FIFA World Cup Stats List
The FIFA World Cup is the world’s largest soccer competition, hosting the best international teams in a head-to-head tournament. At each FIFA World Cup, players are determined to bring home the trophy to their nation, showing off their skills on the international stage. Often, records are broken, and legendary moments are made. Here is a list of some of the most interesting and impressive FIFA World Cup statistics.
Biggest Margin of Victory In A Qualifying Match
The Australian National Team set the record for the most goals scored in a World Cup qualifying match in 2001 when they played American Samoa. Australia beat American Samoa with a whopping 31 goals to zero, making the match the largest winning margin of a World Cup qualifier.
Fastest Red Card
Rashed Al Hooti received the quickest red card in World Cup history, being sent off in just 37 seconds.
Goalkeeper With The Most Clean Sheet Records
England’s Peter Shilton and France’s Fabien Barthez are tied with the most clean sheets record. Each goalkeeper maintained ten clean sheets throughout their World Cup careers.
Longest Distance Covered
The longest distance covered by a player in a single World Cup tournament was 84 kilometers. Germany’s Thomas Muller set this record in the 2014 World Cup.
Most Cards
Javier Mascherano of Argentina holds the record for the most combined yellow and red cards throughout his World Cup career. Mascherano received a total of seven cards.
Most Goals Scored Across FIFA World Cups
Miroslav Klose has set the record for the most goals scored across multiple World Cups. The German forward has set a record of 16 World Cup goals throughout his career.
Most Goals Scored By A Player In A Single Match
Oleg Salenko, a retired Russian forward, has scored the most goals in a single World Cup match. In Russia’s match against Cameroon in 1994, Salenko scored a whopping five goals.
Most Goals Scored In A World Cup Tournament
The most goals scored across a single FIFA World Cup tournament was 171 goals. Surprisingly, this occurred twice, once in the 1998 World Cup and again in the 2014 World Cup.
Most Individual Player Wins
The player that has won the most FIFA World Cups in history is Pelé. The Brazilian forward has contributed to Brazil’s victories in three FIFA World Cup finals, being the only player to have won three tournaments. In second place, 20 players are tied with two World Cup wins. Since Pelé, no player has yet to break the two-win record.
Most Penalties Scored
Spain is the country that has been awarded the most penalties across multiple FIFA World Cups, with a total of 18 penalties awarded. They also have the most successfully converted penalties, with 15.
Most Players Sent Off In A Match
In a 2006 match between Portugal and the Netherlands, which later became popularly known as the “Battle of Nuremberg,” two players from each team received red cards. In total, a record four players in the match were sent off, making it the only 9 v. 9-player game in World Cup history.
Most Shootouts
Argentina has participated in the most World Cup penalty shootouts, with a total of five shootouts (1990, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2014).
Most World Cups Won
With five victories, Brazil’s National Team has been the most successful World Cup squad in history. Brazil has won a total of five FIFA World Cups, each from 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002.
Oldest Player To Score A World Cup Goal
The oldest player to have scored a goal in a World Cup was Roger Milla, a forward from Cameroon. Milla was 42 years and 39 days old when he scored his goal during a 1994 match against Russia.
Youngest Player To Score A World Cup Goal
The youngest player to have scored a goal in a World Cup was Pelé. The Brazilian forward scored his first World Cup goal at just 17 years and 239 days of age.