 1966, while Rafael Marquez quite remarkably skippered his country at five World Cup tournaments between 2002 and 2018.
14. The player with the most appearances in qualification history
World Cup qualification throws out some rogue records - one of them being Ivan Hurtado’s fantastic tally of 68 appearances in World Cup qualification matches.
The Ecuadorian legend played 168 times for his nation and managed to rack up more games in qualifiers than anyone else in history.
15. The player with the most goals in qualification history
If you thought that was a bit rogue, wait for this one…
Guatemala have never appeared at a World Cup finals but can boast the qualification process’s highest-ever goalscorer. Carlos Ruiz played 47 qualifying matches over his international career and managed a phenomenal 39 strikes - for reference, that’s 11 more than Lionel Messi, who has 13 more World Cup qualification appearances to his name than Ruiz.
16. The youngest player in World Cup history
You might have thought Pele’s sensational introduction to World Cup football in 1958 might have made him the youngest player in the competition’s history - but you’d be wrong.
Former Manchester United man Norman Whiteside actually holds that record, featuring for Northern Ireland at the age of just 17 years and 41 days against Yugoslavia in 1982.
Cue chant: School in the morning.
17. The oldest player in World Cup history
From baby-faced Whiteside to Egypt’s heavily-matured goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who captained his country - becoming both the oldest player and skipper in World Cup history - against Saudi Arabia four years ago.
His 159th and final appearance for his nation was far from successful, however, as Egypt fell to a 2-1 defeat to round off a disappointing group-stage exit.
18. Biggest age difference on the same team in a World Cup match
The great Roger Milla was a fully-fledged, 24-year-old international when Rigobert Song was born.
And yet, the 1994 World Cup in the United States saw both Cameroonian legends line up alongside each other during a 3-0 group-stage defeat to Brazil, in the process creating the largest age difference between two on-field colleagues during a World Cup match.
The more you know, eh?
19. The country with the most defeats in World Cup history
Mexico holds a very unwanted record, having lost 27 World Cup matches - more than any other country.
They have, however, consistently managed to progress past the group phase, and indeed head to Qatar having bowed out at the round of 16 stage for the past seven editions of the World Cup.
20. The country with the most draws in World Cup history
Given the perpetual head-droppingly disappointing performance of the Three Lions at major tournaments over the years, it might not come as too much of a surprise to hear that no country has drawn more World Cup matches than England - fun.
The 1966 champions have drawn a total of 21 games over the course of their 15 participations - only Italy have drawn as many World Cup fixtures.
21. The country to have played the fewest World Cup matches
Now, this is a brilliant stat.
While a few nations have only made it to one World Cup proper throughout the competition’s history, only one can claim to have played just one match - and that’s Indonesia who, in 1938, played under the name Dutch East Indies.
Back when the World Cup kicked off at a knockout round of 16 stage, the Dutch East Indies faced a maiden bout with giants Hungary, who progressed to the quarter-finals courtesy of a 6-0 mauling; short and sweet.
22. Worst host nation performance in World Cup history
Spain hosted the World Cup for the first (and only, to date) time in 1982, with a fourth-placed finish in 1950 their best performance up until that point - excitement and expectation would have been bursting at the seams as the tournament made its inaugural appearance in the country.
Well, that soon faded; Espana put in the worst overall performance by a host nation in World Cup history, winning just one of their five matches and bowing out bottom of their group in the second group stage. Ouch.
23. Only host nation not to progress to the second round of the World Cup
At least Spain managed to progress past the first hurdle, however. While that 1982 side might boast a host nation’s worst win percentage in World Cup history, South Africa are the only host to have bid farewell to the tournament at the first group stage.
Despite one of the competition’s biggest-ever upsets, beating France 2-1 on Group A’s final matchday, South Africa’s defeat to Uruguay and draw with Mexico left the 2010 hosts third in their group, missing out on the last 32 on goal difference.
24. The only country to have featured in every World Cup
There is only one nation to have qualified for every single World Cup tournament since its inception in 1930 and, given its success, it’s no surprise to find out that Brazil boasts that feat.
The country’s 21 participations are matched by no one else and are only rivalled by Germany - who would have 20 appearances to their name were it not for disqualification in 1950.
25. The most common World Cup final match-up
The Brazilians have also played in a ridiculous seven World Cup finals - but they don’t feature in the most common World Cup final match-up throughout the competition’s history.
The two nations to have played each other most frequently on football’s ultimate stage are in fact Germany and Argentina, who have met three times to battle it out for the top prize.
They met in consecutive finals in 1986 and 1990, each winning one, before their most recent meeting in the 2014 final, which went the way of the Germans.
26. Only one World Cup has been hosted by multiple nations
The 2026 World Cup will be played throughout North America, with the USA, Canada and Mexico all hosting matches.
That will be just the second edition to be hosted in more than one country, however. The first time this happened was in 2002 when Asia’s first World Cup was played out in South Korea and Japan.
South Korea were the surprise package in that tournament, reaching the final four, although it was Brazil that earned their fifth and most recent title.
27. The fastest goal in World Cup history
Although South Korea dazzled with their semi-final finish in 2002, they fell victim to the quickest goal ever scored in World Cup history the same year.
Turkey were the hosts’ opponents in the third-place play-off, a thrilling game that got off to the liveliest of starts. It took Turkish legend Hakan Sukur only 11 seconds to put his nation ahead, before he grabbed assists for two further Turkey goals to ensure his side ran out 3-2 winners.
28. The most successful continent in World Cup history
Brazil’s five titles may be a record in World Cup history but South America as a continent is not the most decorated.
Only two continents have actually produced World Cup-winning nations - South America boast nine titles from three countries, while Europe has produced five champions who have won 12 titles between them.
29. We’ll see the World Cup’s first demountable stadium in Qatar
Not only will we see the first-ever winter World Cup this year, but we’ll also witness the competition’s first-ever pop-up stadium.
The Ras Abou Aboud Stadium (or Stadium 974), which will host Argentina, France, Brazil and Portugal during the group stage, has been built out of shipping containers and will be dismantled following the conclusion of the tournament.
30. We have one newcomer to the World Cup this year
31 of this year’s World Cup teams have taken to football’s biggest stage already, but one is entering the tournament as a newbie.
That is, of course, hosts Qatar who, despite having never played a World Cup match, go into their maiden tournament as reigning AFC Asian Cup champions.