FIFA World Cup records and statistics

FIFA World Cup records and statistics
As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 80 national teams have competed at the finals of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil is the only team to have appeared in all 22 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 20, Italy and Argentina in 18 and Mexico in 17. Eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are Argentina. The most successful nation is Brazil, which has won the cup on five occasions. Five teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while twelve more have appeared in the semi-finals.
List of tournaments
Overall team records
The system used in the World Cup up to 1990 was 2 points for a win. In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.
Breakdown of successor team records
Finals records by team
Teams statistics
Note: In case there are teams with equal quantities, they will be mentioned in chronological order of tournament history (the teams that attained the quantity first, are listed first). If the quantity was attained by more than one team in the same tournament, the teams will be listed alphabetically.
For a detailed list of top four appearances, see FIFA World Cup results.
Most titles
– 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Most finishes in the top two
/West Germany – 8 (1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986 and 1990 as West Germany, 2002 and 2014 as Germany)
Most second-place finishes
/West Germany – 4 (1966, 1982, 1986 as West Germany, 2002 as Germany)
Most World Cup appearances
– 22 (every tournament)
Most consecutive championships
– 2 (1934–1938)
– 2 (1958–1962)
Most consecutive finishes in the top two
– 3 (1982–1990)
– 3 (1994–2002)
Longest gap between successive titles
– 44 years (nine editions, 1938–1982)
Longest gap between successive appearances in the top two
– 48 years (10 editions, 1930–1978)
Longest gap between successive appearances at the FIFA World Cup
– 64 years (16 editions, 1958–2022)
Most consecutive failed qualification attempts
– 21 (all 1934–2022)
Worst finish by defending champions
Group stage – (1950)
Group stage – (1966)
Group stage – (2002)
Group stage – (2010)
Group stage – (2014)
Group stage – (2018)
Players
Most appearances
Players in bold text are still active with their national team as of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Most championships
Pelé – 3 (1958, 1962 and 1970)
Most appearances in a World Cup final
Cafu – 3 (1994, 1998, 2002)
Youngest player
Norman Whiteside – (for vs. , 17 June 1982)
Youngest player in a final
Pelé – (for vs. , 29 June 1958)
Oldest player
Essam El-Hadary – (for vs. , 25 June 2018)
Oldest player in a final
Dino Zoff – (for vs. , 11 July 1982)
Goalscoring
Individual
Top goalscorers
Players in bold text are still active with their national team as of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Most goals scored in a single tournament
Just Fontaine – 13 (1958)
Most goals scored in a match
Oleg Salenko – 5 (for vs. , 1994)
Most goals scored in a final match
Geoff Hurst – 3 (for vs. , 1966)
Kylian Mbappé – 3 (for vs. , 2022)
Most goals scored in final matches (overall)
Kylian Mbappé – 4 (2018, 2022)
Most consecutive matches scored in
Just Fontaine – 6 (1958)
Jairzinho – 6 (1970)
Most tournaments scored in
Cristiano Ronaldo – 5 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Milestone goals
Scorer of 1st goal – Lucien Laurent (for vs. , 13 July 1930)
Scorer of 100th goal – Angelo Schiavio (for vs. , 27 May 1934)
Scorer of 1,000th goal – Rob Rensenbrink (for vs. , 11 June 1978)
Scorer of 2,000th goal – Marcus Allbäck (for vs. , 20 June 2006)
Youngest goalscorer
Pelé – (for vs. , 19 June 1958)
Youngest goalscorer in a final
Pelé – (for vs. , 29 June 1958)
Oldest goalscorer
Roger Milla – (for vs. , 28 June 1994)
Oldest goalscorer in a final
Nils Liedholm – (for vs. , 29 June 1958)
Oldest goalscorer in a victorious final
Lionel Messi – (for vs. , 18 December 2022)
Fastest goal
Hakan Şükür – 11 seconds (for vs. , 2002)
Fastest goal in a final
Johan Neeskens – 90 seconds (for vs. , 1974)
Latest goal in regular time
Mehdi Taremi – 90+13th minute (for vs. , 2022)
Team
Biggest wins
Biggest win in a final
Highest scoring matches
Most goals in a tournament
– 27 (1954)
Top scoring teams by tournament
Teams listed in bold won the tournament. Fewer than half of all World Cup tournaments have been won by the highest-scoring team.
