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Records and Statistics from the FIFA World Cup

With the very first FIFA World Cup taking place all the way back in 1930, we have no shortage of records and statistics to look back on.

The prestigious soccer tournament has been around for almost a century, dishing up countless memorable moments, tons of incredible goals, and numerous iconic teams and players along the way.

FIFA World Cup statistics are useful for lots of reasons. You can use records from the soccer World Cup to brush up on your knowledge of the sport, or to outsmart your friends and family. Better still, stats and trends are crucial if you want to bet on the World Cup.

When it comes to winning money, studying FIFA World Cup records will give you an edge over the bookies.

On this page, we cover a vast range of soccer World Cup statistics. From the most successful teams and players to the top coaches and referees, and from red cards to clean sheets, we have it all.

Most Successful Teams in World Cup History

It makes sense to start with the greatest World Cup teams of all time. In this section, we look at the most successful nations in World Cup history.

Most World Cup Titles

Brazil stands alone as the greatest country in World Cup history, having claimed five titles. When you think about all the amazing Brazilian teams over the years, it is hardly surprising that they have won more World Cup titles than anyone else.

In total, eight nations have lifted the famous trophy. Let’s take a look at the other World Cup champions.

WORLD CUP-WINNING NATIONS – MOST TITLES
Team Titles Runners-Up Third Place Fourth Place
Brazil 5 2 2 2
Germany 4 4 4 1
Italy 4 2 1 1
Argentina 2 3
France 2 1 2 1
Uruguay 2 3
England 1 2
Spain 1 1

Germany and Brazil are the second-most successful countries in World Cup history, sealing four titles each. The Germans have also reached the most finals, qualifying for the showpiece on no fewer than eight occasions.

Argentina, France, and Uruguay have all won two World Cups, while England and Spain both have one title to their name.

Brazil is the most successful team in World Cup history.

Most Team Appearances in World Cup History

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the record World Cup winner has also featured at the most World Cups.

In fact, Brazil is the only nation to have appeared at all 21 editions of the tournament. That is a phenomenal achievement.

  • Brazil: 21
  • Germany: 19
  • Italy: 18
  • Argentina: 17
  • Mexico: 16
  • Spain: 15
  • France: 15
  • England: 15
  • Belgium: 13
  • Uruguay: 13

With four titles apiece, Germany and Italy have featured at 19 and 18 World Cups, respectively, while Argentina had made 17 tournament appearances.

Remarkably, Mexico competed in 16 World Cups between 1930 and 2018. That means the Mexicans hold the unwanted record of making the most World Cup appearances without winning a title.

Most World Cup Wins (Games)

Unsurprisingly, Brazil has won more World Cup games than any other nation. The Brazilians have won 73 of their 109 matches, giving them a win percentage of 67%.

Germany has played exactly the same number games, picking up 67 wins (61%). Italy has registered 45 wins in 83 matches (54%), while Argentina has won 43 of their 81 games (53%).

BEST RECORDS IN WORLD CUP GAMES
Team Games Wins Draws Losses
Brazil 109 73 18 18
Germany 109 67 20 22
Italy 83 45 21 17
Argentina 81 43 15 23
France 66 34 13 19
Spain 63 30 15 18
England 69 29 21 19
Netherlands 50 27 12 11
Uruguay 56 24 12 20
Belgium 48 20 9 19

Other FIFA World Cup Team Statistics

Here some more soccer World Cup team statistics and records.

  • Most top-two finishes: Germany (8)
  • Most top-three finishes: Germany (12)
  • Most top-four finishes: Germany (13)
  • Most final losses: Germany (4)
  • Most semi-final losses: Germany (5)
  • Most quarter-finals losses: England (8)
  • Most last-16 losses: Mexico (14)
  • Most first-round eliminations: South Korea, Scotland (8)
  • Most titles won by confederation: UEFA (12)
  • Most consecutive titles: Italy, Brazil (2)
  • Most consecutive titles by confederation: UEFA (4)

As well as being one of the most successful nations in World Cup history, Germany has also been very unfortunate across the years. As you can see, the Germans hold the record for most final losses and semi-final losses, along with a host of other records.

