Well that was fun. After a month of fierce
competition, it all came down to Mario Götze’s
brilliant winning goal as Germany claimed a
fourth World Cup crown in Rio. But with the
dust now begining to gather on the memories of
Brazil 2014, here are a few reminders of some
of the statistics that have illuminated the
tournament, courtesy of Opta.
There were fewer red cards at the 2014 World
Cup than any other edition since 1986 (.
The 2014 World Cup saw a joint-high
number of goals scored (171).
Germany reached the World Cup final for the
eighth time; more often than any other side in
the history of the competition.
Germany scored 18 goals – the last team to
score as many in a World Cup tournament were
Brazil (also 18) in 2002.
Argentina trailed for just seven minutes in the
entire tournament (excluding injury time).
Belgium reached the quarter-final stage,
despite only holding a lead for 52 minutes in
their five matches combined.
Brazil committed 31 fouls in their quarter-final
win over Colombia; the most fouls that they had
made in a single World Cup game since records
began in 1966.
James Rodríguez became the first player to
score in his first five career World Cup
appearances since Peru’s Teófilo Cubillas
(across the 1970 and 1978 tournaments). Gerd
Müller in 1970 was the last player to do it in a
single tournament.
Miroslav Klose became the top scoring player
in World Cup history with his strike against
Brazil in the semi-finals (16 goals).
This was the first time that three sides from the
Concafaf region made it out of the group stages
and into the last 16 (since the format began in
1986).
Costa Rica knocked out Italy, England,
Greece and beat Uruguay, four sides placed in
the top 12 positions of the Fifa Rankings
(Uruguay – 7th, Italy – 9th, England – 10th,
Greece – 12th).
Only six European nations made it to the last
16; a joint-World Cup low since the round of
16 was introduced in 1986.
All eight group stage winners progressed to
the quarter-finals stage for the first time in
World Cup history.
One point was England’s lowest-ever return in
a World Cup group stage.
This was the first time that England have been
eliminated from a World Cup at the group stage
since 1958.
Three of the last four teams to win the World
Cup have gone out in the following group stage
(France 2002, Italy 2010, Spain 2014).
There were more goals scored by substitutes
in this World Cup than in any previous edition
(32).
Silvestre Varela’s goal for Portugal v USA
was the latest during normal time of a World
Cup finals match since 1994 (94min 33sec).
Tim Howard made 15 saves in the USA’s
quarter-final defeat to Belgium – no goalkeeper
has ever made as many saves in a single World
Cup game (1966-2014).
Three of Holland’s five outright victories in
this World Cup tournament were from losing
positions in normal time.
Italy have exited at the group stage in their last
two World Cups. The last time they managed
this was in the 1960s (1962 and 1966).
Germany are the first European team to win
the World Cup in Latin America.
Teams from Uefa have won the last three
World Cups, the first time a single
confederation has won three in a row.
Germany’s 7-1 win was the biggest margin of
victory ever seen in a World Cup semi-final.
With their destruction of Brazil, Germany
became the top scoring nation in World Cup
history (223), overtaking Brazil in the process.
Germany ended the tournament with 224 goals,
three ahead of Brazil.
Luke Shaw was the youngest player to play at
this World Cup finals, when he played for
England v Costa Rica (18 years 348 days).
13.3% of shots have been scored at these
finals; a higher proportion than in any other
World Cup tournament since records began in
1966.
There were only three direct free-kicks scored
at these finals, the fewest since 1986 (3). In
2010 there were five scored, while in 2006 and
2002, nine were scored.
The only World Cup to see more own goals
than this tournament (5) was the 1998 finals (6).
Switzerland’s Diego Benaglio was the only
goalkeeper to register a shot at the 2014
tournament, thanks to a late effort v Argentina.
The Algeria goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi created
two goalscoring chances; only three of his team-
mates managed more in the tournament.
Brazil have topped every group they have
played in at a World Cup from 1982 onwards.
Spain conceded 5+ goals in an international
(5-1 v Holland) for the first time since losing
6-2 to Scotland in June 1963.
That four-goal margin is the biggest losing
margin by a defending champion at a World
Cup.
Brazil’s 7-1 defeat to Germany was the
biggest losing margin by a host nation at a
World Cup.
