User:Sagittarian Milky Way/sandbox

This is a list of records and statistics of the FIFA World Cup.

As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 80 national teams have competed at the final tournaments. Brazil is the only team to have appeared in all 22 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 20, Italy and Argentina in 18 and Mexico in 17. To date, eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are France. The most successful nation in the competition currently is Brazil, which has won the cup on five occasions. Five European nations have won the tournament a record 12 times, followed by three South America nations with nine victories. Five teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while eleven more have appeared in semi-finals.

Debut of national teams
Each successive World Cup has had at least one team appearing for the first time. Using FIFA's view on successor teams, the total number of teams that have participated in the World Cup until the 2022 edition is 80.

Overall team records
The system used in the World Cup up to 1990 was 2 points for a win. In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

Source:


 * Breakdown of successor team records

Source:

Results of defending champions
The defending World Cup champions were formerly granted an automatic spot in the Cup finals field. As of the 2006 tournament, this berth is no longer guaranteed. However, no defending World Cup champion has yet failed to qualify.

Active consecutive participations
This is a list of active consecutive participations of national teams in the FIFA World Cup

Droughts
Droughts are the number of World Cups missed by a country after that country appeared in a World Cup. Thus a nation or its predecessor nation must have appeared in a World Cup at least once to suffer a drought. Only the longest drought for a country is listed. If the county's longest drought is currently still continuing, that drought is listed considered active. This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of national football teams in the FIFA World Cups. 1942 and 1946, when the tournament was not held due to World War II, are not included in the calculation of a drought.

Longest active World Cup appearance droughts
Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.

Teams: Tournament position
''Note: In case there are teams with equal quantities, they will be mentioned in chronological order of tournament history (the teams that attained the quantity first, are listed first). If the quantity was attained by more than one team in the same tournament, the teams will be listed alphabetically.''


 * Most titles won: 5, 🇧🇷 brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
 * Most finishes in the top two: 8, 🇩🇪 germany (1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2014)
 * Most finishes in the top three: 12, 🇩🇪 germany (1934, 1954, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 * Most finishes in the top four: 13, 🇩🇪 germany (1934, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 * For a detailed list of top four appearances, see FIFA World Cup results
 * Most finishes in the top four: 13, 🇩🇪 germany (1934, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 * For a detailed list of top four appearances, see FIFA World Cup results
 * For a detailed list of top four appearances, see FIFA World Cup results


 * Most finishes in the top eight: 19, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament except 1934, 1966 and 1990)
 * Most finishes in the top 16: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament)
 * Most World Cup appearances: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament)
 * Most second-place finishes: 4, 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002)
 * Most third-place finishes: 4, 🇩🇪 germany (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010)
 * Most fourth-place finishes: 3, (1954, 1970, 2010)
 * Most eliminations in semi-final: 5, 🇩🇪 germany (1934, 1958, 1970, 2006, 2010)
 * Most eliminations in quarter-final: 7, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1954, 1962, 1970, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2022)
 * Most eliminations in round of 16: 7, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most eliminations in first round: 8, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1978, 2022), 🇰🇷 south korea (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018), (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
 * Most titles won by a confederation: 12, UEFA (1934, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most final appearances by confederation: 28, UEFA (2 in 1934, 2 in 1938, 2 in 1954, 1958, 1962, 2 in 1966, 1970, 2 in 1974, 1978, 2 in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2 in 2006, 2 in 2010, 2014, 2 in 2018)
 * Confederation with highest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once
 * 90% (9 out of 10), CONMEBOL (all but 🇻🇪 venezuela)
 * Most eliminations in quarter-final: 7, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1954, 1962, 1970, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2022)
 * Most eliminations in round of 16: 7, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most eliminations in first round: 8, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1978, 2022), 🇰🇷 south korea (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018), (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
 * Most titles won by a confederation: 12, UEFA (1934, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most final appearances by confederation: 28, UEFA (2 in 1934, 2 in 1938, 2 in 1954, 1958, 1962, 2 in 1966, 1970, 2 in 1974, 1978, 2 in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2 in 2006, 2 in 2010, 2014, 2 in 2018)
 * Confederation with highest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once
 * 90% (9 out of 10), CONMEBOL (all but 🇻🇪 venezuela)
 * Most final appearances by confederation: 28, UEFA (2 in 1934, 2 in 1938, 2 in 1954, 1958, 1962, 2 in 1966, 1970, 2 in 1974, 1978, 2 in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2 in 2006, 2 in 2010, 2014, 2 in 2018)
 * Confederation with highest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once
 * 90% (9 out of 10), CONMEBOL (all but 🇻🇪 venezuela)
 * Confederation with highest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once
 * 90% (9 out of 10), CONMEBOL (all but 🇻🇪 venezuela)


