World cup records |
Biggest victories
Hungary’s 10-1 drubbing of El Salvador in the 1982 World Cup represents the only time a team has scored more than ten goals in a World Cup match. The nine-goal margin of defeat has, however, been matched on two other occasions. Hungary hammered Korea 9-0 in 1954 while Yugoslavia put nine past Zaire twenty years later.
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Fastest expulsion
Uruguay’s Batista did not last even a minute into the match against Scotland in the 1986 World Cup. With the match barely 55 seconds old, he clattered into Scottish winger Gordon Strachan and was promptly sent off by the referee. No player has made a quicker departure in World Cup history. A classic case of gone in (less than) sixty seconds!
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Fastest goal
The match was barely 16 seconds old when Vaclav Masek of Czechoslovakia found the net against Mexico in the 1962 World Cup. Although three other goals have been scored in the opening minute of a World Cup match, Masek’s is the earliest. Other opening-minute goals are England’s Bryan Robson’s 28th-second strike against France in 1982, France’s Bernard Lacombe’s 37th-second goal against Italy in 1978 and Paraguay’s Celso Ayala’s goal in the 52nd second against Nigeria in 1998.
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Most appearance made by a team
Sixteen by Brazil. Brazil is the only team to have qualified for every World Cup. Germany and Italy share second spot with 14 appearances each.
Brazil have also played the most matches in the World Cup -- 80 in all. Germany are second with 78 while Italy are third with 66.
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Most goals by a player
Just Fontaine of France holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament. He scored a staggering 13 goals in six matches in the 1958 World Cup. Sandor Kocsis of Hungary comes second with 11 goals scored in the 1954 World Cup.
Germany’s Gerd Muller, however, holds the record for the most goals scored by an individual in World Cup history. He scored 10 goals in 1970 and four in 1974, giving him a grand total of 14 goals. Fontaine is second with 13 goals, all of which were scored in 1958. Others with goals in double digits are Brazil’s Pele (12), Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis and Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann with 11apiece, and the quartet of Germany’s Helmut Rahn, Peru’s Teofilo Cubillas, Poland’s Georgez Lato and England’s Gary Linekar have all scored 10 goals apiece.
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Most goals by a player in one match
Russia’s Oleg Salenko holds the record for the most goals scored by a single player in a match. He scored five goals against Cameroon in his team’s final group match of the 1994 World Cup. Russia won the match 6-1. Cameroon’s only goal incidentally came from Roger Milla, making him the oldest goal scorer in World Cup history at 42!
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Most goals by a team
Brazil inevitably hold the record for most goals scored by a team in the World. They have scored a total of 173 goals in 16 tournaments. Germany with 162 scored in 14 tournaments are second.
The record of scoring the most goals in a single competition, however, stands in Hungary’s name. The aptly named Magical Magyars scored as many as 27 goals in 1954 and still finished runners-up second to Germany! Quite aptly, the team with the second highest goal tally in a World Cup is Germany who scored 25 goals in, you guessed it, 1954. Other teams to score more than 20 goals in a single tournament are France with 23 in 1958 and Brazil with 22 in 1950. In passing, it is interesting to note that of the four teams with the highest number of goals in a single World Cup, only one actually won the tournament.
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Most goals in a match
The World Cup has seen five occasions on which the total goals scored in a match went into double figures. Austria’s 7-5 win over Switzerland holds the record for the most goals scored in a single match with 12. Eleven goals were scored when Brazil beat Poland 6-5 in 1938, when Hungary beat Germany 8-3 in 1954 and when Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982. France and Paraguay also kept scorekeepers busy in 1958, France winning 7-3 in a match that saw 10 goals!
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Most goals in extra-time
A total of five goals were scored in extra time in the semi-final of the 1970 World Cup between Italy and Germany. The teams were tied on 1-1 at the end of ninety minutes. When the extra time period of thirty minutes started, no one could have foreseen the deluge of goals that were to come. Muller gave Germany the lead in the fourth minute of extra time only for Burgnich to put Italy back on level terms four minutes later. Rive then put Italy ahead in the 104th minute, but Muller once again hit back for Germany with 10 minutes remaining. The Germany celebrations had barely died down when Rivera put Italy ahead yet again, and although no one would have been surprised by another goal at this stage, the Italians hung on to win 4-3. Many consider the match to be the greatest ever to be played in the World Cup. As for the period of extra time that saw five goals, coaches still refer to it as the period in which “football became basketball”.
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Most matches played by an individual
Germany’s Lothar Mattaus holds this record with 25 appearances spread across five tournaments. He made his first appearance in 1982 and signed off in 1998. Germany’s Uwe Seeler, Poland’s Wladislaw Zmuda and Argentina’s Diego Maradona share second spot. They have all played 21 matches in the World Cup. Incidentally, Matthaus and Mexican Antonio Carvajal are the only players to have played in five World Cup tournaments. Carvajal represented Mexico in the World Cup from 1950 to 1966.
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Most wins by a team
With a total of 53 victories in 80 games, Brazil hold the record for the most matches won in the World Cup. Germany are second with 45 in 78 games. Interestingly, Germany has also lost more matches than any other tem in the World Cup -- a total of 17. Argentina rule the roost in terms of draws, finishing 18 matches on even terms with the opposition.
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Oldest player
Cameroon’s Roger Milla was 42 years and 39 days old when he played against Russia in the 1994 World Cup. This made him the oldest player ever to take the field in a World Cup match! To top things off, Milla scored a goal in the match, making him the oldest person to get on a scoresheet in the World Cup.
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Youngest player
Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside is the youngest player to have participated in the World Cup. He was 17 years and 41 days old when he represented his country against Yugoslavia at the 1982 World Cup. Brazil’s soccer legend Pele holds the record of being the youngest to score a goal in the World Cup. He was 17 years, 7 months and 23 days old when he scored against Wales in the 1958 World Cup.
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SCORES
