World Cup 2022 statistics and facts
The World Cup 2022 statistics are very interesting due to the fact that Qatar is a special host country that puts a lot of money into the organization.
A World Cup in the summer months is common, but in Qatar there is extreme heat. It will therefore be the first ever football World Cup in the winter.
With just 28 days, the Qatar tournament is the shortest World Cup in 44 years. The 1978 global final battle in Argentina lasted 25 days.
Shifting the tournament to the winter has major consequences for the European calendar. The first World Cup ever in the winter caused a lot of fuss at major competitions in Europe. Almost all competitions continue there during the winter months. European top clubs are compensated for around 195 million euros for giving up players for the World Cups in Russia and Qatar.
The football field in the Khalifa International Stadium was laid in a record time of 13.5 hours, with around 7,800 m2 of grass being moved by 40 specialists from the Turf Nursery to the historic stadium. The experts used 8 special machines to position the grass correctly. The previous record was also in the name of the same team. In 2016, the pitch was laid at the Al Sadd Sports Club's Stadium in 14 hours and 40 minutes.
2022 World Cup qualifying statistics
- 163,000 fans had gathered in 1977 to watch the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Colombia.
- 871 matches have been played towards the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
- 807 goals were scored in 278 matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifier. This is an average of 2.9 goals per match.
- Mexico has played 175 qualifying games, more than any other Concacaf team. The Mexicans have played 16 finals.
- 55 European countries can qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That is one more than the previous edition, because Russia was then automatically placed as the host country.
- 40 teams in Africa are divided into 10 groups in the race for a World Cup ticket. The group winners will advance to the third qualifying round, of which the five winners will go to Qatar.
- 40 countries from Asia are divided into 8 groups towards the World Cup 2022. 12 teams will receive a ticket.
- 31 goals in one match is the record during the World Cup qualification. The great Australia won against American Samoa in 2001, without conceding a goal.
- Archie Thompson scored 13 goals in the Australia - American Samoa match in 2001.
- Cristiano Ronaldo scored 30 goals in 38 games in the qualifying rounds for the World Cup.
- Brazil has played 21 World Cup finals. The country is also the only country that has never missed a World Cup.
- 11 teams from South and North America have attended at least one World Cup; Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, USA and Trinidad and Tobago.
- 11 countries compete in the Oceania World Cup qualifier, of which only one can qualify.
- 10 goals in one match have been scored for the first time by Hungary. Greece was defeated 11-1 in 1938.
Statistics of qualification for the FIFA World Cup
The 211 countries participating in the 2022 World Cup qualification is a new record. The previous record stood at 203 football countries for the 2014 World Cup.
The first time more than 100 countries participated in the qualification rounds for a World Cup was more than 30 years ago. At the time, 103 countries competed for one of the 24 places at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Because of the 851 qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup, the total of all-time World Cup qualifying matches comes to 7,306.
258 World Cup 2022 qualifying matches are fought between countries that are members of the UEFA football association.
The qualifiers for a World Cup are becoming increasingly popular. The matches for the WK2014 attracted more than 17 million fans, which amounts to an average of 21,000 per match.
As before 2002, both the host country Qatar and the reigning World champion were automatically placed for the World Cup. From 2002 only the host country was automatically placed. In 1934, however, host country Italy had to qualify for the World Cup in its own country.
Sweden and Estonia played the first qualifying match in June 1933.
Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal are the only countries that have played the qualifiers for all 19 World Cups. The World Cup 2022 qualifiers will be their 21st screening.
Brazil has already won the World Cup five times. Brazil is the only country that has played every main tournament, but they only participated 11 times in the qualifying rounds. In 1950 and 2014 Brazil was automatically placed as a host country and in 1962, 1966, 1974 and 1998 as reigning World champion.
Germany has participated 5 times in the main tournament, without playing qualifying matches. Namely in 1974 and 2006 as a host country and in 1958, 1978 and 1994 as reigning World champion.
Germany is the most successful country in the qualifying rounds. The Germans lost only 2 of the 84 games, both at home against Portugal (1985) and England (2001).
Germany has an average of 2.5 points and 2.96 goals per match.
In the last 25 years, only 7 countries have always qualified for the main tournament: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain and America. Spain has also participated in all World Cup qualifying rounds.
Mexico has played the most qualifying matches, namely 159. Costa Rica has played 156 matches. 53 countries have played at least 100 qualifiers.
The Mexico - America competition is the most common during the qualifying rounds. These countries have met 27 times. For the UEFA, the Belgium - Netherlands game has been played 12 times.
The list of countries that participated in the World Cup qualifying competitions contains 2 countries that no longer exist: the German Democratic Republic and the Dutch East Indies. Dutch East Indies participated in the WK1938 without having played even one game.
Since 1933, 18,791 goals have been scored, which amounts to an average of 2.91 per game.
The fastest goal was in 2016 when the Belgian Christian Benteke scored the 1-0 after 7 seconds against Gibraltar. In 1993 Davide Gualttiere scored after 9 seconds against England.
The biggest result during the World Cup qualifications is 31 - 0 in the game between Australia - American Samoa in 2001. In the same year, Australia also won 22 - 0 against Tonga. The largest European result is 12 - 0 in the Germany - Cyprus match in 1969.
Ali Daei (Iran) is the top scorer of the World Cup qualifiers with 35 in 51 matches.
Most of the World Cup qualifiers were played by Ivan Hurtado (Ecuador). Between 1993 and 2009 (16 years!), He played no fewer than 73 qualifiers for his country.
Only 4 players played in 6 different qualifying rounds: Dwight York, Russell Latapy, Victor Mendieta and Pat Jennings.
Most of the World Cup qualifiers were won by Mexico (102). Colombia had the most draws (40). Luxembourg has lost the most qualifiers (113).
With 407 goals, Mexico has the most goals in the history of the World Cup qualification. The Czech Republic has the most counter goals (106).
The match with the most visitors was in 1954 between Brazil - Paraguay (170,000 visitors). The most visited European qualification match was also in 1954 between Scotland - England with 134,544 visitors.
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The World Cup 2022 statistics are very interesting due to the fact that Qatar is a special host country that puts a lot of money into the organization.
About the author of 'World Cup 2022 statistics - All stats of the World Cup 2022 football'
Author of this content is Patrick. I have been playing soccer for more than 25 years and follow the daily news closely. My hobbies include playing football, running and maintaining various websites, in addition to my job as a financial professional.
I do not work for any related company or institution, so the information is reliable and independent. The information has been collected accurately from reliable sources and is regularly updated.