100 Facts About The 2018 World Cup.
years after the initial tournament in Uruguay
(1930) and for the first time in Russia.
2. 32 countries will compete in the 2018 World
Cup, with Iceland and Panama making their
debuts in the competition. Slovakia were the last
team to make it past the group stage on their
debut in 2010.
3. The tournament will take place in 12 stadiums
across 11 cities. Moscow is the only city with two
arenas (Luzhniki and Spartak).
4. Since 1986 (included), the world champion
came first in the group stage.
5. Other than South Africa (2010), all hosts have
reached the second round. In 30% of cases
(6/20), they have been champions (the last was
France in 1998).
6. All World Cups have been won by European
(11) or South American (9) sides.
7. Brazil has won the World Cup more than any
other side, with 25% of the titles (5/20). It is
also the only country to have competed in every
competition.
8. There have only been four times when a
team has won all of their games at a World Cup
(Uruguay, 4/4 in 1930), Italy (4/4 in 1938) and
Brazil (6/6 in 1970, 7/7 in 2002).
9. Germany will hope to be the first national
team to win back to back World Cups since
Brazil in 1962. Only Brazil (5) have more titles
than Germany (4).
10. The last two reigning champions were
knocked out in the group stages: Italy in 2010
and Spain in 2014.
11. Portugal are aiming to be the fourth team to
win the European Championships and the World
Cup consecutively, like West Germany (Euros 72,
World Cup 74), France (World Cup 98, Euros 00)
and Spain (Euros 08, World Cup 10, Euros 12).
12. Italy failed to qualify for the first time since
1958, being the only one of eight teams to have
won the competition who won't compete in
Russia.
13. Mexico has qualified without winning the
trophy more than any other country (16 times).
14. Switzerland are the only country to avoid
conceding in a World Cup campaign, with no
goals conceded in 4 games in 2006.
15. 11 of the 62 games England have played in
World Cups have ended 0-0, more than any
other team.
16. Brazil has had the most red cards in the
history of the competition (11), with Argentina
(10) and Uruguay (9) not far behind.
17. Peru, who competed in the first World Cup,
will play in the competition for the first time
since 1982, the longest absence of any side that
will be in Russia.
18. The record for most goals in the competition
stands at 171 (in 1998 and 2014), while that
with least goals from 64 games is 145 (in 2010).
19. Germany has scored the most goals in the
last three World Cups (14 in 2006, 16 in 2010,
18 in 2014).
20. The most goals in a single World Cup match
occurred on June 26, 1954: Austria beat
Switzerland 7-5.
21. Frenchman Just Fontaine still holds the
record for the most goals scored in a World Cup
(13, in 1958), while Russian forward Oleg
Salenko has bagged more than any other in a
single World Cup match: five goals against
Cameroon, on 28 June 1994.
22. Among the current players, Thomas Muller
has the most World Cup goals, with 10 (5 in
each of the last two tournaments); He is six
goals shy of all-time top scorer Miroslav Klose
(16).
23. Thomas Müller also holds the record for
assists in World Cups amongst current players
(6); only Diego Maradona ( , Grzegorz Lato and
Pierre Littbarski (7) can boast more assists than
him since 1966.
24. The last player to reach ten goals in a single
World Cup was Gerd Müller, in 1970; since then,
the best has been Ronaldo in 2002 ( .
25. Miroslav Klose, Pelé and Uwe Seeler have all
scored in four World Cups; the only players who
could reach this landmark in Russia are: Tim
Cahill, Rafael Marquez, Cristiano Ronaldo and
David Villa.
26. The Mexican Antonio Carbajal and the
German Lothar Matthäus have played in more
World Cups (5) than any other footballer; only
Rafael Marquez could reach this tally in Russia.
27. Every World Cup has been won by a coach
who is the same nationality as his team.
28. Uruguay's Oscar Washington Tabárez will be
at his fourth World Cup; more than any other
coach at Russia 2018 (he has six wins, three
draws and six defeats in the competition).
29. Helmut Schön is the coach with the most
matches in the history of World Cups, 25 and all
with Germany.
30. Playing as Russia (not the USSR), the hosts
have never managed to overcome the group
stage in a World Cup (1994, 2002, 2014),
finishing in third position on each occasion.
31. Germany were the only UEFA team to win all
their qualifiers, and had the best goal difference
(+39).
32. England will play their 15th World Cup, this
being their sixth straight qualification, matching
their best streak in the competition (between
1950 and 1970).
33. France have qualified for their 15th
tournament and a sixth participation in a row,
their best ever streak.
34. Spain conceded the joint fewest goals in the
UEFA Qualifiers (three goals in 10 matches, just
like England), and were one of the four
undefeated sides (9W 1D), along with Belgium,
Germany and England.
35. It will be the first World Cup for Roberto
Martínez. He's the first foreign coach to lead
Belgium at a major competition since Doug
Livingstone in Switzerland 1954.
36. Counting the records of Yugoslavia as well as
Serbia and Montenegro, this will be the 12th
World Cup for Serbia, but it is only their second
participation as an independent country (as of
2010).
37. Sweden have kept a clean sheet in just three
of their last 24 World Cup matches.
38. Switzerland reached the quarter-finals of a
World Cup for the last time in 1954, when they
were the hosts; since then, they have never
passed the second round.
39. Poland have lost six of their last eight World
Cup matches without scoring in any of those
defeats; they have also let in at least one goal in
each of those eight games (their last clean sheet
coming in 1986).
40. Cristiano Ronaldo was the player who
participated directly in the most goals (18) in the
UEFA Qualifiers: 15 goals and three assists.
41. Croatia have lost the first game in their last
three World Cups, the two most recent both
against Brazil (2006 and 2014).
42. All of Denmark's 27 goals at World Cups
have come from inside the box.
43. Iceland are the country with the smallest
population to ever compete at a World Cup,
with 334,000 residents.
44. Brazil are the only side to have competed in
every World Cup (21), have the most titles, 25%
of tournaments, and the last to win back to back
titles (1958 and 1962).
45. Only Bolivia (18) scored less goals than
Argentina (19) in CONMEBOL qualifying.
46. Edinson Cavani was the top scorer in
CONMEBOL qualifying with 10 goals for Uruguay.
47. James Rodriguez was the top scorer for
Colombia in the 2014 World Cup and the 2018
qualifiers, being involved in eight of his
country's last 10 games in World Cup
competitions, scoring six and assisting two.
48. Teofilo Cubillas has scored 10 and assisted
two of Peru's 19 World Cup goals (63%).
49. Mexico have been knocked out in the last-16
of the last six World Cups. They have only lost
two of their last 17 group games (eight wins,
seven draws).
50. Excluding penalties, Costa Rica were one of
three unbeaten teams in the 2014 World Cup
(alongside Germany and Holland).
51. Panama have qualified for their first World
Cup. Slovakia were the last debutant to go
beyond the group stages (2010).
52. No African country has qualified as often as
Nigeria since their debut in 1994. 2018 will be
their sixth World Cup.
53. Tunisia won their first World Cup game (3-1
vs Mexico June 2 1978) and has not won in any
of their 11 games since (four draws, seven
defeats). Bulgaria hold the record of 17 games
without a win between 1962 and 1994.
54. Morocco wree the only country not to
concede in the third round of CAF qualifiers for
Russia 2018 (6 games).
55. Mohamed Salah was the top scorer in the
third round of CAF qualifiers, scoring five of
Egypt's eight goals.
56. It will be the second major tournament for
Aliou Cisse as a coach, after he reached the
quarter final of the African Cup of Nations in
2017. As a player, he captained Senegal in their
only World Cup (2002).
57. Five of the last eight goals scored by South
Korea in the World Cup have come from outside
the area. 12 of the last 13 have come in the
second half.
58. Japan have only topped their group once: as
hosts in 2002.
59. Tim Cahill has scored five of Australia's 11
World Cup goals (45%). He's one of nine players
to have scored in the last three World Cups.
60. Iran have qualified for back to back World
Cups for the first time in their history. They've
never got beyond the group stage, winning just
one of their 12 games, drawing three and losing
eight. Their win was a 2-1 victory against USA in
1998.
61. Since qualifying for the World Cup, Saudi
Arabia have fired two coaches: Bert van Marwijk
and Edgardo Bauza.
62. Russia's coach, Stanislav Cherchesov, played
in the USA 1994 6-1 victory against Cameroon.
In that match, Oleg Salenko scored five goals, a
record in a World Cup game.
63. Only Brazil (21) have played more World
Cups than Germany (19), this being their 17th
consecutive.
64. Since winning the title in 1966, England have
reached the semi-finals on only one occasion
(1990), and have been the first in their group in
only one of their last five tournaments (2006).
65. Scotland haven't qualified for the World
Cup.
66. None of the last 14 Spain matches in the
World Cup ended in a draw (10W 4L).
67. Belgium have qualified for the 13th time in
the World Cup, being the European country with
the most participations outside the top 5
(Germany, Italy, Spain, England, France).