England has bowed out in the quarterfinals on a record eight occasions, while Mexico has suffered a record 14 losses in the round of 16.

Only two nations – Italy and Brazil – have ever managed to win back-to-back World Cup titles. At the opposite end of the spectrum, both South Korea and Scotland have suffered eight first-round eliminations.

In terms of confederations, UEFA has won 12 titles, while CONMEBOL countries have won the other nine. No other confederation has ever produced a World Cup winner.

Top Goalscorers in FIFA World Cup History

You can’t talk about records from the FIFA World Cup without mentioning the all-time goalscoring charts. After all, we all watch the World Cup for the great goals, don’t we?

In this section, we cover the top scorers in World Cup history, look back at all the World Cup Golden Boot winners, look at which player has the most hat-tricks, and more.

All-Time Leading World Cup Scorers

Here are the top goalscorers in World Cup history.

LEADING GOALSCORERS IN WORLD CUP HISTORY
Player Team Goals Games
Miroslav Klose Germany 16 24
Ronaldo Brazil 15 19
Gerd Müller West Germany 14 13
Just Fontaine France 13 6
Pelé Brazil 12 14
Sándor Kocsis Hungary 11 5
Jürgen Klinsmann Germany 11 17
Helmut Rahn West Germany 10 10
Gary Lineker England 10 12
Gabriel Batistuta Argentina 10 12
Teófilo Cubillas Peru 10 13
Thomas Müller Germany 10 16
Grzegorz Lato Poland 10 20

Germany’s Miroslav Klose has scored more World Cup goals than any other player, netting 16 times across four tournaments between 2002 and 2014.

Despite only playing in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006), Brazil’s Ronaldo scored one goal fewer than Klose.

Gerd Müller only featured at the 1970 and 1974 World Cups. Yet, he still managed to score 14 goals. If you think that record is impressive, all 13 of Just Fontaine’s goals came in the 1958 edition of the tournament!

Nine other players have reached double figures for World Cup goals, including the legendary Pelé.

Miroslav Klose is the leader World Cup goalscorer of all time.

Every FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Winner

21 players have won the Golden Boot over the years, although no player has been able to win it twice. That just tells you how difficult it is to finish as the tournament’s top goalscorer.

Let’s take a look back at all the World Cup Golden Boot winners.

  • 1930: Guillermo Stábile – Argentina (8 goals, 4 games)
  • 1934: Oldrich Nejedly – Czechoslovakia (5 goals, 4 game)
  • 1938: Leônidas – Brazil (7 goals, 5 games)
  • 1950: Ademir – Brazil (8 goals, 6 games)
  • 1954: Sándor Kocsis – Hungary (11 goals, 5 games)
  • 1958: Just Fontaine – France (13 goals, 6 games)
  • 1962: Leonel Sánchez – Chile (4 goals, 6 games)
  • 1966: Eusébio – Portugal (9 goals, 6 games)
  • 1970: Gerd Müller – West Germany (10 goals, 6 games)
  • 1974: Grzegorz Lato – Poland (7 goals, 7 games)
  • 1978: Mario Kempes – Argentina (6 goals, 7 games)
  • 1982: Paolo Rossi – Italy (6 goals, 7 games)
  • 1986: Gary Lineker – England (6 goals, 5 games)
  • 1990: Salvatore Schillaci – Italy (6 goals, 7 games)
  • 1994: Hristo Stoichkov – Bulgaria (6 goals, 7 games)
  • 1998: Davor Šuker – Croatia (6 goals, 7 games)
  • 2002: Ronaldo – Brazil (8 goals, 7 games)
  • 2006: Miroslav Klose – Germany (5 goals, 7 games)
  • 2010: Thomas Müller – Germany (5 goals, 7 games)
  • 2014: James Rodriguez – Colombia (6 goals, 5 games)
  • 2018: Harry Kane – England (6 goals, 7 games)

Argentina’s Guillermo Stábile won the first-ever World Cup Golden Boot, scoring eight goals in four games back in 1930. Almost 90 years later, England’s Harry Kane won the most recent award.

France’s Just Fontaine hold the record for most goals scored in the single World Cup, netting 13 goals in six games en route to clinching the 1958 Golden Boot. Four years prior, Hungary’s Sándor Kocsis bagged 11 goals in just five matches.

