Pele is the only player to win three different FIFA World Cups
Brazil's five FIFA World Cup titles is the most by a country.
Tournament positions
Most titles won 5: Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Brazil has appeared in every World Cup making them the only nation to do so: 21, including 2018
Most finishes as runner-up: 4- Germany (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002)
Most third-place finishes: 4- Germany (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010)
Most consecutive championships: 2 Italy (1934–1938) and Brazil (1958–1962)
Italy and Brazil are the only nations to have defended their titles, 1938 and 1962, respectively.
Worst finish by defending champion who participated in the next finals: Group stage: Italy (1950, 2010), Brazil (1966), France (2002), Spain (2014)
Best finish by a debuting team: Uruguay (1930) and Italy (1934), both became champions.
Most finishes in the top two without ever being champion: 3- Netherlands (1974, 1978, 2010)
Most appearances, never progressing from the first round: 8- Scotland (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
Most appearances, never winning a match: 3- Bolivia (1930, 1950, 1994), Honduras (1982, 2010, 2014)
Argentina vs Germany is the most played final game in the World Cup: 8 times (1986, 1990, 2014)
Germany and Brazil have progressed from the group stage than any other nation in the Mundial’s history: 17 times Germany (every tournament except 1930, 1938 and 1950), Brazil (every tournament except 1930, 1934 and 1966)
Players
Pele is the only player to win three World Cups: ( Brazil, 1958, 1962 (only played in first two matches; medal awarded retroactively by FIFA in 2007 and 1970)
Most tournaments played: 5, Antonio Carbajal ( Mexico, 1950–1966), Lothar Matthäus (Germany Germany, 1982–1998), Gianluigi Buffon 1998 - 2014
Most appearances in All-Star Team: 3 Djalma Santos ( Brazil, 1954–1962), Franz Beckenbauer ( West Germany, 1966–1974), Philipp Lahm ( Germany, 2006–2014)
Most matches played by a player: 25, Lothar Matthäus ( Germany, 1982–1998)
Most minutes played by a player in the World Cup: 2,217 minutes, Paolo Maldini ( Italy, 1990–2002)
Most matches won: 17, Miroslav Klose ( Germany, 2002–2014)
Most finals played with different teams: 2- Luis Monti ( Argentina, 1930 and Italy, 1934)
Most appearances as captain: 16, Diego Maradona ( Argentina, 1986–1994)
Most tournaments as captain: 4, Rafael Márquez ( Mexico, 2002–2014)[14]
Youngest player: 17 years, 41 days, Norman Whiteside ( Northern Ireland), vs Yugoslavia, 17 June 1982
Youngest player, final: 17 years, 249 days, Pelé ( Brazil), vs Sweden, 29 June 1958
Youngest captain: 21 years, 109 days, Tony Meola ( United States), vs Czechoslovakia, 10 June 1990[16]
Oldest player: 43 years, 3 days, Faryd Mondragón ( Colombia), vs Japan, 24 June 2014
Oldest player, final: 40 years, 133 days, Dino Zoff ( Italy), vs West Germany, 11 July 1982
Oldest captain: 40 years, 292 days, Peter Shilton ( England), vs Italy, 7 July 1990
Oldest player to debut in a World Cup finals tournament: 39 years, 321 days, David James ( England), vs Algeria, 18 June 2010
Largest age difference on the same team: 24 years and 42 days, 1994, Cameroon (Rigobert Song: 17 years and 358 days; Roger Milla: 42 years and 35 days)
Miroslav Klose is the all-time top scorer of the FIFA World Cup with 16 goals ( Germany, 2002–2014)
Most goals scored in a single tournament: 13 goals - Just Fontaine (France, 1958)
Most goals scored in a match: 5, Oleg Salenko ( Russia), vs Cameroon, 1994
Most goals scored in a qualifying match: 13, Archie Thompson (Australia), vs American Samoa, 2002 OFC Group 1
Geoff Hurst is the only player to score a hat-trick in World Cup final: 3, Geoff Hurst (England), vs West Germany, 1966
These are the players that have score the highest number of goals in grand finales:
3, Vavá ( Brazil), 2 vs Sweden in 1958 & 1 vs Czechoslovakia in 1962; Pelé ( Brazil), 2 vs Sweden in 1958 & 1 vs Italy in 1970; Geoff Hurst ( England), 3 vs West Germany in 1966 and Zinedine Zidane ( France), 2 vs Brazil in 1998 & 1 vs Italy in 2006
Most hat-tricks: 2, Sándor Kocsis ( Hungary, 1954), Just Fontaine ( France, 1958), Gerd Müller ( West Germany, 1970) and Gabriel Batistuta ( Argentina, 1994 & 1998)
Most goals scored by a substitute in a match
3, László Kiss ( Hungary), vs El Salvador, 1982: Olympic Goals (Goals From a Corner) scored in a World Cup: 1, Marcos Coll ( Colombia), vs Soviet Union, 1962
