FIFA World Cup 2022: Stats and records

The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar came to a dramatic conclusion.

This football tournament brought together 32 top national teams from five confederations and produced no shortage of highlights and history.

From Cristiano Ronaldo's striking touch to Lionel Messi's World Cup goals and appearances to French superstar Kylian Mbappe, records were made with every passing game. And how about Morocco becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-finals?

Read on to discover which records have already been broken and the statistics that are sure to make you the toast of any World Cup conversation.

Cristiano Ronaldo: re-writing more firsts

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022) when he netted home a penalty in Portugal’s 3-2 victory over Group H rivals Ghana.

At 37 years and 292 days old on 24 November, with that goal Ronaldo became the oldest player to score for Portugal at the World Cup.

He also holds the record for being the youngest, having scored for his nation at the 2006 World Cup at 21 years and 132 days old.

In taking to the pitch for the game against Ghana in Qatar, Ronaldo additionally joined Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthäus, Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Márquez as the only men to play in five different FIFA World Cups.

But CR7 had to leave Qatar without the coveted trophy after Portugal's shock ext in the quarter-finals after 1-0 loss to Morocco.

Lionel Messi: Argentina's top scorer

After scoring a fifth goal of this World Cup against Croatia, and his 11th overall, Lionel Messi smashed a new string of records for Argentina.

The 35-year-old is now the top-scorer for Argentina in World Cups, surpassing the previous record of Gabriel Batistuta (10), joint-sixth in all-time World Cup scorer charts, and the oldest man to score five goals in a single World Cup tournament.

The semi-final meeting with Croatia also saw him level Lothar Matthaus' record 25 World Cup appearances by a player before he overtook it in the final.

In the tournament's opening stages, Messi became the first player to score in four World Cups for Argentina (2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022) after he netted a penalty in an opening-round loss to Saudi Arabia.

In the final, he scored from the spot to become the first man to score in each of the knockout stages since the round of 16 was introduced at Mexico 1986.

He scored in extra time to make it seven for the tournament and 13 in World Cups. But more than any of that, he lifted the World Cup for the first time in his glorious career.  

FIFA World Cup 2022: What records has Lionel Messi broken and what records is he closing in on?

Mbappe magic takes France to the brink of retaining their title

With 10 minutes to go in the World Cup Final, Argentina led 2-0 with Messi on course for the one trophy to have eluded him.

Kylian Mbappe had other ideas.

First, he scored from the spot before sweeping home moments later to take the match into extra time.

And after his PSG teammate had put Argentina back in front, Mbappe converted another penalty to join Geoff Hurst as the only man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup Final and force a penalty shoot-out.

That took Mbappe's tally to eight for the tournament, securing the Golden Boot by one from Messi.

He had already eclipsed Pele as the highest World Cup goalscorer before the age of 24.

But that incredible effort proved in vain as Argentina won on penalties.

Gavi: Spain's youthful history-maker

Spain’s No.9 Gavi became the first player born in the year 2004 to score a goal in Qatar when his country thumped Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match of the tournament.

Incidentally, that victory is the record for the most goals Spain has ever scored in a single World Cup match.

Olivier Giroud: France's all-time top scorer

He's done it!

With his goal at the end of the first half of France's round-of-16 clash against Poland, Olivier Giroud became France's all-time leading goalscorer with 52 goals, which he later extended to 53 with his headed winner in the quarter-final against England.

The 36-year-old drew level with Thierry Henry's previous mark of 51 when he scored twice in the 4-1 win over Australia.

Hugo Lloris: France's all-time top appearance maker

Hot on the heels of Giroud's goal scoring feat, France's captain Hugo Lloris became his nation's record appearance maker.

The Tottenham goalkeeper won his 143rd cap in the quarter-final win over England, moving him ahead of Lilian Thuram.

Lloris took his tally to 144 in the semi-final against Morocco and then to 145 in the final.

Saudi Arabia snap Argentina win-streak

Argentina came to Qatar unbeaten in 36 games, singling them out as one of the favourite to win the entire competition.

However, that run was shattered by the second-lowest ranked team at the tournament, Saudi Arabia, who defeated Argentina in 2-1.

Inaki and Nico Williams: a sibling first

Inaki Williams of Ghana and Nico Williams of Spain made FIFA World Cup history on 24 November after they became the first full siblings to play for different countries at the FIFA World Cup.

Qatar: A first for the home team

There's positive record-making and there's the less so, and unfortuantely for hosts Qatar, they claimed a first they might not want to brag too much about.