 * Confederation with lowest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once: 15.38% (2 out of 11 current and 2 former), OFC (only 🇦🇺 australia and 🇳🇿 new zealand)
 * Confederation with lowest percentage of teams who qualified for the finals at least once: 15.38% (2 out of 11 current and 2 former), OFC (only 🇦🇺 australia and 🇳🇿 new zealand)

Consecutive

 * Most consecutive championships: 2, 🇮🇹 italy (1934–1938), 🇧🇷 brazil (1958–1962)
 * Most consecutive finishes in the top two: 3, 🇩🇪 germany (1982–1990), 🇧🇷 brazil (1994–2002)
 * Most consecutive finishes in the top three: 4, 🇩🇪 germany (2002–2014)
 * Most consecutive finishes in the top four: 4, 🇩🇪 germany (2002–2014)
 * Most consecutive finishes in the top eight: 16, 🇩🇪 germany (1954–2014)
 * Most consecutive finishes in the top 16: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive finals tournaments: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive second-place finishes: 2, (1974–1978),  (1982–1986)
 * Most consecutive third-place finishes: 2, 🇩🇪 germany (2006–2010)
 * Most consecutive fourth-place finishes: No country has finished 4th in two consecutive tournaments
 * Most consecutive 3rd–4th-place finishes: 2, 🇸🇪 sweden (1938–1950), 🇧🇷 brazil (1974–1978), 🇫🇷 france (1982–1986), 🇩🇪 germany (2006–2010)
 * Most consecutive 5th–8th-place finishes: 4, (1934–1954)
 * Most consecutive 9th–16th-place finishes: 7, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994–2018)
 * Most consecutive 17th–32nd-place finishes: 4, 🇰🇷 south korea (1986–1998)
 * Biggest improvement in position in consecutive tournaments: Did not participate/qualify, then champions; 🇮🇹 italy (1930–1934), (1938–1950),  (1950–1954), 🇫🇷 france (1994–1998)
 * Most consecutive championships by a confederation: 4, UEFA (2006–2018)
 * Most consecutive top two appearances by confederation: 17, UEFA (1954–2018)
 * Most consecutive top three appearances by confederation: 21, UEFA (1934–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive fourth-place finishes: No country has finished 4th in two consecutive tournaments
 * Most consecutive 3rd–4th-place finishes: 2, 🇸🇪 sweden (1938–1950), 🇧🇷 brazil (1974–1978), 🇫🇷 france (1982–1986), 🇩🇪 germany (2006–2010)
 * Most consecutive 5th–8th-place finishes: 4, (1934–1954)
 * Most consecutive 9th–16th-place finishes: 7, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994–2018)
 * Most consecutive 17th–32nd-place finishes: 4, 🇰🇷 south korea (1986–1998)
 * Biggest improvement in position in consecutive tournaments: Did not participate/qualify, then champions; 🇮🇹 italy (1930–1934), (1938–1950),  (1950–1954), 🇫🇷 france (1994–1998)
 * Most consecutive championships by a confederation: 4, UEFA (2006–2018)
 * Most consecutive top two appearances by confederation: 17, UEFA (1954–2018)
 * Most consecutive top three appearances by confederation: 21, UEFA (1934–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)
 * Biggest improvement in position in consecutive tournaments: Did not participate/qualify, then champions; 🇮🇹 italy (1930–1934), (1938–1950),  (1950–1954), 🇫🇷 france (1994–1998)
 * Most consecutive championships by a confederation: 4, UEFA (2006–2018)
 * Most consecutive top two appearances by confederation: 17, UEFA (1954–2018)
 * Most consecutive top three appearances by confederation: 21, UEFA (1934–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive top three appearances by confederation: 21, UEFA (1934–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)
 * Most consecutive top four appearances by confederation: 22, UEFA (1930–2022)

Gaps

 * Longest gap between successive titles: 44 years, 🇮🇹 italy (1938–1982)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the top two: 48 years, 🇦🇷 argentina (1930–1978)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the top three: 48 years, 🇦🇷 argentina (1930–1978)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the top four: 60 years, 🇪🇸 spain (1950–2010)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the finals: 64 years, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales (1958–2022)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the top three: 48 years, 🇦🇷 argentina (1930–1978)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the top four: 60 years, 🇪🇸 spain (1950–2010)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the finals: 64 years, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales (1958–2022)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the finals: 64 years, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales (1958–2022)
 * Longest gap between successive appearances in the finals: 64 years, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales (1958–2022)

Host team

 * Best finish by host team: Champion: (1930), 🇮🇹 italy (1934), 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1966),  (1974), 🇦🇷 argentina (1978), 🇫🇷 france (1998)
 * Worst finish by host team: 17th–32nd position (FIFA final ranking 32nd): 🇶🇦 qatar (2022)
 * Worst finish by host team: 17th–32nd position (FIFA final ranking 32nd): 🇶🇦 qatar (2022)
 * Worst finish by host team: 17th–32nd position (FIFA final ranking 32nd): 🇶🇦 qatar (2022)

Defending champions

 * Best finish by defending champions: Champions; 🇮🇹 italy (1938), 🇧🇷 brazil (1962)
 * Worst finish by defending champions: Did not participate; (1934)
 * Worst finish by defending champions who participate in the next tournament: Group stage; 🇮🇹 italy (1950), 🇧🇷 brazil (1966), 🇫🇷 france (2002), 🇮🇹 italy (2010), 🇪🇸 spain (2014), 🇩🇪 germany (2018)
 * Worst finish by defending champions: Did not participate; (1934)
 * Worst finish by defending champions who participate in the next tournament: Group stage; 🇮🇹 italy (1950), 🇧🇷 brazil (1966), 🇫🇷 france (2002), 🇮🇹 italy (2010), 🇪🇸 spain (2014), 🇩🇪 germany (2018)
 * Worst finish by defending champions who participate in the next tournament: Group stage; 🇮🇹 italy (1950), 🇧🇷 brazil (1966), 🇫🇷 france (2002), 🇮🇹 italy (2010), 🇪🇸 spain (2014), 🇩🇪 germany (2018)

Debuting teams

 * Best finish by a debuting team: Champions; (1930), 🇮🇹 italy (1934)

Other

 * Most finishes in the top two without ever being champions: 3, (1974, 1978, 2010)
 * Most finishes in the top three without ever being champions: 4, (1974, 1978, 2010, 2014)
 * Most finishes in the top four without ever being champions: 5, (1974, 1978, 1998, 2010, 2014)
 * Most appearances, never progressing from the first round: 8, (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
 * Most finals played, never lost: 2, (1930, 1950)
 * Most semi-finals played, never lost: 5, 🇦🇷 argentina (1930, 1986, 1990, 2014, 2022)
 * Most quarter-finals (or best eight round) played, never lost: 8, 🇮🇹 italy (1934, 1938, 1970, 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006)
 * Most round of 16 (from 1986 to date) played, never lost: 8, 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 * Most appearances, never winning a match: 3, 🇧🇴 bolivia (1930, 1950, 1994), (1982, 2010, 2014), 🇪🇬 egypt (1934, 1990, 2018)
 * Most played final: 3, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 2014)
 * Most played match: 7, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2014), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990, 1994 (2x)), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2010)
 * Most quarter-finals (or best eight round) played, never lost: 8, 🇮🇹 italy (1934, 1938, 1970, 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006)
 * Most round of 16 (from 1986 to date) played, never lost: 8, 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 * Most appearances, never winning a match: 3, 🇧🇴 bolivia (1930, 1950, 1994), (1982, 2010, 2014), 🇪🇬 egypt (1934, 1990, 2018)
 * Most played final: 3, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 2014)
 * Most played match: 7, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2014), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990, 1994 (2x)), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2010)
 * Most played final: 3, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 2014)
 * Most played match: 7, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2014), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990, 1994 (2x)), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2010)
 * Most played match: 7, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2014), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990, 1994 (2x)), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2010)
 * Most played match: 7, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2014), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990, 1994 (2x)), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2010)

All time

 * Most appearances: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament)
 * Progressed from the first round the most times: 19, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament except 1930, 1934 and 1966)
 * Progressed from the first round as group winners the most times: 16, 🇧🇷 brazil (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Most appearances without elimination from the first round: 3, 🇮🇪 ireland (1990, 1994, 2002)
 * Fewest appearances, reaching quarter-finals: 1, 🇨🇺 cuba (1938), (1974), 🇺🇦 ukraine (2006)
 * Most appearances without reaching quarter-finals: 8, (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
 * Fewest appearances, reaching semi-finals: 2, 🇹🇷 turkey (2002)
 * Most appearances without reaching semi-finals: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, reaching a final: 6, (2018)
 * Most appearances without reaching a final: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, winning a title: 14, (1930, 1950)
 * Most appearances without winning a title: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, reaching semi-finals: 2, 🇹🇷 turkey (2002)
 * Most appearances without reaching semi-finals: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, reaching a final: 6, (2018)
 * Most appearances without reaching a final: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, winning a title: 14, (1930, 1950)
 * Most appearances without winning a title: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Most appearances without reaching a final: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Fewest appearances, winning a title: 14, (1930, 1950)
 * Most appearances without winning a title: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Most appearances without winning a title: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 * Most appearances without winning a title: 17, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)

Consecutive

 * Most consecutive appearances in the first round: 22, 🇧🇷 brazil (every tournament)
 * Most consecutive progressions from the first round: 16, 🇩🇪 germany (1954–2014)
 * Most consecutive progressions from the first round as group winners: 11, 🇧🇷 brazil (1982–2022)
 * Most consecutive eliminations from the first round: 5, 🇲🇽 mexico (1950–1966), (1974–1990)
 * Most consecutive result by the same team: 7, Round of 16, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most consecutive eliminations from the first round: 5, 🇲🇽 mexico (1950–1966), (1974–1990)
 * Most consecutive result by the same team: 7, Round of 16, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most consecutive result by the same team: 7, Round of 16, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most consecutive result by the same team: 7, Round of 16, 🇲🇽 mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)

Players

 * Most championships: 3, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil, 1958, 1962 and 1970)
 * See here for a list of players who have won multiple FIFA World Cups.