Best Goals-Per-Game Averages

Five men average 2.00+ goals per game in World Cup history. If you have gone through previous sections of this page, you won’t be shocked to see Kocsis and Fontaine at the top of this particular table.

BEST GOALS-PER-GAME AVERAGE IN WORLD CUP HISTORY
Player Team Goals Games Goals Per Game
Sándor Kocsis Hungary 11 5 2.20
Just Fontaine France 13 6 2.17
Guillermo Stábile Argentina 8 4 2.00
Josef Hügi Switzerland 6 3 2.00
Oleg Salenko Russia 6 3 2.00

Stábile – the first-ever World Cup Golden Boot winner – averaged two goals per game in 1930, while Josef Hügi and Oleg Salenko achieved the same feat in 1954 and 1994, respectively.

Most World Cup Hat-Tricks

Overall, 52 World Cup hat-tricks have been scored across the years. Only four players have racked up two three-goal hauls, though. You can find them below.

  • Sándor Kocsis – Hungary (1954)
  • Just Fontaine – France (1958)
  • Gerd Müller – West Germany (1970)
  • Gabriel Batistuta – Argentina (1994, 1998)

Kocsis, Fontaine, and Müller all netted two hat-tricks at one World Cup. However, Gabriel Batistuta’s hat-tricks came in back-to-back tournaments – 1994 and 1998.

More FIFA World Cup Player Statistics

Now that we have checked out the goalscoring records, it’s time to look at some more soccer World Cup player statistics.

Most Player Appearances in World Cup History

Only 11 players have managed to chalk up 20+ World Cup appearances. Interestingly, five of them are German.

MOST WORLD CUP APPEARANCES BY PLAYER
Player Team Appearances Tournaments
Lothar Matthäus Germany 25 5
Miroslav Klose Germany 24 4
Paolo Maldini Italy 23 4
Diego Maradona Argentina 21 4
Uwe Seeler Germany 21 4
Władysław Żmuda Poland 21 4
Cafu Brazil 20 4
Philipp Lahm Germany 20 3
Grzegorz Lato Poland 20 3
Javier Mascherano Argentina 20 4
Bastian Schweinsteiger Germany 20 3

Lothar Matthäus holds the record for most World Cup matches played. The iconic German made 25 appearances across five tournaments, lifting the trophy in 1990.

Despite featuring in just three World Cups, Phillip Lahm, Grzegorz Lato, and Bastian Schweinsteiger all managed to clock up 20 game appearances.

No player has played more World Cup games than Lothar Matthäus.

Most Tournament Appearances

You have to be a pretty special player to feature in five World Cups. Only four players have achieved the feat in the tournament’s history.

  • Antonio Carbajal – Mexico (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966)
  • Lothar Matthäus – Germany (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
  • Rafael Márquez – Mexico (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
  • Gianluigi Buffon – Italy (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)

Mexico Antonio Carbajal was the first man to appear at five World Cup, playing his final game in 1966. Since then, three more players have joined Carbajal on the leaderboard.

Most World Cup Titles (Player)

A total of 445 players have won the World Cup. However, only one man has gotten his hands on the trophy three times. That man is Pelé.

15 Brazilians, four Italians, and one Argentine comprise the list of players who have won the World Cup twice, while 424 players from eight nations have lifted the trophy on one occasion.

Most Clean Sheets (Goalkeeper)

Let’s not forget about the great goalkeepers that have graced the World Cup stage. Below, you can find the all-time shutout leaderboard.

MOST CLEAN SHEETS IN WORLD CUP HISTORY
Player Team Clean Sheets
Peter Shilton England 10
Fabien Barthez France 10
Sepp Maier West Germany 8
Jan Jongbloed Netherlands 8
Leao Brazil 8
Taffarel Brazil 8
Iker Casillas Spain 7
Gilmar Brazil 7
Manuel Neuer Germany 7

With ten clean sheets to their name, Peter Shilton and Fabien Barthez are in a league of their own here. Both men featured at three World Cups, with Frenchman Barthez lifting the trophy in 1998.

Four players have eight World Cup shutouts under their belt, while legendary names such as Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer are among the goalkeepers that have kept seven clean sheets.