In losing their first match 2-0 Ecuador, Qatar became the first hosts of a FIFA World Cup to lose their opening match.

Wayne Hennessey: First red in Qatar, third ever for a goalkeeper

Wales' goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player at FIFA World Cup 2022 to see a red card after he collided with Iran's Mehdi Taremi.

The card shown was initially a yellow before it was upgraded to a red.

Hennessey is now the third goalkeeper in World Cup history to be sent off with a red card.

Record draws at World Cup and England's 22nd

England and USA played out the fifth goalless draw of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Friday (25 November). Six days later, Croatia and Belgium added another 0-0.

The other four goalless draws so far: Mexico 0-0 Poland, Denmark 0-0 Tunisia, Croatia 0-0 Morocco and South Korea 0-0 Uruguay. Meaning Qatar 2022 has set another record, eight teams drawing the opening game 0-0 in the same World Cup for the first time ever.

England's barren draw was the 22nd draw at World Cups which is a record. Italy is now second with 21 draws.

Enner Valencia becomes only the fourth man in history to score six World Cup goals in a row for Ecuador

Enner Valencia's goal against the Netherlands was his sixth World Cup goal in a row for Ecuador - no other Ecuadorian player had scored in the meantime.

Valencia scored all three of Ecuador's goals in the group stage of the World Cup in 2014. The South American side did not qualify for the 2018 edition in Russia.

The 33-year-old joins a select group that includes Portugal's legend Eusebio in 1966, Italy's Paolo Rossi in 1982 and Russia's Oleg Salenko in 1994.

Lewandowski finally ends World Cup drought

Robert Lewandowski was in tears after scoring his first World Cup goal in Poland’s 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

The Barcelona striker could not hide his emotions after doubling his side's lead with eight minutes remaining to seal victory for his side.

The 34-year-old had gone five World Cup games without a goal and missed a penalty in his team’s opening Group C game against Mexico.

Lewandowski now has over 600 career goals and equalled Pele's tally of 77 international strikes.

His consolation penalty deep into injury time of the round-of-16 defeat to France saw him go one clear of the Brazilian legend.

Pepe second oldest outfield player and scorer

Portugal's 39-year old centre-back Pepe has become the second oldest outfield player in World Cup after starting in his country's 2-0 win over Uruguay, Cameroon's Roger Milla remains the oldest as he suited up in the World Cup 1994 in the USA aged 42.

Egypt's goalie Essam El-Hadary is still the record holder. He was 45 when he played in the World Cup 2018.

And Pepe also became the second oldest player to score at a World Cup when he headed in a corner for a 2-0 lead in the 6-1 win over Switzerland.

Stephanie Frappart: First women in history referee a men's World Cup match

Stephanie Frappart will become the first woman in history to officiate a men's World Cup match when Germany play Costa Rica on Thursday (1 December).

The 38-year-old was already the fourth official in Mexico's game with Poland earlier in the tournament.

Meet the female referees at Qatar 2022

Marcus Rashford scores England's 100th World Cup goal

Marcus Rashford was the man of the hour in England's World Cup victory over Group B rivals Wales.

The 25-year-old Manchester United player contributed two goals in his country's 3-0 rout s and with his efforts, guaranteed England advanced to the knockout stages on top of their pool.

Notably, Rashford's second goal of the game, a left-footed strike that clipped the keeper's heel, was England's 100th FIFA World Cup goal.

The first goal for the English at the tournament was netted by Stan Mortensen in 1950.

Other countries to have scored 100 goals or more at a World Cup include Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, France and Spain.

Cody Gakpo makes history for the Netherlands

23-year-old Cody Gakpo is the first ever Dutch player to score in all of Netherlands' group stage games at a World Cup.

The PSV Eindhoven striker clinched the record when he opened scoring for Netherlands in their third group stage against Qatar on Tuesday (30 November).

Steve Mandanda becomes the oldest ever player to represent the French national football team

At 37 years and 247 days old, French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda became the oldest player in history to represent France when he started for Les Bleus against Tunisia on Wednesday 30 November.

Dani Alves becomes oldest Brazil captain

Dani Alves has accomplished another record in his glittering career. The 39-year-old full-back has become Brazil's oldest captain when he led the record world champion to the field in their clash against Cameroon.

38-year-old Thiago Silva previously held the record for oldest men’s captain and Brazilian male player to star at a World Cup when he started in Brazil’s opening round win against Serbia (2-0). Alves has now surpassed him.

But Silva made World Cup history on his own as the Chelsea star bagged an assist during Brazil's 4-1 win against the Republic of Korea thus becoming the oldest player to assist a goal at the tournament.