Tournament
Most goals scored in a tournament
2022 – 172 goals
Fewest goals scored in a tournament
1930 – 70 goals
1934 – 70 goals
Most goals per match in a tournament
1954 – 5.38 goals per match
Fewest goals per match in a tournament
1990 – 2.21 goals per match
Own goals
Assists
Note: FIFA formally records assists only from the 1966 edition onwards.
Most assists
Pelé – 10 (1958–1970)
Most assists in a tournament
Raymond Kopa – 9 (1958)
Most tournaments assisted in
Lionel Messi – 5 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Most assists provided in a match
Robert Gadocha – 4 (for vs. , 1974)
Most assists provided in final matches
Pelé – 3 (1 in 1958, 2 in 1970)
Penalty shoot-outs
Goalkeeping
Most clean sheets
Peter Shilton – 10 (1982–1990)
Fabien Barthez – 10 (1998–2006)
Most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal
Walter Zenga – 517 mins, 5 consecutive clean sheets (1990)
Most goals conceded
Antonio Carbajal – 25 (1950–1966)
Mohamed Al-Deayea – 25 (1994–2006)
Most goals conceded in one tournament
Hong Deok-young – 16 (1954)
Fewest goals conceded in one tournament
Pascal Zuberbühler – 0 (2006)
Fewest goals conceded in one tournament for the eventual winners
Fabien Barthez – 2 (1998)
Gianluigi Buffon – 2 (2006)
Iker Casillas – 2 (2010)
Most saves in one match
Tim Howard – 16 (for vs. , 2014)
Most penalties saved (excluding penalty shoot-outs)
Jan Tomaszewski – 2 (both in 1974)
Brad Friedel – 2 (both in 2002)
Iker Casillas – 2 (2002, 2010)
Wojciech Szczęsny – 2 (both in 2022)
Most penalties saved in one penalty shoot-out
Ricardo – 3 (for vs. , 2006)
Danijel Subašić – 3 (for vs. , 2018)
Dominik Livaković – 3 (for vs. , 2022)
Most penalties saved overall in penalty shoot-outs
Harald Schumacher – 4 (1982–1986)
Sergio Goycochea – 4 (1990)
Danijel Subašić – 4 (2018)
Dominik Livaković – 4 (2022)
Coaching
Most matches coached
Helmut Schön – 25 (1966–1978)
Most matches won
Helmut Schön – 16 (1966–1978)
Most tournaments won
Vittorio Pozzo – 2 (1934–1938)
Most tournaments as a coach
Carlos Alberto Parreira – 6 (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010)
Most different nations coached
Bora Milutinović – 5 (in 1986, in 1990, in 1994, in 1998 and in 2002)
Carlos Alberto Parreira – 5 (in 1982, in 1990, in 1994 and 2006, in 1998 and in 2010)
Most consecutive tournaments as a coach
Bora Milutinović – 5 (1986–2002)
Most consecutive tournaments as a coach with the same team
Walter Winterbottom – 4 (1950–1962)
Helmut Schön – 4 (1966–1978)
Youngest coach
Juan José Tramutola – (1930)
Youngest coach of a World Cup winning team
Alberto Suppici – (1930)
Oldest coach
Otto Rehhagel – (2010)
Oldest coach of a World Cup winning team
Vicente del Bosque – (2010)
Refereeing
Most tournaments
John Langenus – 3 (Belgium, 1930–1938)
Ivan Eklind – 3 (Sweden, 1934–1950)
Sandy Griffiths – 3 (Wales, 1950–1958)
Arthur Edward Ellis – 3 (England, 1950–1958)
Juan Gardeazábal – 3 (Spain, 1958–1966)
Erik Fredriksson – 3 (Sweden, 1982–1990)
Jamal Al Sharif – 3 (Syria, 1986–1994)
Joël Quiniou – 3 (France, 1986–1994)
Ali Bujsaim – 3 (United Arab Emirates, 1994–2002)
Óscar Ruiz – 3 (Colombia, 2002–2010)
Carlos Eugênio Simon – 3 (Brazil, 2002–2010)
Marco Antonio Rodríguez – 3 (Mexico, 2006–2014)
Joel Aguilar – 3 (El Salvador, 2010–2018)
Ravshan Irmatov – 3 (Uzbekistan, 2010–2018)
Alireza Faghani – 3 (Iran, 2014–2022)
Bakary Gassama – 3 (Gambia, 2014–2022)
Most matches refereed, overall
Ravshan Irmatov – 11 (Uzbekistan, 2010–2018)
Youngest referee
Juan Gardeazábal – 24 years and 193 days (Spain, 1958)
Oldest referee
George Reader – 53 years and 236 days (England, 1950)
Discipline
Note: There are no official records for cautions issued in tournaments before the introduction of yellow cards in 1970.
