From the top scorer, to the player who made the most passes, from the oldest scorer, to the record number of cards in the same match... All the statistics, more or less useful, that you need to know about this edition World Cup 2022.
To shine in society.
The best player: Lionel Messi
We start with the prize list and the most important, that of best player.
There was a match with Kylian Mbappé, but it was "the Pulga" who was voted best player of the tournament, surely helped by the final coronation of Argentina.
With seven goals, two assists, and five man of the match trophies including that of the final, Messi still did not steal his trophy.
The best goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez
There, there was no debate.
Emiliano Martinez delivered several remarkable performances, including an incredible penalty shootout in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper also saved a penalty in the final against Kingsley Coman, or saved his team at the last minute against Australia in the round of 16 (2-1).
Enough to afford the trophy for best goalkeeper.
🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷#FIFAWorldCup |
#Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/2FPSlwF2YM
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
The best young player: Enzo Fernandez
Kylian Mbappé was voted best young player in 2018. Four years later, Enzo Fernandez succeeded him on the list.
The Benfica Lisbon midfielder, replacing in the first two games of the Albiceleste, won his place in the midfield by making a decisive comeback against Mexico.
Starting from the knockout stages, the 21-year-old has played in all of Argentina's matches.
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé
It was a duel of champions until the end, but in this game, it was Kylian Mbappé who emerged victorious against Lionel Messi.
With eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final, the number 10 of the Blues is slightly ahead of his club teammate and seven-time Ballon d'Or.
Olivier Giroud and Julian Alvarez complete the podium with four goals, far behind the two monsters of this World Cup.
The best passer: Bruno Fernandes
They are five to share the lead in the standings with three assists: Ivan Perisic, Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, and Bruno Fernandes.
It is the Portuguese who should officially finish as the tournament's best passer, since he has played fewer games (4) than his opponents.
Fastest goal: 70 seconds
He was already known for his exceptional speed on the left side of Bayern.
Alphonso Davies also went very fast against Croatia in the group stages, scoring after just 70 seconds.
It was Canada's first ever World Cup goal.
[🎞️Video -⚽️But] 🏆 #FifaWorldcup
🇭🇷🇨🇦 Alphonse Davies Brand 𝐥𝐞 𝟏𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥'𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐮 𝐝𝐮 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞!
☄️ An overpowered head from the 2nd minute of play!
#CROCAN #beINFWC2022 pic.twitter.com/6ercM7afcL
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 27, 2022
Latest goal: 90+13
From one extreme to the other, Iran striker Mehdi Taremi scored the latest goal in the history of the competition in regulation time against England by scoring in the 13th. minute of additional time on penalty.
A goal for butter since the "Team Melli" bowed heavily against the Three Lions (2-6).
Total number of goals: 172
172 goals in 64 games.
It is quite simply the most prolific World Cup in history.
With 166 goals before the final, we could hope to beat the previous mark of 171 goals, established in 1998 and equaled in 2014. We had the right to do so.
With six goals, and an (almost) dream final between Argentina and France, we saw the nets shake 172 times during a month.
Spectacle.
The team that scored the most goals: France
This is a very meager consolation for the Blues.
With their three new goals in the final, the France team scored 16 goals, the best total for a selection in this 2022 edition ahead of Argentina (15).
Four years earlier, Didier Deschamps' players had scored two fewer goals.
But they had finished world champions.
Team that have conceded the most goals: Costa Rica
Costa Rica, however, counted on its star Keylor Navas.
World failed for the PSG goalkeeper with eleven goals conceded including seven in the humiliating defeat of his team against Spain (0-7).
However, the Sele was not far from passing the hens during its last match against Germany finally lost 2-4.
Like what…
The least fair play team: The Netherlands
Louis Van Gaal's Oranje definitely lived up to their name in this World Cup.
With 13 yellow cards, and one red, the Netherlands is ahead of Saudi Arabia in the ranking of the most knowledgeable teams, which received 14 yellow cards, but no red, without even passing the pools.
Aggressiveness.
Most fair play team: England
The Three Lions did not go far from returning home, without having taken the slightest card.
It was Harry Maguire, in the 90th minute of the quarter-final lost against the Blues (1-2), who received the only warning of this World Cup on the English side.
Youngest goalscorer: Gavi
Place for youth in this World Cup.
At 18 years and 110 days, Gavi remains the youngest scorer of this 2022 edition, having scored La Roja's fifth goal against Costa Rica (7-0).
At the same time, he became the earliest goalscorer since Pelé in the 1958 World Cup final (17 years and 249 days).
Gavi was born in 2004. Getting old.
