Most games, most goals, most participations: also at the Soccer World Cup 2022 in Qatar records could tumble. sport.de presents the most important records of the World Cup and shows which ones the German national team holds.
There’s a compact overview of the World Cup schedule and the German opponents in Qatar here.
The country with the most World Cup participations
- Brazil: 21 World Cups (all tournaments)
The players with the most World Cup appearances
- Antonio Carbajal (Mexico): 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
- Lothar Matthäus (Germany): 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
- Rafael Marquez (Mexico): 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
- Gianluigi Buffon (Italy): 1998 (without action), 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
The player with the most world titles
- Pelé (Brazil): World Champion 1958, 1962 and 1970
The player with the most World Cup appearances
- Lothar Matthäus (Germany): 25 missions
The player with the most minutes played in the World Cup
- Paolo Maldini (Italy): 2217 minutes
The player with the most World Cup goals
- Miroslav Klose (Germany): 16 goals
The player with the most goals at a World Cup
- Just Fontaine (France): 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup
The goalkeeper with the longest streak without conceding a World Cup goal
- Walter Zenga (Italy): 517 minutes at the 1990 World Cup
The player with the most goals in a World Cup match
- Oleg Salenko (Russia): five goals in a 6-1 win against Cameroon at the 1994 World Cup (preliminary round)
The oldest World Cup goalscorer
- Roger Milla (Cameroon): 42 years and 39 days in a 6-1 loss to Russia at the 1994 World Cup (preliminary round)
The oldest World Cup player
- Essam El-Hadary (Egypt): 45 years and 161 days at the 2018 World Cup
The oldest world champion
- Dino Zoff (Italy): 40 years and 133 days at the 1982 World Cup
The youngest World Cup player
- Norman Whiteside (England): 17 years and 41 days at the 1982 World Cup
The youngest world champion
- Pelé (Brazil): 17 years and 249 days at the 1958 World Cup
The coach with the most World Cup appearances
- Carlos Alberto Parreira: six World Cup appearances (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010)
Most trained countries
- Bora Milutinović (Mexico 1986, Costa Rica 1990, USA 1994, Nigeria 1998, China 2002)
- Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil 1994 and 2006, Kuwait 1982, UAE 1990, Saudi Arabia 1998; South Africa 2010)
The coach with the most World Cup games
- Helmut Schön (Germany): 25 games between 1966 and 1978
Most contested penalty shootouts
Most penalties won
- Germany (four out of four) and Argentina (four out of five)
Most lost penalty shootouts
- England, Italy, Spain (each three out of four)
Most World Cup participations without participation in the final
- Mexico (16 World Cup appearances)
Most eliminated in the preliminary round
- Scotland (eight times in eight World Cup appearances)
- South Korea (eight times in ten World Cup appearances)
Biggest win at a World Cup
- Hungary, 10-1 v El Salvador at the 1982 World Cup (preliminary round)
The highest win in the knockout stages of a World Cup
- Sweden: 8-0 v Cuba at the 1938 World Cup (Quarterfinals)
Most knockout games played
- Germany: 51 knockout games, 36 of which won
Most top four finishes
- Germany: 13 (4 x World Champion, 4 x Vice World Champion, 4 x third place, 1 x fourth place)
Some records could be set at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This is how the Argentines stand Lionel Messithe Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the mexican Andres Guardado before their fifth World Cup participation.