Morocco become first African nation ever to advance to World Cup semi-finals

Morocco has reached the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in history after beating Portugal 1-0 on Saturday (10 December).

In doing so, the Atlas Lions became the first African country ever to advance to the World Cup semis. They have only conceeded one goal so far.

And Morocco are clinical from the spot too, with their goalie Yassine Bounou (aka Bono) saving two penalties in the epic 3-0 shootout win over Spain in the last 16. Achraf Hakimi - born and raised in Madrid - converted the decisive penalty for Morocco.

Hard to believe that Walid Regragui only took over as Morocco's coach in August.

Gonçalo Ramos' historic hat-trick

Gonçalo Ramos, who started in place of the benched Cristiano Ronaldo, was the star of the show in the quarter-finals opening the scoring just 17 minutes into his competition debut.

The Benfica striker scored the first hat-trick of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and made global headlines.

Record 18 yellow cards at Argentina v Netherlands

Spanish referee Antonio Lohoz handed out a record 16 yellow cards to players during Argentina's intense quarter-final win over the Netherlands which went to penalties.

The previous record was 12 yellow cards which were given out in the games Senegal v Uruguay and Cameroon v Germany in the 2022 World Cup, as well as in the 2010 World Cup final between Span and the Netherlands.

Lohoz also yellow-carded Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni and his assistant coach Walter Samuel. The only player to receive two yellows was Dutch star Denzel Dumfries, the second coming AFTER Lautaro Martinez had converted the decisive penalty in the shootout.

More FIFA World Cup 2022 stats

• Brazil went a record 17 group games unbeaten at the FIFA World Cup before going down to Cameroon.
• Canada are the 76th different team to score at a men's FIFA World Cup.
• Canada's Alphonso Davies scored the fastest goal at Qatar 2022. He scored inside 70 seconds vs Croatia.
• Germany did not win their first two matches at the World Cup for the first time since 1938.
• Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five different World Cups.
• Cristiano Ronaldo, at 37 years and 292 days, became the oldest player to score for Portugal at the World Cup.
• Lionel Messi scored his 11th World Cup goal in 25 matches making him his country's leading scorer at World Cups.
• At 18 years and 110 days, Spain’s Gavi is the youngest scorer at this World Cup after he netted one vs Costa Rica.
• Saudi Arabia ended Argentina’s 36-match unbeaten run in the group stage, one shy of the all-time record.
• Qatar are the first home team to lose their opening round match at the FIFA World Cup.
• Wales' goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player at Qatar 2022 to receive a red card.
• Stephanie Frappart became the first woman in history to officiate a men's World Cup match.
• Messi set a record for most World Cup appearances for Argentina (25) surpassing Diego Maradona (21).
• Lionel Messi holds the record of never being eliminated from a group stage of a tournament for both club and country.
• Mexico failed to advance out of the group stage for the first time since 1978.
• Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made his 100th appearance for Belgium, but his tournament was over after the group stage.
• Tunisia's Wahbi Khazri is the first African player in World Cup history to score in three consecutive starts.
• With 17.7 per cent vs Spain, Japan won a FIFA World Cup game with the lowest possession figure recorded in football World Cup history.
• Cameroon's Vincent Aboubakar scored the only goal in his side's historic 1-0 win over Brazil but was sent off for removing his shirt celebrating the goal. He is the first player to score and be sent off in a World Cup match since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 final vs Italy.
• Lionel Messi finally managed his first goal in the knockout stage at the World Cup when he scored the opener in his country's 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16.
• Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made his 143rd appearance for France in the quarter-final win over England. That put him one clear of Lilian Thuram as France's most capped player.
• Croatia's Ivan Perisic became his country's all-time leading scorer at major tournaments with 10 goals. The striker scored the equaliser against Japan, before his side went on to win 3-1 on penalties.
• Lionel Messi is the first male football player to score and assist in three different World Cup games in a single tournament since 1966 after leading his team to a 3-0 rout of Croatia in the semi-finals.
• Argentina maintained their record of never having lost a World Cup semi-final with their victory over Croatia. They have featured in that stage of the tournament now five times. They are also only the fifth team ever to reach a World Cup final after losing their opening game.
• Lionel Messi became the first man to score in each of the knockout stages since the round of 16 was introduced at Mexico 1986.
• Kylian Mbappe became the fifth man to score in more than one World Cup Final.
• Kylian Mbappe became just the second man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup Final, the first being England's Geoff Hurst in 1966.
• Argentina won their third World Cup adding to previous triumphs in 1978 and 1986.