 * Most man of the match awards: 10, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina; 1 in 2010, 4 in 2014, 1 in 2018, 4 in 2022)
 * Most man of the match awards in one tournament: 4, Wesley Sneijder in 2010, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina) in 2014 and 2022
 * Most tournament appearances: 5, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966), Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998), Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018), Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022), Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022), Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Most finishes in the top two: 3, Nílton Santos (🇧🇷 brazil; 1950, 1958, 1962), Carlos José Castilho (🇧🇷 brazil; 1950, 1958, 1962), Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil; 1958, 1962, 1970), Pierre Littbarski (1982, 1986, 1990), Lothar Matthäus (1982, 1986, 1990), Cafu (🇧🇷 brazil; 1994, 1998, 2002), Ronaldo (🇧🇷 brazil; 1994, 1998, 2002)
 * Most finishes in the top three: 4, Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most appearances in All-Star Team: 3, Djalma Santos (🇧🇷 brazil, 1954–1962), Franz Beckenbauer (, 1966–1974), Philipp Lahm (🇩🇪 germany, 2006–2014)
 * Most matches played: 25, Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998), Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022)
 * Most knockout games played: 14, Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most minutes played: 2,217 minutes, Paolo Maldini (🇮🇹 italy, 1990–2002)
 * Most qualifier matches played: 68, Iván Hurtado (🇪🇨 ecuador, 1994–2010)
 * Most matches won: 17, Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most appearances in a World Cup final: 3, Cafu (🇧🇷 brazil; 1994, 1998, 2002)
 * Most different teams played in tournaments: 2, Luis Monti (🇦🇷 argentina, 1930 and 🇮🇹 italy, 1934), Robert Prosinečki and Robert Jarni (, 1990 and, 1998 and 2002), Ferenc Puskás (🇭🇺 hungary, 1954 and 🇪🇸 spain, 1962)
 * Most appearances as captain: 18, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2010–2022)
 * Most tournaments as captain: 5, Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018)
 * Most appearances as substitute: 11, Denílson (🇧🇷 brazil, 1998–2002)
 * Youngest player: 17 years, 45 days, Norman Whiteside, vs. , 17 June 1982
 * Youngest player, final: 17 years, 253 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 29 June 1958
 * Youngest player, qualifying match: 13 years, 314 days, Souleymane Mamam, vs. , 6 May 2001, 2002 CAF Group 1
 * Youngest captain: 21 years, 113 days, Tony Meola (🇺🇸 united states), vs., 10 June 1990
 * Youngest player to ever be named to a FIFA World Cup squad: 16 years, 343 days, Edu (🇧🇷 brazil), 1966
 * Oldest player: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player, final: 40 years, 143 days, Dino Zoff (🇮🇹 italy), vs., 11 July 1982
 * Oldest player, qualifying match: 46 years, 186 days, MacDonald Taylor Sr. (🇻🇮 virgin islands, u.s.), vs., 18 February 2004, 2006 CONCACAF First Round
 * Oldest captain: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to debut in a World Cup finals tournament: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to ever be named to a FIFA World Cup squad: 45 years, 160 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), 2018
 * Largest age difference on the same team: 24 years and 42 days, 1994, 🇨🇲 cameroon (Rigobert Song: 17 years and 358 days; Roger Milla: 42 years and 35 days)
 * Largest age difference on a champion team: 21 years and 297 days, 1982, 🇮🇹 italy (Dino Zoff: 40 years and 133 days; Giuseppe Bergomi: 18 years and 201 days)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances as a player: 15 years and 363 days, Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014)
 * Longest span of World Cup finals appearances as a player: 16 years, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966); Elías Figueroa (, 1966–1982); Hugo Sánchez (🇲🇽 mexico, 1978–1994); Giuseppe Bergomi (🇮🇹 italy, 1982–1998); Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998); Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994–2010); Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014); Samuel Eto'o (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1998–2014); Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018); Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022); Luka Modrić (, 2006–2022); Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022); Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Youngest player: 17 years, 45 days, Norman Whiteside, vs. , 17 June 1982
 * Youngest player, final: 17 years, 253 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 29 June 1958
 * Youngest player, qualifying match: 13 years, 314 days, Souleymane Mamam, vs. , 6 May 2001, 2002 CAF Group 1
 * Youngest captain: 21 years, 113 days, Tony Meola (🇺🇸 united states), vs., 10 June 1990
 * Youngest player to ever be named to a FIFA World Cup squad: 16 years, 343 days, Edu (🇧🇷 brazil), 1966
 * Oldest player: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player, final: 40 years, 143 days, Dino Zoff (🇮🇹 italy), vs., 11 July 1982
 * Oldest player, qualifying match: 46 years, 186 days, MacDonald Taylor Sr. (🇻🇮 virgin islands, u.s.), vs., 18 February 2004, 2006 CONCACAF First Round
 * Oldest captain: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to debut in a World Cup finals tournament: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to ever be named to a FIFA World Cup squad: 45 years, 160 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), 2018
 * Largest age difference on the same team: 24 years and 42 days, 1994, 🇨🇲 cameroon (Rigobert Song: 17 years and 358 days; Roger Milla: 42 years and 35 days)
 * Largest age difference on a champion team: 21 years and 297 days, 1982, 🇮🇹 italy (Dino Zoff: 40 years and 133 days; Giuseppe Bergomi: 18 years and 201 days)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances as a player: 15 years and 363 days, Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014)
 * Longest span of World Cup finals appearances as a player: 16 years, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966); Elías Figueroa (, 1966–1982); Hugo Sánchez (🇲🇽 mexico, 1978–1994); Giuseppe Bergomi (🇮🇹 italy, 1982–1998); Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998); Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994–2010); Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014); Samuel Eto'o (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1998–2014); Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018); Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022); Luka Modrić (, 2006–2022); Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022); Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Oldest captain: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to debut in a World Cup finals tournament: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest player to ever be named to a FIFA World Cup squad: 45 years, 160 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), 2018
 * Largest age difference on the same team: 24 years and 42 days, 1994, 🇨🇲 cameroon (Rigobert Song: 17 years and 358 days; Roger Milla: 42 years and 35 days)
 * Largest age difference on a champion team: 21 years and 297 days, 1982, 🇮🇹 italy (Dino Zoff: 40 years and 133 days; Giuseppe Bergomi: 18 years and 201 days)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances as a player: 15 years and 363 days, Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014)
 * Longest span of World Cup finals appearances as a player: 16 years, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966); Elías Figueroa (, 1966–1982); Hugo Sánchez (🇲🇽 mexico, 1978–1994); Giuseppe Bergomi (🇮🇹 italy, 1982–1998); Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998); Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994–2010); Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014); Samuel Eto'o (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1998–2014); Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018); Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022); Luka Modrić (, 2006–2022); Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022); Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Largest age difference on a champion team: 21 years and 297 days, 1982, 🇮🇹 italy (Dino Zoff: 40 years and 133 days; Giuseppe Bergomi: 18 years and 201 days)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances as a player: 15 years and 363 days, Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014)
 * Longest span of World Cup finals appearances as a player: 16 years, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966); Elías Figueroa (, 1966–1982); Hugo Sánchez (🇲🇽 mexico, 1978–1994); Giuseppe Bergomi (🇮🇹 italy, 1982–1998); Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998); Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994–2010); Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014); Samuel Eto'o (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1998–2014); Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018); Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022); Luka Modrić (, 2006–2022); Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022); Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Longest span of World Cup finals appearances as a player: 16 years, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico, 1950–1966); Elías Figueroa (, 1966–1982); Hugo Sánchez (🇲🇽 mexico, 1978–1994); Giuseppe Bergomi (🇮🇹 italy, 1982–1998); Lothar Matthäus (🇩🇪 germany, 1982–1998); Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994–2010); Faryd Mondragón (🇨🇴 colombia, 1998–2014); Samuel Eto'o (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1998–2014); Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018); Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022); Luka Modrić (, 2006–2022); Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022); Andrés Guardado (🇲🇽 mexico, 2006–2022)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)
 * Longest period between World Cup finals appearances, overall: 44 years, Tim (🇧🇷 brazil, 1938, as a player and 🇵🇪 peru, 1982, as coach)

