From the record number of matches played by Argentine Lionel Messi, the fastest run of 35.7 kilometers per hour by Ghanaian Kamadeen Sulemana or the 16.639 kilometers by Croatian Marcelo Brozovic against Japan to the biggest win of this edition, the 7-0 Spain against Costa Rica or the decisive penalty shootout in four games, the Qatar 2022 World Cup in ten facts.
1
Messi, 26 parties for history
Qatar 2022 set a new record of matches in the history of World Cups, surpassing Lothar Matthäus’ 25, between Spain 1982 (2), Mexico 1986 (7), Italy 1990 (7), United States 1994 (5 ) and France 1998 (4), in Messi’s 26th, between Germany 2006 (3), South Africa 2010 (5), Brazil 2014 (7), Russia 2018 (4) and Qatar 2022 (7), from on his debut on June 16 2006 with a 6-0 win against Serbia, eight days shy of 19th.
2
There is no unbeatable selection
France or Argentina, the main characters of the final, or any of the 32 teams that competed in Qatar 2022 remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. The last to reach the semifinals, Croatia and Morocco, were beaten 3-0 and 2-0, respectively, by teams led by Lionel Scaloni and Didier Deschamps.
3
The Ghanaian Sulemana, the fastest sprinter
Kamadeen Sulemana, a footballer for the national team of Ghana, is the 2022 World Cup sprinter, with a 35.7 km/h run on the third day of the group stage against Uruguay at the Al Janoub stadium. The Spaniard Nico Williams, at 35.6 kilometers per hour in the Spain-Germany match, and the Canadian Alphonso Davies, at the same speed in the clash against Croatia in the group stage, will complete the sprinters podium at Qatar 2022.
4
Brozovic, the ‘swallow’
Marcelo Brozovic, the midfielder of the Croatian national team, became the star of the longest distance in a World Cup match, with 16,639 kilometers he ran in the round of 16 against Japan, including extra time. It also matches the second best mark: in the quarterfinals against Brazil, with 15,686 meters.
5
5 – Messi, Otamendi and the ‘Dibu’, 100%
None of the finalists have played more minutes at the Qatar 2022 World Cup than Lionel Messi, Nicolás Otamendi and Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez, the three players from the Argentine team, with a total of 690 minutes across seven complete matches they have. played under Lionel Scaloni with the Albiceleste, including extra time against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the competition.
6
The most goalscoring World Cup
The Qatar 2022 World Cup, with 172 goals across its 64 games between the group stage and qualifiers, is the best in the history of the competition, above France 1998 and Brazil 2014, which had one less than this edition.
7
France, the most goalscorer
Kylian Mbappe’s three goals in the final made France the highest scoring team in the World Cup, not enough to lift the World Cup. The team led by Didier Deschamps scored 16 goals in seven games, one more than Argentina, who had 15.
8
And Tunisia, the least defeated
The Tunisian team scored the fewest goals in this 2022 World Cup, with only one goal against the first three stages of group matches, not enough to go beyond that round and advance to the qualifiers. In those three games, they first drew 0-0 with Denmark, then lost to Australia, 1-0, scored by Mitch Duke in the 23rd minute, and beat France 1-0. Morocco also finished that stage with just one goal conceded, but then conceded two in a 2-0 semi-final loss to France.
9
Five decisive penalty shootouts
The final, two of the four quarterfinal games (Croatia’s win against Brazil and Argentina’s win against the Netherlands) and two of the eight round of 16 games (Spain’s loss against Morocco and Croatia’s win against Japan) demanded a penalty shootout to decide the winner and classify the team for the next round of the tournament. No extension changed the outcome of the match from eleven meters.
10
Spain’s 7-0, World Cup win
The biggest success of Qatar 2022 happened on the first day, with a 7-0 victory in which the Spanish team beat Costa Rica, thanks to goals from Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Ferran Torres (2), Pablo Gavira , ‘Gavi’, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata, on November 23 at the Al Thumama stadium. Portugal’s 6-1 defeat of Switzerland in the round of 16 was the second biggest win of the tournament. The third was England’s 6-2 defeat of Iran on the first date. EFE
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
