After almost a month of watching some of the best football nations in the world, the FIFA World Cup 2022 came to an end. The final of the most prestigious football event occurred on December 18 and featured Argentina and France. In one of the most intriguing finals in the game’s history, Lionel Messi and his team won the penalty shootout and became the World Champions.
According to the stats from www.jaxkidsdirectory.com, the World Cup 2022 in Qatar had a total of 172 goals. What’s more, the average number of goals per match was 2.69, which is really impressive. “It is safe to say that this was one of the most interesting World Cups in history. The organizations, teams, and everything else was amazing; thank you, Qatar!” – said Kristiyan from Nostrabet.
The number of goals scored and the average ones per match are impressive. However, there are even more essential stats you should be aware of. This World Cup will go down in history, so let’s learn more about everything you should know.
The Top Goalscorers
- Speaking of the event and goals, Kylian Mbappé from France became the World Cup’s top scorer. With 8 goals in all of France’s matches and a hat-trick in the final, Mbappé goes down in history. Even though he is just 23 years old, Mbappé is already one of the most successful forwards in the world.
- While talking about goals, Lionel Messi from Argentina came second after scoring 7. Even though he was the main reason Argentina won the event with his 2 goals in the final, Mbappé’s hat-trick prevented him from getting the golden boot.
- The third place is split between Julián álvarez and Olivier Giroud. The Argentinian and French strikers both have 4 goals.
The Most Assists
Even though football fans love those who score goals, assisting is also a crucial part of football. Interestingly, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar didn’t have as many assists as before, but there are a couple of names that stand out.
The first place with 3 assists is split between 5 players. Lionel Messi, Harry Cane, Antoine Griezmann, Bruno Fernandes, and Ivan Peri?i? have 3 assists each. Needless to say, each player had a key role in his respective team.
Teams Stats
- There are several interesting stats that people should be aware of when it comes down to teams. For example, France became the nation with the most scored goals by netting 16. On the other hand, Denmark, Qatar, Tunisia, Belgium, and Wales only scored 1 goal in the entire event. Unsurprisingly, all of them were eliminated from the groups.
- Interestingly, some teams conceded more goals than others. However, Costa Rica stood out because the team’s opponent scored 11 goals in 3 matches. This number is really high because Spain defeated them and scored 7 goals in the first match. Unsurprisingly, Costa Rica also has the worst goal difference of -8.
- Speaking of Spain vs Costa Rica, this became the most impressive victory in the event. Furthermore, this match was the one where we saw the highest number of goals.
Individual Stats
- Aside from the top scorer and the player with the most assists, the World Cup 2022 provides us with several other individual stats people must be aware of. For example, Lionel Messi became Man of the Match a total of 5 times, including in the final. The second place is for his team-mate at PSG, Kylian Mbappé.
- In terms of goalkeepers, Emiliano Martinez, Jordan Pickford, and Yassine Bounou got a total of 3 clean sheets. In fact, England’s goalie got 3 consecutive clean sheets, which was impressive. However, it wasn’t enough for England to win because France eliminated them from the tournament.
- Gavi from Spain became the youngest goal scorer after netting one of the goals in the match against Costa Rica. As for the oldest scorer, this title goes to Pepe from Portugal. Despite being 39 years old, he scored against Switzerland and secured his team’s victory.
Special Records
Unsurprisingly, the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar was the place where some of the best players in the world broke tons of records.
- There are several notable ones, such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal for Portugal. He became the first player to score at 5 different World Cups.
- Speaking of Ronaldo, he, Messi, and Andrés Guardado from Mexico took part in the World Cup for the 5th time. By doing these, these players equalized the record of Rafael Márquez, Antonio Carbajal, and Lothar Matth?us.
- Argentina’s living legend Lionel Messi broke another individual record. This time, he became the player with the most appearances in a World Cup. The GOAT took part in 26 games and surpassed everyone, including CR7.
- Qatar and Saudi Arabia became the only 2 nations that only featured players from their domestic leagues. On the contrary, Senegal only had players that played in foreign leagues.
- England had the most representatives when it came down to players because 164 of them were active in the EPL and the lower leagues. Interestingly, 68 players from the World Cup played in Serie A, but Italy did not qualify for this year’s competition.
Attendance records
Despite the criticism, the World Cup 2022 in Qatar was organized very well, and fans had the chance to watch their favourite teams in action. What’s interesting is that Argentina’s games against Mexico, France, and Croatia were the matches that drew the most spectators. According to the stats, 86,966 people watched each of these matches, and they took place at Lusail Stadium. Interestingly, this is the largest World Cup match in terms of spectators since the jaw-dropping 91 194 people that attended the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy.
In terms of the lowest attendance, the record goes to the match between Cameroon and Switzerland. It took place at the Al Janoub Stadium on November 24 and had a total of 39,089 people.
3,404,525 is the number of overall attendance during the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The average attendance per match is 53,191, and in terms of capacity, the percentage is 96.62%.
Conclusion
Argentina’s triumph against France allowed the South American team to win its third World Cup. The last time La Selección won the competition was in 1986, so it shouldn’t be surprising that fans were ecstatic. This victory was crucial for Lionel Messi, Argentina’s leader, because it put the last nail in the coffin when it came down to who is the G.O.A.T.
