Most goals scored in a tournament
Despite also setting an equal-record number of scoreless draws at the tournament with seven, Qatar 2022 became the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup in history with 142 goals netted across the 64 matches.
Six of those matches saw a total of six goals or more scored, including the 3-3 thriller between Cameroon and Serbia in the second Group G and the heart-stopping final, in which Argentina won 4-2 on penalties after drawing 3-3 with France after extra-time.
Six matches with 6+ goals:
World Cup Final - ARG v FRA (3-3)
POR v SUI (6-1)
CRC v GER (2-4)
CAM v SER (3-3)
ENG V IRA (6-2)
SPA v CRC (7-0)
Most cautions in a match for one team AND both teams – Netherlands v Argentina (QF)
To say that La Albiceleste's quarter-final against the Netherlands was a fiery encounter would be an understatement.
The match surpassed the infamous 'Battle of Nuremberg', a 2006 group game between Portugal and the Netherlands, as the match with the most bookings in World Cup history, with eight of the 17 cards drawn being issued to Argentinian players and an additional two given to head coach Lionel Scaloni and support staff Walter Samuel.
Levelling with Portugal in the Battle of Nuremberg match, the Oranje Yellow received the equal most bookings in a World Cup match in the process with nine yellows.
First host nation to lose opening match AND all other tournament matches – Qatar
2022 host nation Qatar seemed to create more and more unwanted history as the tournament went on, amid their disastrous group exit in which they conceded seven goals and scored just one.
The AFC affiliates set a 92-year first with their 2-0 loss to Ecuador first up at Qatar 2022, becoming the first-ever host nation to lose their opening match, while their following losses to Senegal and Netherlands respectively sealed their history-making, winless fate.
They were also only the second team in the tournament’s history to exit in the group stage, following South Africa’s respectable third-placed finish in 2010.
Most World Cup appearances - Brazil
Despite being the pre-tournament favourite for many and subsequently disappointing in Qatar via their quarter-final exit to Croatia on penalties, Brazil retained the title of the nation with the most appearances in World Cup finals.
They stand as the only country to appear in all 22 editions of the tournament.
Player with the most appearances AND tournament assists – Lionel Messi
The Argentina captain surpassed Germany’s Lothar Matthäus (25) and Miroslav Klose (24), and Italy’s Paolo Maldini (23) as the player with most appearances at the World Cup finals with 26.
Messi finished one goal shy of Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe of France with seven, but took home the Golden Ball for the second time in his career after Argentina’s famous victory in the final.
The 35-year-old also put himself among elite company in the form of Pele and Diego Maradona to equal their assist tally at the tournament, with eight goal assists across his five different tournaments.
Most goals scored in a final AND in finals matches overall – Kylian Mbappe
The Paris Saint-Germain man smashed the previous record of two goals scored by a single player in a World Cup final, surpassing Brazilian Ronaldo's 2002 record of 12 minutes between goals, but touched another milestone with his third as he became only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final after England's Geoff Hurst in 1966.
He also joined Brazil’s Vava, Pele, Germany's Paul Breitner and Zinedine Zidane as one of only five players to score in multiple World Cup finals, following his stunner in the 2018 final against Croatia. However, he also set the record for most goals in finals matches overall with four.
Most tournaments scored in – Cristiano Ronaldo
Although the 37-year-old’s Qatar 2022 ended on a sour note with Portugal’s quarter-final exit to Morocco and dramas surrounding his positioning on the Portuguese bench for long periods of the tournament, it started off convincingly with a goal in their opening group win over Ghana.
The opening strike in the 3-2 win meant that Ronaldo became the first and only player the net a goal across five different tournaments, finding the back of the net in each of the 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
Most penalties saved in regular time* - Wojciech Szczęsny
The Polish shot-stopper levelled with compatriot Jan Tomaszewski’s two saves from 1974, Iker Casillas’ two saves in regular time across the 2002 and 2010 tournaments and Brad Friedel’s dual penalty stops in 2002 for the United States for the most penalties saved in a World Cup excluding penalty shoot-outs.
First, he denied Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al Dawsari from the spot en route to a 2-0 victory in their second Group C encounter, and stopped eventual Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi in the following match despite the eventual defeat.
Most penalties saved in one penalty-shoot-out AND overall - Dominik Livaković
Following a string of impressive performances in Qatar, the Croatian gloveman probably would have walked away from the tournament feeling robbed of the Golden Glove, which was ultimately awarded to notorious final hero Emiliano Martínez of Argentina.
The Dinamo Zagreb man proved to be the match-winner in the Round of 16 against Japan where he made three penalty saves – thus equalling the record of compatriot Danijel Subašić in 2018 against Denmark, as well as Portugal’s Ricardo against England in 2006 for most penalties saved in a single shoot-out.
Making an additional save in a shoot-out to deny Rodrygo and Brazil a spot in the semi-finals, he levelled with Subasic, Germany’s Harald Schumacher and Sergio Goycochea of Argentina as the fourth player with the equal most penalties saved overall in penalty shoot-outs.
