The FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been one of the most exciting football tournaments in history, in many respects. We have compiled the most interesting facts about the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
Germany and Brazil were the most harmless World Cup participants
You can’t blame each team for not trying everything to prevent the preliminary round elimination, especially for Germany.
But the difference between effort and outcome was dramatic: the German team fired 69 shots in the three games of the group stage – 23 shots per game – and thus the most at the end of the preliminary round.
However, Hansi Flick’s team needed twelve shots rounded up to score a goal. Together with record world champions Brazil, this was the weakest result of all World Cup participants who scored at least four goals.
World Cup legends are replaced
At the World Cup in Qatar, some legends had to and still have to have their entries in the history books deleted. Lothar Matthäus was particularly badly hit: the German record national player held the record for 24 years with 25 appearances. In the final, Lionel Messi – should he play – will overtake him by 26 World Cup games.
Manuel Neuer became the record goalkeeper against Costa Rica with his 19th World Cup game, but will probably have to give that record again in the final – France’s Hugo Lloris played game number 19 in the semifinals and will probably overtake Neuer against Argentina with 20 games.
And then there’s Pelé, who can at least share his record: Brazil’s legend scored 77 goals in his international career, and he has had to share the title of record goal scorer with Neymar since the Selecao quarter-finals against Croatia.
Ronaldo remains goalless – in knockout games
Cristiano Ronaldo said goodbye to the World Cup stage in the quarter-finals against Morocco – at the age of 37, probably for good. CR7 has to live with the blemish of failing to score in a knockout game in his fifth World Cup!
He scored all eight World Cup goals for Portugal in the group stage, and in 570 minutes in knockout mode Ronaldo failed to score in 27 shots. Ronaldo also made history in a positive way, becoming the only player to score in five World Cups since scoring against Ghana in the first group game.
Penalty killer Livakovic sets a record
Croatia prevailed on penalties in both the round of 16 and the quarter-finals.
The hero was in goal: Dominik Livakovic saved a total of four penalties, setting a World Cup record, because previously only compatriot Danijel Subasic in 2018, Argentina’s Sergio Goycochea in 1990 and Toni Schumacher (at the two World Cup finals in 1982 & 1986) had four attempts saved on penalties.
Klostermann is the “pass king”
The German national Lukas Klostermann said goodbye to the World Cup without having played a bad pass.
RB Leipzig’s defensive all-rounder can therefore call himself the “pass king” because he managed all 44 passes in his two appearances – among the players with a 100 percent pass rate, this was the highest number of passes.
However, Brazil’s Marquinhos brought this security with him to the quarter-finals and had a pass rate of 95.9 percent in 364 passes played.
Dumfries is the most indisciplined player in the World Cup
Inter Milan’s Denzel Dumfries had his moment of glory in the Round of 16, scoring and setting up the other two in a 3-1 win over USA.
Otherwise, the right-hand midfielder was particularly notable for his unfair actions: Of all the players, the 26-year-old was the player with the most fouls together with team-mate Jurriën Timber (17 each). As Dumfries was also sent off against Argentina in the quarter-finals, he is included in the statistics as the most unfair player of the tournament.
Card record in the quarterfinals (Argentina vs Netherlands)
The quarter-final game between Argentina and the Netherlands went down in World Cup history: the busy referee Antonio Lohoz pulled out the yellow card 18 times – including cards against Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni and his assistant Walter Samuel.
The previous record was “only” twelve yellow cards, including the 2010 final between Spain and the Netherlands.
Musiala gives chance after chance
Jamal Musiala attracted a lot of attention in his first World Cup tournament. However, the 19-year-old was also a symbol of the German offensive – the opposing goal seemed nailed to the Bayern star: Musiala tried it a total of 12 times and remained goalless.
No other player has had as many finishes without scoring a goal over the course of the tournament. Musiala was unlucky twice and hit the post.
Nobody stays on the bench in Brazil
Brazil’s national coach Tite provided a novelty: he used all 26 players in the squad – including the three goalkeepers – until the quarter-final defeat by Croatia. So many different players have not been fielded by one nation at any World Cup tournament in history.
So Tite used the entire width of the squad – even though 26 instead of the previous 23 players were allowed in a squad for the first time at the 2022 World Cup.
0-0 at the World Cup in Qatar was rampant
Seven games at the World Cup in Qatar ended in a clean sheet – six of them in the group stage alone. As of now, the negative record of the World Cup finals in 1982, 2006, 2010 and 2014 has been set, so a sad record is still possible.
Incidentally, the English played 0-0 for the 22nd time at a World Cup and are therefore the frontrunners of the zero numbers.
