World Cup Trivia Facts Ahead of 2022 World Cup

My Football Facts ⇒ Articles  | FIFA World Cup History

By Jonathan Lewis | 1st Nov 2022

MyfootballFacts is putting together 100 FIFA World Cup facts ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament. Click the links for facts and trivia source.

1. Italy and Brazil are the only two Nations to have won back-to-back titles. Italy did it first in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil followed suit with their 1958 and 1962 triumphs.

2. The record for the most individual goals in a single World Cup match is held by Russia’s Oleg Slanko who scored five goals against Cameroon in 1994.

3.  The 2010 World Cup held in South Africa was the first ever World Cup to be held on African soil. It was also the first ever World Cup to see the most FIFA member nations attempt to qualify, with 204 out of 208 member nations participating in qualifiers across their continents. It was indeed a record-breaking World Cup tournament.

4.  Germany’s Miroslav Klose is the record goal scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals across all the tournaments he played in. However, France’s Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup which is the record for the most goals in a single tournament. Fontaine only played in one tournament but that single tournament is enough to place him as one of the World Cups all-time greats and fourth on the list of the most goals scored in World Cup history.

5. The infamous 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France in which we saw legendary midfielder Zinedine Zidane headbutt Marco Materazzi was watched by over 715.1 million viewers, the most in World Cup history.

6. Brazil remains the only nation to have competed in all 21 FIFA World Cup tournaments held so far and they have also qualified for the upcoming tournament in Qatar this December.

7. The nation with the most FIFA World Cup wins in history is Brazil with five wins from the 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 tournaments.

8. Italy and Germany are the second most successful nations at the World Cup with four wins each. Italy’s four wins came from the 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 tournaments while Germany’s four wins came from the 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 tournaments.

9. The first FIFA World Cup tournament was hosted by Uruguay in 1930 and had only 13 Nations participating. Uruguay was selected as the first nation to host the World Cup because they were the winners of the last two Olympic gold medals in men’s football (1924 and 1928).

10. Uruguay won the first ever World Cup in 1930 as they were the best team on display at the time.

11. The 1930 FIFA World Cup Final was played between Argentina & Uruguay. The Nations couldn’t agree on which ball to use, so a different ball was used for each half.

12. The only player to score a Hat-Trick (three goals) in a FIFA World Cup Finals match was England’s Geoff Hurst against West Germany in 1966.



13. The original FIFA World Cup Trophy was named after Jules Rimet. Brazil won it outright after their third victory in 1970.

14. Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) is the only player to win three FIFA World Cup Finals in 1958, 1962 & 1970.

15. There have been 21 FIFA World Cup Tournaments ahead of Qatar 2022. 28 of the Finalists were European Nations and 14 were from South America.

16. The FIFA World Cup Final Tournament was jointly hosted by Japan & South Korea in 2002. It will be hosted by three Nations in 2026 – Canada, the United States & Mexico.

17. Qatar 2022 will be the seventh and last Tournament to feature 32 Nations. There will be 48 Nations for 2026.

18. Mexico will host a record third Tournament in 2026 – it had hosted the FIFA World Cup Finals in 1970 & 1986.

19. Frenchman Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a tournament with 13 in 1958.

20. Two Englishmen were FIFA World Cup Highest Goalscorers – Gary Lineker in 1986 and Harry Kane in 2018.

21. Paraguay’s Cesare Maldini became the oldest coach at the World Cup Finals at 70 years.

22. Turkey’s Hakan Şükür scored the quickest goal at the World Cup Finals after 11 seconds.

23. Germany is the only nation to win both the Mens and Womens FIFA World Cup.

24. Bora Milutinovic has managed five different teams once each at the World Cup Finals.

25. Rigobert Song was the only player to play in both the 1994 World Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

