World Cup 2018: Goal-laden final adds to staggering World Cup stats

Data reveals a number of records and outstanding statistics that underpin the 2018 World Cup's claim to being one of the best ever.

Published : Jul 16, 2018 17:07 IST

Didier Deschamps is the third person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.
Didier Deschamps is the third person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.
lightbox-info

Didier Deschamps is the third person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.

France is world champion for the second time after winning a scintillating final against Croatia that epitomised a tournament packed with drama, goals, glory and heartache.

Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann both took their World Cup goal tallies to four with strikes in the Moscow showpiece, while Paul Pogba scored his only goal of the 2018 competition and Mario Mandzukic put through his own net to make France the first team to score four in a final since Brazil in 1970.

Didier Deschamps' men won all but one of their seven matches en route to lifting the game's most coveted trophy for the first time in 20 years, scoring 14 goals and conceding six, while Croatia claimed the unwanted record of being the first team in 44 years to lose in its first World Cup final.

However it wasn't just the finalists who racked up the numbers across the course of an entertaining tournament that was statistically remarkable - and even better to watch.

READ: Clear-headed France a cut above the glorious madness of Russia 2018

4  - France became the first team to score four goals in a World Cup final since Brazil beat Italy 4-1 in 1970.

1  - Croatia is the first team to lose in its debut appearance in a World Cup final since Netherlands in 1974 (2-1 against Germany).

21  - Russia's victory against Saudi Arabia on matchday one means the host nation has never lost its opening match in any of the 21 editions of the World Cup (16 wins, 6 draws, no losses).

- England won a penalty shoot-out at the World Cup for the first time following its match against Colombia in the last 16.

4  - Brazil has been eliminated by a European nation in each of the last four World Cup tournaments (France in 2006, Netherlands in 2010, Germany in 2014 and Belgium in 2018).

3  - Germany became the third successive defending champion to be eliminated in the group stages of the competition after Spain four years ago and Italy in 2010.

5  - Rafael Marquez featured in his fifth World Cup (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018), becoming just the third player to achieve this feat along with Mexican compatriot Antonio Carbajal (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962 and 1966) and Germany's Lothar Matthaus (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998).

33  - Cristiano Ronaldo is the oldest hat-trick scorer in World Cup history, with the Portuguese star aged 33 years and 130 days when netted his treble against Spain – the previous record holder was Rob Rensenbrink in 1978 for Netherlands against Iran (30 years, 335 days).

 - Neither Ronaldo (six games) nor Lionel Messi (eight games) have scored a goal in a World Cup knockout match, with both failing to end their drought in Russia.

3  - Didier Deschamps is the third person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager, after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer with Germany.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment