Amazing Facts on the 32 Finalists to Russia 2018
As the draw date gets nearer, Sports Village Square brings to you some salient points on the 32 teams that will be involved in Friday’s Final World Cup Draw. The Teams are arraigned in alphabetical order.
ARGENTINA
Argentina are competing in their 17th FIFA World Cup and have qualified for 11 consecutive editions starting with Germany 1974.
The only player to score a hat-trick in two different editions is Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta, who hit a treble against Greece in 1994 and another three against Jamaica in 1998.
Argentina’s haul of 19 goals in the South American World Cup preliminaries is the lowest goal return by a qualifying team since the tournament first adopted the single-group format ahead of the 1998 finals.
No team has been involved in as many World Cup penalty shoot-outs as Argentina, who have contested five and won four of them.
With his three strikes against Ecuador in the decisive last qualifier for Russia 2018, Lionel Messi became the all-time joint-leading scorer in the South American Zone preliminary competition with 21 goals alongside Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, both players having overtaken Hernan Crespo’s career total of 19. Messi’s hat-trick was also the second by an Argentinian in World Cup qualification, after Gonzalo Higuain struck three times against Chile in 2011.
AUSTRALIA
Australia are entering their fifth World Cup and the fourth in a row. They have only been beyond the opening round once, in 2006 when they were stopped by Italy in the Round of 16.
In 1974 Australia became the first Oceanian team to qualify for the World Cup. The Socceroos last represented the OFC in the 2006 finals, before joining the Asian confederation.
The team have won twice in 13 attempts at the World Cup, beating Japan 3-1 in 2006 and Serbia 2-1 in 2010. The only campaign in which they lost all three of their group matches was in Brazil four years ago.
Australia played 22 qualifiers to win their place in Russia 2018, equalling the record held by Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago, who both contested the same number in the 2002 tournament. Furthermore, the Aussies were the most prolific scorers in the 2018 preliminary event, netting 51 goals.
The Australians qualified by overcoming Honduras in the intercontinental play-off (0-0 away and 3-1 at home). Three out of five of their qualifications have come via the play-offs, with the Socceroos overcoming Korea Republic to reach Germany 1974 and outsmarting Uruguay on penalties in the return leg of the 2006 campaign.
BELGIUM
Belgium were the first European side to qualify for the finals (apart from Russia, who qualified automatically as hosts), following their 2-1 victory in Greece on September 3, 2017.
Belgium are one of four teams that competed in the first three editions of the FIFA World Cup before the Second World War, along with Brazil, France and Romania.
The Red Devils equalled their biggest winning margin in the 9-0 victory over Gibraltar on 31 August 2017. Previous nine-goal victories include an identical scoreline in a 1994 friendly against Zambia and a 10-1 rout of San Marino in a World Cup qualifier in 2001.
The Belgians hold the tournament record for consecutive draws, with five spanning the 1998 and 2002 editions.
This will be the team’s 13th participation at the World Cup finals. Belgium made their tournament debut at the inaugural edition in 1930 and achieved their best placing of fourth at Mexico 1986.
BRAZIL
With their 3-0 victory over Paraguay in Sao Paulo on March 28, 2017, Brazil became the first team (excluding hosts Russia) to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals.
The five-time champions are the only team to have participated in all 21 editions of the World Cup since 1930.
The Brazilians hold the record for consecutive wins in the global showpiece with 11, a series that began against Turkey in 2002 and ended with defeat by France in the 2006 quarter-finals.
Brazil’s tally of 70 World Cup victories is a tournament record.
The first goal scored on the road to these finals, Willian’s opener in the 3-1 victory over Venezuela, was also Brazil’s 200th in the history of World Cup qualification. During this preliminary tournament, specifically in the 2-1 success over Colombia in Manaus, A Selecao also became the latest South American team to play their 100th World Cup qualifier.
COLOMBIA
This is Colombia’s sixth participation in the finals of the FIFA World Cup’. They achieved their best placing during the last campaign in Brazil 2014, reaching the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by the host team.
The team is called Los Cafeteros and have collected only two draws from 18 matches contested in the World Cup and both came against European sides. A 4-4 draw in 1962 against Soviet Union was followed by a 1-1 stalemate in 1990 against the eventual champions Germany FR.
James Rodriguez bagged six goals in Brazil 2014, making him the tournament’s top marksman and the first Colombian to claim this honour.
Ten of the 26 goals scored by Colombia in the World Cup were netted in the last 15 minutes of play.
Radamel Falcao, Teofilo Gutierrez and Macnelly Torres all found the net on the road to Russia 2018, thereby equalling the record set by Ivan Valenciano who, until this latest preliminary tournament, was the only Colombian to have scored in three different World Cup qualifying campaigns.
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica are appearing in their fifth World Cup and this is the second time they have qualified for back-to-back editions. Before staking a place in the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, La Tricolor also participated in 2002 and 2006.
The Central Americans achieved their best result of all time in Brazil 2014, reaching the quarterfinals where they were knocked out by the Netherlands on penalties. Earlier in the tournament, the Costa Ricans had won their opening-round group ahead of three former world champions, namely Uruguay, Italy and England.
Also in Brazil, La Sele closed out the tournament unbeaten with two wins and three draws (one of which they eventually lost on penalties to the Netherlands). In doing so, they became the second CONCACAF team to finish a World Cup finals campaign undefeated, the first being Mexico in 1986.
On their World Cup debut in 1990 in Italy, Costa Rica were the second of five teams to be coached in the finals by Bora Milutinovic.
On September 1, Costa Rica recorded their first World Cup qualifying win away to USA for 32 years, triumphing 2-0 in Harrison. The Costa Ricans’ last away success had taken place in May 1985, when they edged a 1-0 victory in Torrance ahead of the Mexico 1986 finals. Those two results came either side of six American wins and two draws.
CROATIA
Since making their tournament bow in France ’98, Croatia have only failed to qualify for the 2010 edition and will be making their fifth World Cup trophy bid in Russia.
After finishing third in 1998, Croatia were eliminated in the group round during their next three participations. Davor Suker was the tournament’s top scorer in France with six goals.
Four goals were scored in each of Croatia’s last four World Cup games. The results were a 2-2 draw with Australia in 2006, followed in 2014 by a 3-1 loss to Brazil, a 4-0 win over Cameroon and a 3-1 defeat by Mexico.
For the third time in five qualifications, Croatia have reached the World Cup via the play-off route. The Vatreni overcame Ukraine ahead of the 1998 edition, beat Iceland to reach the 2014 finals and thwarted Greece to secure their place in the 2018 tournament.
Having struck five times on the road to Russia 2018, Mario Mandzukic is the all-time leading Croatian scorer in qualifying, with ten goals, surpassing Bosko Balaban’s career tally of seven.
Mandzukic previously found the net once in the 2010 preliminaries and four times on the 2014 trail.. With three goals in the 6-0 rout of Kosovo, Mandzukic became the second Croatian to bag a hat-trick in qualifying, after Balaban was on target three times in 2001 during the 4-1 victory over Latvia.
DENMARK
Denmark are competing in their fifth World Cup, after last appearing in the South Africa 2010 edition. The Scandinavians ventured furthest in 1998 when they made it into the last eight.
Denmark’s most recent campaign in 2010 was their shortest and least successful, ending in a group-round exit for the first time. By contrast, the Danes had reached the knockout stage in all their previous outings.
The average goal return for World Cup matches involving Denmark is 3.18 per game (27 scored, 24 conceded). The north Europeans have scored in all but two of their 16 games contested, losing 3-0 to England in 2002 and 2-0 to the Netherlands in 2010. Their biggest winning margin was 6-1 against Uruguay in 1986, while their worst defeat was 5-1 against Spain in the Round of 16 of the same edition.
Denmark broke new ground by qualifying via the play-offs for the first time. However, they also repeated history by securing their World Cup place with a resounding victory away to Republic of Ireland, just as they did in the 1986 qualifying campaign. On 13 November 1985, the Danes dominated the Irish 4-1 in the final group fixture to leapfrog Soviet Union in the table and thereby book their passage to Mexico 1986. Thirty-two years later in the play-off second leg, they achieved another emphatic victory in Dublin by the score line of 5-1, following a 0-0 home draw in the first leg.