Peter Shilton and Fabien Barthez both kept ten clean sheets in World Cup games.

Miscellaneous FIFA World Cup Records and Stats

Here are some more stats from the FIFA World Cup. The soccer World Cup records in this section are pretty random, but keep reading if you’re interested in discipline, penalties, coaching, and refereeing.

Discipline – Yellow and Red Cards

Of course, we don’t watch soccer for the yellow and red cards, do we? But let’s face it – we all love a good discipline statistic!

Before we get stuck into the FIFA World Cup records for cards, it is worth noting that there are no official records for cautions issued before the introduction of yellow cards in 1970.

  • Most yellow cards (player): Javier Mascherano (7)
  • Most red cards (player): Rigobert Song, Zinedine Zidane (2)
  • Most yellow cards (team): Argentina (88)
  • Most red cards (team): Brazil (11)
  • Fastest yellow card: Jesus Gallardo (11 seconds)
  • Fastest red card: Jose Batista (56 seconds)
  • Most yellow cards (tournament): 2006 (345)
  • Most red cards (tournament): 2006 (28)

What on earth was going on in 2006? Remarkably, there were 345 cautions in 64 matches – averaging at more than five yellow cards per game. There were also 28 red cards shown in 2006!

Only two players have received two red cards in the history of the World Cup – Rigobert Song and Zinedine Zidane. Brazil has accumulated the most reds as a team, seeing red on no fewer than 11 occasions.

Spare a though for Jose Batista, too. The Uruguayan was sent off after just 56 seconds against Scotland in 1986, meaning he holds the record for fastest red card in World Cup history.

Javier Mascherano received seven World Cup yellow cards in his career.

Penalties – Normal Time

The next of our records from the soccer World Cup concerns penalties. As you can see, Spain has been awarded the most spot-kicks in the history of the tournament – converting 15 of their 18 penalties.

  • Most penalties awarded: Spain (18)
  • Most penalties scored: Spain (15)
  • Most penalties missed or saved: Brazil (4)

On the flip side, Brazil has missed a record four penalties. They have won five World Cups, though, so they can’t complain too much!

Penalty Shoot-Outs

Germany and Argentina are the kings of the World Cup penalty shoot-out, with both nations winning four over the years.

  • Most penalty shoot-outs played: Argentina (5)
  • Most penalty shoot-outs won: Germany, Argentina (4)
  • Most penalty shoot-outs lost: England, Italy, Spain (3)

England is renowned for its terrible penalty shoot-out record, but did you know that Italy and Spain have also suffered three shoot-out defeats in the World Cup?

Coaching

We shouldn’t forget about the coaches and managers. After all, the great World Cup teams wouldn’t have enjoyed success without the guidance of a great coach.

  • Most matches coached: Helmut Schön (25)
  • Most matches won: Helmut Schön (16)
  • Most titles won: Vittorio Pozzo (2)
  • Most tournaments: Carlos Alberto Parreira (6)
  • Most consecutive tournaments: Bora Milutinović (5)

Between 1966 and 1978, Helmut Schön coached West Germany to a record 25 World Cup matches – picking up 16 wins along the way.

However, even the great Schön was unable to guide his team to multiple titles. In fact, Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only manager to have won the World Cup twice – triumphing in 1934 and 1938.

Believe it or not, Carlos Alberto Parreira managed at six different editions of the World Cup. He led Brazil to glory in 1994 and also coached Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.

Serbian coach Bora Milutinović managed in five consecutive World Cups with five different nations – Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002).

Vittorio Pozzo is the only manager with two World Cup titles.

Refereeing

In total, 13 referees have officiated at three World Cups. No referee has ever managed to appear at four editions of the competition.

  • Most matches refereed overall: Ravshan Irmatov (11)
  • Most matches refereed at one tournament: Four referees (5)
  • Youngest referee: Juan Gardeazábal (24 years, 193 days)
  • Oldest referee: George Reader (53 years, 236 days)

Imagine officiating a World Cup match at the age of 24!? Well, Spain’s Juan Gardeazábal doesn’t need to imagine it – because he’s done it!

At more twice Gardeazábal’s age, England’s George Reader became the oldest referee in World Cup history when he took to the field in 1950.