68. Serbia haven't passed the group stage in
their last two World Cups (2006, 2010), losing
five of their last six games in that phase; with
only one victory, against Germany in 2010 (1-0).
69. Since reaching the final in 1958 as the home
team, Sweden have beaten the second round on
only one occasion: in the USA, 1994, when they
finished third.
70. It will be the second big competition for
Vladimir Petković as coach of Switzerland, after
having remained undefeated at EURO 2016 (1W
3D, eliminated by penalties).
71. Poland has qualified for their eighth World
Cup, their first since 2006.
72. Portugal have lost one of their last nine
group stage games (0-4 vs Germany in 2014),
winning five and drawing three since.
73. There have been five red cards in Croatia's
last four World Cup games (three for Croatia,
two for their opposition).
74. Denmark have qualified from the group
stage in three of their last four World Cups, but
have never gone beyond the quarter finals,
which they only reached once in 1998.
75. Gylfi Sigurdsson was the top scorer (4) and
played most games (10, equal to Birkir
Saevarsson and Ragnar Sigurdsson) for Iceland
in qualifying.
76. It will be Tite's first World Cup since he took
charge of Brazil in June 2016. In qualifying he
racked up 41 points (12 wins, five draws, one
loss), the best tally in CONMEBOL qualifying
since Argentina's 43 points to qualifying for
2002.
77. Since 1978, only Germany (5) have reached
the final more than Argentina (4).
78. Uruguay were the first World Cup champions
in 1930 and won it again in the second running
of the tournament in 1950. However, they've
only got beyond the last 16 once in their last six
attempts (4th place in 2010).
79. None of the last 18 matches Colombia have
played in a World Cup ended goalless. Only the
USA (33) and Austria (29) have played more
games without a 0-0.
80. Peru have qualified for their fifth World Cup
after beating New Zealand in the play-off.
81. Mexico have qualified for their 16th World
Cup; only Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina
have qualified for more.
82. Costa Rica have qualified for their fifth
World Cup, getting out of the group on two of
their four attempts (1990 and 2014).
83. It will be Panama coach Hernan Dario
Gomez's third World Cup, after coaching his
native Colombia in 1998 and Ecuador in 2002
(knocked out of the group stage both times).
84. Nigeria have won only one of their last 12
games in the World Cup (three draws, eight
defeats), beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in
2014.
85. Tunisia have kept just one clean sheet from
12 games (0-0 vs West Germany in 1978).
86. None of Morocco's 12 World Cup goals have
come from a set piece.
87. It will be Hector Cuper's first World Cup as a
coach, he was also coach of Egypt for the
African Cup of Nations in 2017, losing the final
2-1 to Cameroon.
88. Senegal have qualified for their second
World Cup, reaching the quarter final in 2002.
89. South Korea have qualified for their 10th
World Cup, more than any other Asian country.
They haven't failed to qualify since 1986.
90. Japan have won just two of their last 11
World Cup games (three draws, six defeats):
against Cameroon and Denmark in 2010.
91. Australia have only qualified from the group
once, in 2006, when they were beaten in the
last 16 by champions Italy.
92. It will be Carlos Queiroz's third consecutive
World Cup as a coach, the second in a row with
Iran. His best campaign was with Portugal in
2010, when they were knocked out in the last 16
by future champions Spain.
93. Saudi Arabia have qualified for their firth
World Cup, their first since 2006, finishing last in
their group in all of their last three attempts.
94. It will be Julen Lopetegui's first major
competition as a coach, his only experience was
as third choice goalkeeper with Spain at USA
1994 where he didn't play.
95. France have only topped their group in two
of the last nine times they have competed (1998
and 2014), and have won just three of their last
12 group stage games (five draws, four draws),
against Togo, Honduras and Switzerland.
96. It will be Gareth Southgate's first major
competition as a coach. In 1998 he played two
games for England at the World Cup.
97. 2018 is Joachim Low's sixth major
competition as Germany boss, reaching the
semi-finals every time (2nd in Euro 2008, 3rd at
South Africa 2010, semi-finalist at Euro 2012,
champions in Brazil 2014, semi-finalist at Euro
2016).
98. The last eight Belgium goals at World Cups
came after the 70th minute.
99. Henrik Larsson was the last Swede to score
in the competition (vs England, June 20 2006)
and is the country's top scorer in the
competition with five goals.
100. David Villa has scored nine of the last 20
Spain World Cup goals and is one of the nine
players to have scored in the last three
competitions.
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