By grabbing a hat-trick in the 5-1 away win over Republic of Ireland in the play-off return leg, Christian Eriksen set a national record of 11 goals scored in a single preliminary tournament, surpassing Ebbe Sand’s previous benchmark of nine dating from the 2002 qualifiers. Eriksen’s 11 strikes also make him Denmark’s top marksman in World Cup qualifying, ahead of past players Preben Elkjaer Larsen, Soren Larsen and Jon Dahl Tomasson on ten.
EGYPT
Egypt return to the global showpiece after a 28-year absence, following their last appearance at the 1990 edition in Italy. The Pharaohs have never qualified for a World Cup outside of Europe, as Italy was also where they made their tournament debut back in 1934.
In that 1934 edition, Egypt became the first African side to participate in the World Cup. The second team, Morocco, did not follow in their footsteps until 1970.
Egypt won all four of their home qualifiers on the road to Russia 2018. The North Africans are unbeaten at home in World Cup qualification since 20 June 2004, when they suffered a 2-1 reverse in Alexandria against Cote d’Ivoire. Following that setback, the Egyptians have strung together one draw and no fewer than 17 wins, including ten in their last ten games.
Egypt are yet to taste victory in the World Cup after four games played, with a track record of two draws and two defeats. To date they have only faced European opposition, namely Hungary in 1934 and the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland and England in 1990.
On October 8 the Egyptians secured qualification for Russia 2018 with one matchday to spare, thanks to their 2-1 victory over Congo in Alexandria. The decisive goal was scored late by Mohamed Salah from the penalty spot on 94 minutes.
ENGLAND
England are contesting their 15th World Cup and this campaign equals their record of six consecutive participations, which was set between 1950 and 1970.
Of the eight teams that have won a World Cup, England were the last to make their debut in the competition, kicking off with a 2-0 success against Chile on June 25 1950. The first of England’s 79 goals in the finals was scored by Stan Mortensen.
In the Brazil 2014 tournament, England were eliminated in the group stage without winning any of their matches (one draw and two defeats). The only other time the Three Lions had exited the competition without a victory was in the 1958 edition, when they collected three draws and one defeat.
Harry Kane was England’s top scorer on the qualifying trail to Russia 2018, with five goals. The forward bagged no fewer than three of those strikes in injury time after 90 minutes, snatching a 2-2 draw with Scotland, sealing a 4-0 over Malta and edging a 1-0 victory over Slovenia.
Besides being England’s most experienced player in the World Cup, with 17 appearances, goalkeeper Peter Shilton shares the tournament record of ten clean sheets with French stopper Fabien Barthez.
FRANCE
France are competing in the 15th World Cup and the sixth in a row. Les Bleus were the last side to win the title on home soil, back in 1998.
France have made the title “First time in World Cup history” their own by scoring the competition’s first goal (Lucien Laurent netted in the 19th minute of their 4-1 win over Mexico on 13th July 1930), saving the first penalty (Alex Thepot against Chile on 19 July 1930), scoring the first penalty in extra time (Georges Verriest in the 116th minute against Austria in 1934), scoring the first penalty in a penalty shoot-out (Alain Giresse in the 1982 semi-final against Germany FR), saving the first penalty in a penalty shoot-out (Jean-Luc Ettori, also in the 1982 semi-final) and, finally, scoring the first golden goal through Laurent Blanc in 1998’s Round of 16 match against Paraguay.
Olivier Giroud’s opener in the 5-2 win over Switzerland at Brazil 2014 was the 100th World Cup goal notched by France, who are the fifth team to have passed the century mark after Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Italy. Subsequently on the trail to Russia 2018, France hit their 200th goal in World Cup qualification. The milestone was passed on October 7, 2016 when Dimitri Payet made the score 2-0 against Bulgaria, in a match that would eventually finish 4-1 in favour of the home side.
French striker Just Fontaine still holds the record for the most goals scored in a single edition of the World Cup, having struck 13 times in Sweden 1958.
On September 3, France drew 0-0 with Luxembourg in the Stade de Toulouse, their first qualifying match in the southwestern French city for almost 18 years, since they overcame Cyprus 2-0 on 18 November 1989.