Fastest caution
Jesús Gallardo – 11 seconds (for vs. , 2018)
Fastest sending off
José Batista – 56 seconds (for vs. , 1986)
Fastest sending off, qualification
Rashed Al-Hooti – 37 seconds (for vs. , 11 October 2011, 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification)
Latest caution
Emiliano Martínez – During penalty shoot-out (for vs. , 2022)
Latest sending off
Leandro Cufré – After penalty shoot-out (for vs. , 2006)
Denzel Dumfries – After penalty shoot-out (for vs. , 2022)
Sent off from the bench
Claudio Caniggia (for vs. , 2002)
Most cards (all-time, player)
Javier Mascherano – 7 (2006–2018)
Most cautions (all-time, player)
Javier Mascherano – 7 (2006–2018)
Most sendings off (all-time, player)
Rigobert Song – 2 (1994 and 1998)
Zinedine Zidane – 2 (1998 and 2006)
Most sendings off (tournament)
2006 – 28 (in 64 games)
Most sendings off (all-time, team)
– 11 (in 97 games)
Most sendings off (match, both teams)
2 each for and – 4 (2006)
Most sendings off (final match)
2 for vs. , 1990
Most cautions (tournament)
2006 – 345 (in 64 matches)
Most cautions (all-time, team)
– 88 (in 64 games until 2006)
Most cautions (match, one team)
– 10 (2022, vs. )
Most cautions (match, both teams)
8 for and 10 for – 18 (2022)
Most cautions (match, player)
Josip Šimunić – 3 (61', 90', 93') (for vs. , 2006) (referee: Graham Poll)
Most cautions (final match, both teams)
9 for and 5 for – 14 (2010)
Most suspensions (tournament, player)
André Kana-Biyik – 2 (1990)
Teams: Matches played/goals scored
All time
Most matches played
– 114
Most wins
– 76
Most losses
– 28
Most draws
– 22
Most goals scored
– 237
Most goalscorers
– 85
Most goals conceded
– 130
Fewest goals scored
– 0
– 0
– 0
– 0
In one tournament
Most goals scored
– 27 (1954)
Fewest goals conceded
– 0 (2006)
Most goals conceded
– 16 (1954)
Most matches gone into extra time
– 3 (1986)
– 3 (1990)
– 3 (2014)
– 3 (2018)
Most minutes without conceding a goal
– 517 mins (1990)
Highest goal difference
– +17 (1954)
Highest goal difference, champions
– +14 (2002)
– +14 (2014)
Lowest goal difference
– −16 (1954)
Lowest goal difference, champions
– +6 (1938 and 1982)
– +6 (2010)
Highest average of goals scored per match
– 5.40 (1954)
Highest average goal difference per match
– +3.2 (1954)
Most goals scored, champions
– 25 (1954)
Fewest goals scored, champions
– 8 (2010)
Fewest goals scored, finalists
– 5 (1990)
Fewest goals conceded, champions
– 2 (1998)
– 2 (2006)
– 2 (2010)
Most goals conceded, champions
– 14 (1954)
Lowest average of goals scored per match, champions
– 1.14 (2010)
Most penalties scored (excluding shoot-outs)
– 4 (1966)
– 4 (1978)
– 4 (2022)
Most penalties awarded (excluding shoot-outs)
– 5 (2022)
Hat-tricks
Attendance
Highest attendance
Lowest attendance
vs. – 300 (14 July 1930, Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo)
Highest average of attendance
1994 – 69,174 per match
Highest aggregated attendance
1994 – 3,594,042
Lowest average of attendance
1934 – 21,239
Lowest aggregated attendance
1934 – 358,000
See also
AFC Asian Cup records and statistics
Africa Cup of Nations records and statistics
CONCACAF Gold Cup records and statistics
Copa América records and statistics
FIFA Arab Cup records and statistics
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup records and statistics
FIFA Confederations Cup records and statistics
FIFA Futsal World Cup
FIFA U-17 World Cup records and statistics
FIFA U-20 World Cup records and statistics
FIFA Women's World Cup records and statistics
Men's Olympic football tournament records and statistics
OFC Nations Cup records and statistics
UEFA European Championship records and statistics
Women's Olympic football tournament records and statistics
Footnotes
References
External links
FIFA World Cup records and statistics
All-time football league tables
Records
Top sports lists