26. Norman Whiteside of Northern Ireland is the youngest player to play at the World Cup Finals.

27. Brazil have scored a record of 201 goals at the World Cup Finals.

28. England’s  Peter Shilton is the oldest player to captain his country at the World Cup Finals.

29. Roger Milla of Cameroon is the oldest player to appear at the World Cup Finals.

30. Switzerland’s Pascal Zuberbuhler didn’t concede any goals at the 2006 World Cup.

31. Italy’s Juventus has provided the most FIFA World Cup winning players.

32. Franz Beckenbauer is the only European to win the World Cup as a player and a coach

33. England were the first to wear player’s names on the back of their shirts at World Cup Finals.

34. Luiz Felipe Scolari had a record 11 consecutive wins at the World Cup Finals.

35. Scotland have appeared at the World Cup Finals 8 times but never advanced past the 1st round.

36. Mario Zagallo is the only Non-European to win the World Cup as a player and a coach.

37. England’s Peter Shilton holds the goalkeeper record for 10 clean sheets at the World Cup Finals.

38. Gottfried Dienst of Switzerland refereed the 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany

39. Germany have conceded a record 112 goals during the World Cup Finals.

40. Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only coach to win 2 World Cup.

41. Portugal set the record of 16 consecutive matches without a draw at the World Cup Finals.

42. Brazil’s Cafu has won the most matches at the World Cup Finals.

43. Brad Friedel of the United States saved a record 2 penalties in one World Cup.

44. Oleg Salenko scored a record 5 goals in one World Cup Finals Match.

45. Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal is the only Non-European to appear at 5 World Cup Finals.

46. Bulgaria has the record of 17 consecutive matches without a win at the World Cup Finals.

47. Brazil’s Cafu is the only player to play in 3 consecutive World Cup Finals.

48. El Salvador have played the most matches without a win or a draw at the World Cup Finals.

49. Brazil’s Cafu won two FIFA World Cup Medals with São Paulo in 1994 & AS Roma in 2002.

50. Brazil’s Carlos José Castilho won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Fluminense in 1958 & 1962.

51. Argentina’s Daniel Passarella won two FIFA World Cup Medals with River Plate in 1978 & Fiorentina in 1986.

52. Brazil’s Didi won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Botafogo in 1958 & 1962.

53. Brazil’s Djalma Santos won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Portuguesa in 1958 & Palmeiras in 1962.

54. Italy’s Eraldo Monzeglio won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Bologna in 1934 & AS Roma in 1938.

55. Brazil’s Garrincha won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Botafogo in 1958 & 1962.

56. Brazil’s Gilmar won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Corinthians in 1958 & Santos in 1962.

57. Italy’s Giovanni Ferrari won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Juventus in 1934 & Ambrosiana-Inter in 1938.

58. Italy’s Giuseppe Meazza won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Ambrosiana-Inter in 1934 & 1938.

59. Italy’s Guido Masetti won two FIFA World Cup Medals with AS Roma in 1934 & 1938.

60. Brazil’s Hilderaldo Bellini won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Vasco da Gama in 1958 & São Paulo in 1962.

61. Brazil’s Mário Zagallo won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Flamengo in 1958 & Botafogo in 1962.

62. Brazil’s Mauro Ramos won two FIFA World Cup Medals with São Paulo in 1958 & Santos in 1962.

63. Brazil’s Nílton Santos won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Botafogo in 1958 & 1962.

64. Brazil’s Pepe won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Santos in 1958 & 1962.

65. Brazil’s Ronaldo won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Cruzeiro in 1994 & Inter Milan in 2002.

66. Brazil’s Vavá won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Vasco da Gama in 1958 & Palmeiras in 1962.

67. Brazil’s Zito won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Santos in 1958 & 1962.

68. Brazil’s Zózimo won two FIFA World Cup Medals with Bangu in 1958 & 1962.

69. Brazil’s Pelé won three FIFA World Cup Medals with Santos in 1958, 1962 & 1970.

70. The Netherlands have reached three FIFA World Cup Finals and lost them all.

71. The Vuvuzela became famous at the South Africa World Cup Finals.

72. World Cup Willie was the first official mascot at the 1966 World Cup Finals in England.

73. The Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) played just one FIFA World Cup Finals matches.

 Jonathan Lewis is an MFF sports writer