With 11 games under his belt, Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov has refereed more World Cup matches than anyone else.

FIFA World Cup Trivia – Fun World Cup Facts

Sure, we have already covered a ton of soccer World Cup statistics. But we’re not finished yet! If you’re looking for more fun facts and trivia, check out the quirky FIFA World Cup stats below.

  • Who is the youngest player in World Cup history? – Nothern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside was just 17 years and 41 days when he faced Yugoslavia at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
  • Who is the oldest player in the history of the FIFA World Cup? – At 45 years and 161 days, Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary became the oldest player in World Cup history when took to the field against Saudi Arabia in Russia in 2018.
  • What is the fastest World Cup goal of all time? – Turkey’s Hakan Sükür netted the fastest goal in World Cup history, scoring after just 10.89 seconds against South Korea in 2002.
  • Which World Cup match has produced the most goals? The highest-scoring World Cup match is Austria 7-5 Switzerland. The two nations produced a whopping 12 goals between them at the 1945 World Cup in Switzerland.
  • Who has scored the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history? – Hungary’s László Kiss netted a hat-trick inside eight minutes against El Salvador in 1982, scoring on 69, 72, and 76 minutes.
  • What is the biggest attendance in the history of the World Cup? – 199,854 spectators descended on the Maracanã to witness Brazil lose 2-1 to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final.
  • What is the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup? – In terms of population, Iceland is the smallest country in World Cup history. They only had 334,000 residents when they played in Russia in 2018.
  • Who has scored the most goals in a single World Cup game? – Russia’s Oleg Salenko scored five goals in a single World Cup match against Cameroon in 1994.
  • Has the World Cup trophy ever been stolen? – Yes. In 1966, the trophy was stolen in England prior to the tournament before being found by a dog called Pickles. You couldn’t make that up, could you?

Using Stats and Trends to Bet on the World Cup

When it comes to betting on the sport’s biggest tournament, using stats from the soccer World Cup can help you win money.

Just like every major sporting event, millions of people bet on the World Cup every four years. But if you want to gain an edge over the bookies and take your World Cup betting to the next level, analyzing past trends, stats, and records can give you a huge advantage.

Here is one example of how using records from the FIFA World Cup can help you win cash during the next edition of the tournament.

Studying World Cup Goal Trends

Most casual bettors will only wager on the winner of the World Cup, or they might choose to gamble on the outcome of individual games. But if you delve a little deeper, you can find tons of useful World Cup stats.

The table below details the average number of goals scored in World Cup games since the tournament changed to a 32-team format.

AVERAGE GOALS PER GAME – 32-TEAM FORMAT
Year Host Nation Average Goals Per Game
1998 France 2.67
2002 Japan & South Korea 2.52
2006 Germany 2.30
2010 South Africa 2.23
2014 Brazil 2.70
2018 Russia 2.60

As you can see, four of their past six World Cups averaged over 2.5 goals per game. On top of that, the previous two tournaments averaged 2.60+ goals per game.

If you’re thinking about putting together a World Cup betting strategy, backing over 2.5 goals in each game is a good place to start – based on recent records from the FIFA World Cup.

With the best nations on the planet coming up against some of the weakest international teams during every edition of the tournament, the World Cup invariably dishes up plenty of high-scoring games.

Of course, you can do your own research and find other FIFA World Cup statistics like this.

The more research you do, the more likely you are to win cash!

More FIFA World Cup Content

That concludes our look at all the top FIFA World Cup stats. Having covered almost a century of records from the soccer World Cup, it’s safe to say that we left no stone unturned.

We have lots more FIFA World Cup content for you to enjoy on our site. So, whether you like looking back on previous editions of the tournament, or you want to look ahead to future World Cups, be sure to check out the pages below.

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Kevin
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Kevin Roberts, previously published under the pseudonym Noah Davis, is one of the more diverse writers at GamblingSites.com. Like many of his colleagues, he's a huge fan of both football and basketball. But he also writes about box office records, TV show prop bets, DFS, and all kinds of other subjects. When it comes to the NFL, Kevin's favorite team is the Green Bay Packers. He enjoys cheering them on with his wife and daughter.