Tim Cahill has scored in three World Cups for
Australia; no other Australian has done so in
more than one tournament
Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan (6) overtook
Cameroon’s Roger Milla (5) as all-time top
scoring African player at a World Cup.
Algeria became the first African team to score
four goals in a World Cup game when they beat
South Korea 4-2.
England’s Wayne Rooney recorded his first
World Cup assist in his team’s opening game v
Italy and his first goal in their game v Uruguay.
Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese
player to score at two different World Cups.
Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri scored the first
entirely left-footed hat-trick at a World Cup
(1966-2014).
His treble was also the 50th hat-trick in the
history of the World Cup.
In losing 4-0 to Germany, Portugal conceded
four goals in a World Cup for the first time in
their history.
Clint Dempsey’s goal (29 seconds) v Ghana
for the USA was the fifth fastest in World Cup
history.
The England goalkeeper Joe Hart made only
one save in two World Cup games.
In his 126 minutes of World Cup action,
Diego Costa failed to muster a single shot on
target (only five shots in total).
In winning Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and
Euro 2012, Spain conceded a total of six goals,
one fewer than they did in their three matches at
World Cup 2014.
Alex Song picked up Cameroon’s eighth red
card in their World Cup history. His cousin
Rigobert Song is one of only two players (along
with Zinedine Zidane) to be sent off twice at
World Cups, meaning the Song family is
responsible for three of Cameroon’s eight reds.
Olivier Giroud’s opening goal v Switzerland
was France’s 100th goal at World Cup finals.
Neymar scored the 100th goal of the 2014
World Cup in Brazil’s 100th game in World
Cup finals history.
Against Japan Colombia’s substitute
goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon became the oldest
ever player to feature in a World Cup match, at
43 years and three days.
Honduras have now played nine games
without a win at the World Cup (D3 L6). They
have played more matches at the World Cup
without winning than any other side (New
Zealand, El Salvador and Bolivia – all six).
Ghana went out in the group stage for the first
time ever (in their third World Cup). Now only
three teams have never exited in a World Cup
opening group stage: Germany, Holland and the
Republic of Ireland.
Fabio Capello has won one of his seven
World Cup games as a manager.
Mexico have been knocked out of the World
Cup finals at the second-round stage in all six
editions since 1994; no team has been knocked
out at this stage as often as this.
Nigeria have lost all three of their World Cup
second-round ties (0-2 v France in 2014, 1-2 v
Italy in 1994 and 1-4 v Denmark in 1998).
Ángel di María’s goal v Switzerland was the
latest ever scored by Argentina at the World
Cup (118 minutes).
Switzerland have failed to score in their last
three World Cup knockout matches, last scoring
in one in 1954.
Belgium conceded only three goals in five
games at the 2014 World Cup.
Holland progressed to the semi-finals for the
third time in their last four World Cups.
Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas saved 21 of the 23
shots on target that he faced at this World Cup
(91%).
Thomas Müller has scored 10 goals and
provided six assists in just 13 World Cup
matches.
Against Brazil in the semi-final, Germany
were 5-0 up faster than any other team in World
Cup history (29 minutes).
The 7-1 defeat to Germany equalled Brazil’s
all-time biggest margin of defeat (lost 6-0 to
Uruguay in 1920).
Germany scored two more goals v Brazil than
England have in their past two World Cup
campaigns combined.
Argentina have progressed from all four of
their World Cup semi-finals.
Argentina v Holland was the first World Cup
semi-final to finish 0-0 (including extra-time).
Lionel Messi did not touch the ball in the
opposition box in the entire 120 minutes.
Nine of the 14 goals Brazil conceded in this
World Cup came in the first 30 minutes of their
games.
Brazil conceded 10 goals from 14 shots on
target conceded in the semi-final and third place
play-off game combined.
Mario Götze is the first substitute to score a
winning goal in the World Cup final.
Mario Götze is the youngest scorer of a goal
in a World Cup final since Wolfgang Weber in
1966 (22 years, 33 days).
Sami Khedira is the 10th player to win the
European Cup/Champions League and World
Cup in the same season.
Source ----- www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/14/brazil-2014-stats-world-cup