December 18, 2022, is a date all football fans will find hard to forget. After all, Sunday was the culmination of one of the most extraordinary World Cups in recent years, which was aptly matched by a pulsating finale between Argentina and France.
Kylian Mbappe almost created history for himself and France as he scored a spectacular hat trick. However, unfortunately, standing in his way was Lionel Messi, who successfully 'completed' football with the elusive FIFA World Cup title to his name.
Let us look at some of the stats and facts from the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Argentina
The Messiah: Lionel Messi is the first player in the history of the FIFA World Cup to win two Golden Ball awards. His first award came in the 2014 edition, in which Argentina finished as the runner-up.
Messi became the first player to score in every round of a single men's FIFA World Cup edition(Group stage, Round of 16, Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final).
With 21 goal contributions to his name, Messi sits at the top of this FIFA World Cup list with 13 goals and 8 assists (since 1966).
Only two players have scored 5+ goals and created 20+ chances in a FIFA World Cup tournament (since 1966) -- Messi in 2022 and Maradona in 1986.
Messi's five Player of the Match awards in this tournament is the most by any player in a single edition.
Messi's 26 goals in major international tournaments (13 in World Cup, 13 in Copa America) is the most by any South American player, leapfrogging Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario's record of 25 goals.
The Argentine also has the most appearances in FIFA World Cups with 26 matches.
Messi became the oldest player to score more than 1 goal in a FIFA World Cup final, at the ripe age of 35.
The supporting cast:
- Angel Di Maria is a knockout master for Argentina in major international tournaments. His goal last night took his tally to six goals for his team in the knockout stage, including one in the 2021 Copa America final. He has eight goals overall.
- Young player of the tournament, midfielder Enzo Fernandez registered the most touches (118), successful passes (77), and tackles (10) against France in Sunday's final. His 10 tackles were the most of any player in a World Cup final since Gennaro Gattuso in 2006 (15).
- Coach Lionel Scaloni became only the third manager in history to win both the World Cup (2022) and Copa America (2021). The other two are Mario Zagallo (1970 World Cup, 1997 Copa America) and Carlos Alberto Parreira (1994 World Cup, 2004 Copa America), who both achieved this feat with Brazil.
France
New talisman
- Superstar Kylian scored 8 goals in this edition, which is the most for any player in a single edition before their 24th birthday. The earlier record was six goals, which was held by Colombia's James Rodriguez (2014), Argentina's Mario Kempes (1978), and the great Pele (1958).
- The French forward also holds the record for the most goals scored in the knockout stage before turning 24, with 7 goals across two World Cups (2018 and 2022). The previous record was 6, which was Pele's record until Sunday.
- He also holds the record for the most FIFA World Cup final goals with 4 to his name (1 in 2018, and 3 in 2022).
- The hat trick against Argentina was only the second time a player scored three goals in a World Cup final. The only other player is England's Geoff Hurst, who did it against Germany in 1966.
Tournament stats
- Argentina became only the second team to win a FIFA World Cup after losing its opening match, which they did against Saudi Arabia 2-1. Spain lost 1-0 to Switzerland in 2010 before going on to win the World Cup.
- FIFA World Cup 2022 saw 5 penalty shootouts, which is the most in the history of the tournament.
- The Qatar World Cup also created another record as 172 goals were scored in this edition. The previous record for the most goals in one World Cup was France 1998 and Brazil 2014, which saw 171 goals each.
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