The World Cup in Numbers

Former Cameroon captain Rigobert Song

Tuesday Nov 28, 2017. 12:30

With 2018 FIFA World Cup set to be held in Russia from 14 June to 15 July, we take a statistical look at the global tournament.

21 - The 2018 tournament will be the 21st edition of the World Cup and the first to be staged in Eastern Europe.

12 - The number of stadiums which will be used at the 2018 World Cup, in 11 different cities. Five of the stadiums are new builds.

1930 - The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay and was won by the host team: they defeated Argentina 4-2 in the final.

5 - Brazil are the most successful team in World Cup history, having won the tournament five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 & 2002).

32 - The 2018 World Cup will feature 32 teams, a first round of eight groups, and a knockout phase for a total of 64 matches. This has been the tournament format since 1998, but it is set to expand to 48 teams from the 2026 finals.

209 - The record number of teams which entered the qualification tournament for the 2018 World Cup.

3 - Brazilian legend Pele is the only man to have won three World Cups (1958, 1962 & 1970).

8 - The number of minutes it took Laszlo Kiss to score three goals against El Salvador to register the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history.

5 - Antonio Carbajal (Mexico, 1950-1966) and Lothar Matthaus (Germany, 1982-1998) are the only men to have appeared in five World Cups. Matthaus also holds the record for the most World Cup matches played: 25.

17 years, 41 days - The age of Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside when he became the youngest player to appear at a World Cup.

43 years, 3 days - The age of Colombia’s Farid Mondragon when he became the oldest player to appear at a World Cup.

42 years, 1 month, 8 days - The age of Cameroon’s Roger Milla when he became the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup.

16 - Miroslav Klose holds the record for the most World Cup goals scored, netting 16 times for Germany across four tournaments (2002-2014).

8 - The number of nations to have won the World Cup: Uruguay, Italy, Brazil, England, Germany (including West Germany), Argentina, France and Spain.

13 - Just Fontaine set the record for the highest number of goals in a single World Cup tournament when he netted 13 times for France in 1958.

1 - Only one player ha scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final: Geoff Hurst netted a treble for England in their 1966 triumph over West Germany.

1 - Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only man to claim two World Cup titles as a coach.

2 - Rigobert Song and Zinedine Zidane are the only men to have been sent off twice at a World Cup.

38-million - The prize money in US dollars ($) awarded to the winners of the 2018 World Cup. The total prize money for the tournament is $400-million.

12-billion - The estimated total cost in US dollars ($) for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.