18 - Aged 18 years and 110 days, Gavi is the youngest World Cup goalscorer since Pelé in the 1958 final against Sweden (17 years and 249 days).
Prodigy.
#ESPCRC pic.twitter.com/S4mDfZdcmb
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 23, 2022
Oldest goalscorer: Pepe
The grandpas also resisted.
At 39 years and 283 days, Pepe is the oldest player to have scored a goal in this 2022 World Cup, in the round of 16 won by Portugal against Switzerland (6-1).
The Porto defender also became the oldest goalscorer in history in knockout matches.
Most saves for a goalkeeper: 25
He is one of the best goalkeepers in the competition, and one of the great architects of Croatia's third place.
Dominik Livakovic made 25 saves throughout the competition, including a display against Brazil in the quarter-finals with eight saves in the first 90 minutes.
A wall.
Most shots for a player: 29
Second top scorer of the tournament, Lionel Messi nevertheless tried his luck more than Mbappé during the competition.
With 29 strikes (blocked shots excluded) for 7 goals, the seven-time Ballon d'Or therefore has a success ratio just a little higher than 24%.
Conversely, the number 10 of the Blues was much more precise in front of goal with 38% precision in his strikes.
Most passes for a player: 684
Who else than a player from Spain to sign this statistic?
Rodri, the Manchester City midfielder aligned in central defense by Luis Enrique, made 684 passes during this World Cup, in just four games, an average of 171 passes per game.
The symbol of the sterile Spanish possession.
With three more games, Nicolas Otamendi, second in the standings, made 575 passes “only”.
Total number of red cards: 4
This is a far cry from the 16 red cards from the 1990 World Cup. Only four players were sent off in Qatar.
Special mention to Wayne Hennessey, the Netherlands goalkeeper, who remains the only one to have taken a direct red card after his catastrophic exit against Iran (0-2).
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) Walid Cheddira (Morocco) and Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands) received two yellow cards.
[📺LIVE] 🏆 #beINFWC2022 #WALIRN 🏴🇮🇷 WELSH
GOALKEEPER EXPELLED!!!
😬 Wayne Hennessey completely misses his exit and sends his knee in Taremi's face!https://t.co/1nby2VyQrE
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 25, 2022
The number of cards in a match: 17
Difficult even to know if we did not miss another card in a tense end to the match during the quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands.
With 17 warnings including one red, this is the second most sanctioned meeting in the history of the World Cup since the famous Portugal-Netherlands of 2006, in Germany (18 cards).
Total number of penalties: 23
The referees were quite generous in this area, with 23 whistles for fouls in the penalty area.
In terms of the ratio, the attackers got the better of the goalkeepers in 78.2% of cases, i.e. six missed out of the 23 whistled.
With five penalties, Argentina is by far the most favored in this area.
The worst host country: Qatar
World Cup completely failed for Qatar, at least on the sporting level.
The “Al Annabi” became the first host country to lose their opening match, against Ecuador (0-2).
With three defeats, only one goal scored, and seven conceded, this is the worst performance in history for a host country.
The first female referee: Stéphanie Frappart
At the whistle during the group stage match between Germany and Costa Rica, Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a men's World Cup match.
A moment of history.
The historical journey: Morocco
It is the team that will perhaps have marked this 2022 World Cup the most. After its narrow victory against Portugal (1-0), Morocco, led by Walid Regragui, became the first African selection to have qualified for the semi-finals of a World Cup.
Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 failed in the quarterfinals.
Lowest possession for a winning team: 17.7%
Dominating is not winning.
Spain has suffered a lot in this World Cup, and especially against Japan.
With only 17.7% ball possession, the Blue Samurai overthrew La Roja in the group stage (1-2) to claim first place in Group E. Efficient.
Longevity record: Cristiano Ronaldo
Despite the controversy over his status within the Portuguese selection, Cristiano Ronaldo became, against Ghana, the first player to score in five editions of the World Cup (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).
At 37 years and 292 days, "CR7" is the oldest player from Portugal to score in a World Cup, but also the youngest (21 years and 132 days in 2006).
🏆 #beINFWC202 #PORGHA
🇵🇹🇬🇭 New record for Cristiano Ronaldo!
pic.twitter.com/vBQ5aHG0Yr
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 24, 2022
Most World Cup appearances: 26
Another record for a certain… Lionel Messi.
"La Pulga" has played 26 games in the World Cup, surpassing Lothar Matthaüs' previous mark (25 games between 1982 and 1998).
The seven-time Ballon d'Or has played all of Albiceleste's seven games in Qatar.
World champion.
