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 their 8th
World Cup final, more 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 was
Brazil (also 18) in 2002.
Argentina trailed for just 7
minutes in the entire
tournament (excluding
injury-time).
Belgium reached the quarter-
finals despite only holding a
lead for 52 minutes in their 5
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 Rodriguez became the
first player to score in his
first 5 career World Cup
appearances since Peru’s
Teofilo Cubillas (across the
1970 and 1978 tournaments)
. Gerd Muller 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-
final (16 goals).
This was the first time that 3
sides from the CONCACAF
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, 4 sides placed in
the top 12 positions of the
FIFA Rankings (Uruguay 7th,
Italy 9th, England 10th,
Greece 12th).
Only 6 European nations
made it to the last 16, a joint-
low since the Round of 16
was introduced in 1986.
All 8 group stage winners
progressed to the quarter-
finals stage for the first time
in World Cup history.
1 point was England’s
lowest-ever haul in a World
Cup group stage.
In fact, this was the first time
that England have been
eliminated from a World Cup
at the group stage since
1958.
3 of the last 4 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 vs USA was the
latest during normal-time of
a World Cup finals match
since 1994 (94:33).
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).
3 of the Netherlands’ 5
outright victories in this
World Cup tournament were
from losing positions in
normal-time .
Italy have exited at the
group stage in their last 2
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 the Americas.
UEFA have won the last 3
World Cups , the first time a
single confederation has won
3 in a row.
Germany’s 7-1 win over
Brazil was the biggest
margin of victory ever seen
in a World Cup semi-final and
the first time a team had
scored 7 in the semi-finals.
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, 3
ahead of Brazil.
Faryd Mondragón became
the oldest player to ever
make an appearance at a
World Cup finals when he
came on for Colombia vs
Ivory Coast (43y 3d).
Luke Shaw was the youngest
player to play at this World
Cup finals , when he played
for England vs Costa Rica
(18y 348d).
13.3% of shots were scored,
a higher proportion than in
any other World Cup
tournament since records
began in 1966.
There were only 3 direct
free-kicks scored at these
finals, the fewest since 1986
(3). In 2010 there were 5
scored, while in 2006 and
2002, 9 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 vs Argentina.
Algeria goalkeeper Rais
M'Bolhi created 2 goalscoring
chances for the Foxes; only 3
of his team-mates managed
more in the tournament.
Brazil have topped every
group they’ve played in at a
World Cup from 1982
onwards.
Spain conceded 5+ goals in
an international (1-5 vs
Netherlands) for the first time
since losing 6-2 to Scotland in
June 1963.
A 4-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 3
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 4
goals in a World Cup game
when they beat South Korea
4-2.
Wayne Rooney recorded his
first World Cup assist in
England’s opening game vs
Italy and his first goal in their
game vs Uruguay.
Keisuke Honda became the
first Japanese player to score
at 2 separate World Cups.
Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri
scored the first entirely left-
footed hat-trick at a World
Cup (1966-2014).
Shaqiri's treble was also the
50th hat-trick in the history
of the World Cup.
By losing 4-0 to Germany,
Portugal conceded 4 goals in
a World Cup for the first time
in their history.
Clint Dempsey’s 29th-second
goal vs Ghana for the USA
was the fifth-fastest in
World Cup history.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart
made only 1 save in 2 World
Cup games.
In his 126 minutes of World
Cup action, Diego Costa failed
to muster a single shot on
target (and only 5 shots in
total).
In winning Euro 2008, World
Cup 2010 and Euro 2012,
Spain conceded a total of 6
goals, 1 fewer than they did
in their 3 matches at World
Cup 2014.
Alex Song picked up
Cameroon’s eighth red card
in their World Cup history. His
relative Rigobert Song is 1 of
only 2 players (along with
Zinedine Zidane) to be sent
off twice at World Cups,
meaning the Song family is
responsible for 3 of
Cameroon’s 8 reds.
Olivier Giroud’s opening goal
vs 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.
Honduras have now played 9
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 managed 6).
Ghana went out in the group
stage for the first time ever
(in their third World Cup).
Now only 3 teams have
never exited in a World Cup
opening group stage:
Germany, Netherlands and
the Republic of Ireland.
Fabio Capello has won 1 of
his 7 World Cup games as a
manager.
Mexico have been knocked
out of the World Cup finals at
the second round stage in all
6 editions since 1994; no
team has been knocked out
at this stage as often as this.
Nigeria have lost all 3 of
their World Cup second
round ties (0-2 vs France in
2014, 1-2 vs Italy in 1994
and 1-4 vs Denmark in 1998).
Angel di Maria’s goal vs
Switzerland is the latest ever
scored by Argentina at the
World Cup (118 minutes).
Switzerland have failed to
score in their last 3 World
Cup knockout matches, last
scoring in one in 1954.
Belgium only conceded a
total of 3 goals in 5 games at
the 2014 World Cup.
The Netherlands have
progressed to the semi-finals
in 3 of their last 4 World
Cups.
Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas
saved 21 of the 23 shots on
target that he faced at this
World Cup (91%).
Thomas Muller has scored 10
goals and provided 6 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 2 more
goals vs Brazil than England
have in their past 2 World
Cup campaigns combined.
Argentina have progressed
from all 4 of their World Cup
semi-finals.
Argentina vs Netherlands
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.
9 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 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.
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.

Choi!!!
This was long and interesting...
Op fine one there!