Hat-tricks from the penalty spot
Never occurred in the final tournament, four times in qualification: Kubilay Türkyilmaz ( Switzerland), vs Faroe Islands, 7 October 2000, 2002 UEFA Group 1; Henrik Larsson ( Sweden), vs Moldova, 6 June 2001, 2002 UEFA Group 4; Ronaldo ( Brazil), vs Argentina, 2 June 2004, 2006 CONMEBOL; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ( Gabon), vs Niger, 15 June 2013, 2014 CAF Second Round Group E
Youngest goalscorer: 17 years, 7 months and 27 days, Pelé ( Brazil), vs Wales, 19 June 1958
Youngest hat-trick scorer: 17 years, 8 months and 1 day, Pelé ( Brazil), vs France, 24 June 1958
Youngest goalscorer, final: 17 years, 8 months and 6 days, Pelé ( Brazil), vs Sweden, 29 June 1958
Oldest goalscorer: 42 years, 1 month and 8 days, Roger Milla ( Cameroon), vs Russia, 28 June 1994
Oldest hat-trick scorer: 33 years, 5 months and 8 days, Tore Keller ( Sweden), vs Cuba, 12 June 1938[19]
Oldest goalscorer, final: 35 years, 8 months and 21 days, Nils Liedholm ( Sweden), vs Brazil, 29 June 1958
Most penalties scored (excluding during shootouts): 4, Eusébio ( Portugal, 4 in 1966), Rob Rensenbrink ( Netherlands, 4 in 1978) – both records for one tournament – and Gabriel Batistuta ( Argentina, 2 each in 1994 and 1998)
Most penalties missed (excluding during shootouts): 2, Asamoah Gyan ( Ghana), vs Czech Republic, 2006 and vs Uruguay, 2010
First substitute winning goalscorer, final: came on 86th minute, Mario Götze ( Germany), vs Argentina, 2014
Hakan Şükür has the record for the fastest goal scored in the World Cup: 11 seconds ( Turkey), vs South Korea, 2002
Fastest goal by a substitute: 16 seconds, Ebbe Sand ( Denmark), vs Nigeria, 1998
Fastest goal in a final: 90 seconds, Johan Neeskens ( Netherlands), vs West Germany, 1974
Latest goal from kickoff: 121st minute, Alessandro Del Piero ( Italy), vs Germany, 2006 and Abdelmoumene Djabou ( Algeria), vs Germany, 2014
Latest goal from kickoff in a final: 120th minute, Geoff Hurst ( England), vs Germany, 1966 (see "they think it's all over")
Most participations in different World Cup penalty shoot-outs: 3 times, Roberto Baggio Italy (1990, converted, 1994, missed, and 1998, converted)
Goalkeeping
Most clean sheets (matches without conceding): 10, Peter Shilton ( England, 1982–1990) and Fabien Barthez ( France, 1998–2006)
Most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal (finals): 517 mins (5 consecutive clean sheets), Walter Zenga ( Italy, 1990)
Most goals conceded: 25, Antonio Carbajal ( Mexico) and Mohamed Al-Deayea ( Saudi Arabia)
Most goals conceded, one tournament: 16, Hong Duk-Yung ( South Korea), 1954
Most goals conceded, one match: 10, Luis Guevara Mora ( El Salvador), 1982 (vs Hungary)
Fewest goals conceded, one tournament, champions: 2, Fabien Barthez ( France), 1998, Gianluigi Buffon ( Italy, 2006) and Iker Casillas ( Spain, 2010)
Fewest goals conceded, one tournament: 0, Pascal Zuberbühler ( Switzerland), 2006
Most penalties saved, one tournament (excluding during shootouts): 2, Jan Tomaszewski ( Poland), 1974 and Brad Friedel ( United States), 2002
Most penalties saved overall (excluding during shootouts): 2, Jan Tomaszewski ( Poland, both in 1974), Brad Friedel ( United States, both in 2002), and Íker Casillas ( Spain, 1 in 2002 and 1 in 2010)
Records by Coaches
Most matches coached: 25, Helmut Schön ( West Germany, 1966–1978)
Most matches won: 16, Helmut Schön ( West Germany, 1966–1978)
Most championships: 2, Vittorio Pozzo ( Italy, 1934–1938)
Most tournaments: 6, Carlos Alberto Parreira (1982, 1990–1998, 2006, 2010)
Most nations coached: 5, Bora Milutinović ( Mexico, 1986; Costa Rica, 1990; United States, 1994; Nigeria, 1998; China PR, 2002), and Carlos Alberto Parreira ( Kuwait, 1982; United Arab Emirates, 1990; Brazil, 1994 and 2006; Saudi Arabia, 1998, South Africa, 2010)
Most consecutive tournaments with same team: 4, Walter Winterbottom ( England, 1950–1962); Helmut Schön ( West Germany, 1966–1978) (note that Sepp Herberger took Germany/West Germany to four tournaments, (1938, 1954, 1958, 1962) omitting the 1950 competition from which Germany was banned)
Most consecutive wins: 11, Luiz Felipe Scolari ( Brazil, 2002, 7 wins; Portugal, 2006, 4 wins – Portugal "won" its next match, the quarterfinal against England, by penalty kicks, which technically counts as a draw)
Most consecutive matches without a loss: 12, Luiz Felipe Scolari ( Brazil, 2002, 7 matches; Portugal, 2006, 5 matches)
Youngest coach: 27 years and 267 days, Juan José Tramutola ( Argentina, 1930)
Oldest coach: 71 years and 317 days, Otto Rehhagel ( Greece, 2010)
Won tournaments as both player and head coach: Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 as coach); Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1974 as player, 1990 as coach)First World Cup player to coach a team in a World Cup
Milorad Arsenijević, Serbia (1930 as player, 1950 as coach, both times for Yugoslavia)
Refereeing
Most matches refereed, overall: 9 – Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan Uzbekistan, 2010–2014)
Most matches refereed, one tournament: 5 – Benito Archundia (Mexico Mexico, 2006), Horacio Elizondo (Argentina Argentina, 2006) and Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan Uzbekistan, 2010)
Youngest referee: 24 years and 193 days – Juan Gardeazábal (Spain Spain, 1958)
Oldest referee: 53 years and 236 days – George Reader (England England, 1950)
Cautions and sending offs
Fastest caution: first minute, Giampiero Marini ( Italy), vs Poland, 1982; Sergei Gorlukovich ( Russia), vs Sweden, 1994
Fastest sending off: 56 seconds, José Batista ( Uruguay), vs Scotland, 1986
Latest sending off: After penalty shootout: Leandro Cufré ( Argentina), vs Germany, 2006 (Cufré was red carded for kicking Per Mertesacker in an altercation following the match)
Sent off from the bench: Claudio Caniggia ( Argentina), vs Sweden, 2002
Most cards (all-time, player): 6, Zinedine Zidane ( France, 1998–2006) and Cafu ( Brazil, 1994–2006)
Most sendings off (all-time, player): 2, Rigobert Song ( Cameroon, 1994 and 1998) and Zinedine Zidane ( France, 1998 and 2006)
Most sendings off (tournament): 28 (in 64 games), 2006
Most sendings off (all-time, team): 11 (in 97 games), Brazil
Most sendings off (match, both teams): 4 (2 each) in Portugal vs Netherlands, 2006 (also known as Battle of Nuremberg)
Most sendings off (final match): 2, Pedro Monzón & Gustavo Dezotti (both Argentina), v West Germany, 1990
Most cautions (tournament): 345 (in 64 matches), 2006: Argentina has been booked more than any other country: (all-time, team)
88 times (in 64 games)
Most cautions (match, one team): 9, Portugal, 2006, vs Netherlands & Netherlands, 2010, vs Spain
Most cautions (match, both teams): 16 – Portugal vs Netherlands, 2006; and Cameroon v Germany, June 11, 2002
Josip Šimunić is the only player that was booked three times, before he was sent off- (61', 90', 93') ( Croatia), vs Australia, 2006 (referee: Graham Poll of England that error)
Most cautions (final match, both teams): 14, 5 ( Spain) and 9 ( Netherlands) 2010
Most suspensions (tournament, player): 2, André Kana-Biyik ( Cameroon 1990)
Longest suspension (player, doping): 15 months, Diego Maradona ( Argentina vs Nigeria, 1994)
Longest suspension (player, misconduct): 9 matches, Luis Suárez ( Uruguay vs Italy, 2014) for biting Giorgio Chiellini
1 year, Ndaye Mulamba ( Zaire vs Yugoslavia, 1974) for kicking the referee
1 year, Samir Shaker Mahmoud ( Iraq vs Belgium, 1986) for spitting at the referee
Longest suspension, qualifying: Life (amnestied after 12 years): Roberto Rojas ( Chile vs Brazil, 1989) for feigning injury from a firecracker, leading to a match being abandoned.[35]
Germany has played more matches at the World Cup than any other nation: 106
Brazil has won more matches than any country: 70
Mexico has lost more games in the Mundial than any country: 24
Italy's 21 draws is the highest in the competition
Germany has scored the most goals in the World: 224
The Germans have conceded the most goals: 121
Fewest goals scored: 0, Canada, China PR, Indonesia (as Dutch East Indies), Trinidad and Tobago, and DR Congo (as Zaire)
Highest average of goals scored per match: 2.72, Hungary of 1954
Most meetings between two teams: 7 times, Brazil vs Sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990 and twice in 1994), Germany vs Yugoslavia / Serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998 and 2010) and Argentina vs Germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010 and 2014)
Most meetings between two teams, Final match: 3 times, Argentina vs Germany (1986, 1990, 2014)
Most goals scored by champions: 25- Germany, 1954
Fewest goals scored by champions: 8 Spain- 2010
Fewest goals conceded by champions: 2 France, 1998, Italy, 2006, Spain, 2010[45]Most goals conceded, champions: 14, Germany, 1954