Individual

 * Most goals scored, final tournaments: 16, Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most goals scored, qualifying: 39, Carlos Ruiz (, 2002–2016)
 * Most goals scored, single tournament: 13, Just Fontaine (🇫🇷 france, 1958)
 * Most goals scored in a match: 5, Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994
 * Most goals scored in a defeat: 4, Ernst Wilimowski (🇵🇱 poland), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 1938
 * Most goals scored in a qualifying match: 13, Archie Thompson (🇦🇺 australia), vs, 11 April 2001, 2002 OFC Group 1
 * Most goals scored in a final match: 3, Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs., 1966
 * Most goals scored in all final matches: 3, Vavá (🇧🇷 brazil), 2 vs. 🇸🇪 sweden in 1958 & 1 vs. in 1962; Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), 2 vs. Sweden in 1958 & 1 vs. 🇮🇹 italy in 1970; Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), 3 vs.  in 1966 and Zinedine Zidane (🇫🇷 france), 2 vs. 🇧🇷 brazil in 1998 & 1 vs. 🇮🇹 italy in 2006
 * Scored goal(s) in multiple final matches: Vavá (🇧🇷 brazil, 1958 & 1962), Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil, 1958 & 1970), Paul Breitner (, 1974 & 1982) and Zinedine Zidane (🇫🇷 france, 1998 & 2006)
 * Most matches with at least one goal: 11, Ronaldo (🇧🇷 brazil, 1998–2006), Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most consecutive matches with at least one goal: 6, Just Fontaine (🇫🇷 france, 1958) and Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil, 1970)
 * Most matches with at least two goals: 4, Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary, 1954), Just Fontaine (🇫🇷 france, 1958), Ronaldo (🇧🇷 brazil, 1998–2006) and Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2010)
 * Most consecutive matches with at least two goals: 4, Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary, 1954)
 * Most hat-tricks: 2, Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary, 1954), Just Fontaine (🇫🇷 france, 1958), Gerd Müller (, 1970) and Gabriel Batistuta (🇦🇷 argentina, 1994 & 1998)
 * Most consecutive hat-tricks: 2, Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary, 1954) and Gerd Müller (, 1970)
 * Fastest hat-trick: 8 minutes, László Kiss (🇭🇺 hungary), scored at 69', 72' and 76', vs. 🇸🇻 el salvador, 1982
 * Most goals scored by a substitute in a match: 3, László Kiss (🇭🇺 hungary), vs. 🇸🇻 el salvador, 1982
 * Hat-tricks of penalty kicks: Never occurred in the final tournament, four times in qualification: Kubilay Türkyilmaz, vs. 🇫🇴 faroe islands, 7 October 2000, 2002 UEFA Group 1; Henrik Larsson (🇸🇪 sweden), vs. 🇲🇩 moldova, 6 June 2001, 2002 UEFA Group 4; Ronaldo (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇦🇷 argentina, 2 June 2004, 2006 CONMEBOL; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (🇬🇦 gabon), vs. , 15 June 2013, 2014 CAF Second Round Group E
 * Scoring in every match of a team in a World Cup (at least three matches): György Sárosi (🇭🇺 hungary), 5 goals in 4 matches (1938), Arne Nyberg (🇸🇪 sweden), 3 goals in 3 matches (1938), Alcides Ghiggia, 4 goals in 4 matches (1950), Just Fontaine (🇫🇷 france), 13 goals in 6 matches (1958), Omar Oreste Corbatta (🇦🇷 argentina), 3 goals in 3 matches (1958), Ferenc Bene (🇭🇺 hungary), 4 goals in 4 matches (1966), Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil), 7 goals in 6 matches (1970), Teófilo Cubillas (🇵🇪 peru), 5 goals in 4 matches (1970), James Rodríguez (🇨🇴 colombia), 6 goals in 5 matches (2014)
 * Most tournaments with at least one goal: 5, Cristiano Ronaldo (, 2006–2022)
 * Most tournaments with at least two goals: 4, Uwe Seeler (, 1958–1970) and Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2014)
 * Most tournaments with at least three goals: 3, Jürgen Klinsmann (🇩🇪 germany, 1990–1998), Ronaldo (🇧🇷 brazil, 1998–2006) and Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2010)
 * Most tournaments with at least four goals: 3, Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany, 2002–2010)
 * Most tournaments with at least five goals: 2, Teófilo Cubillas (🇵🇪 peru, 1970, 1978), Miroslav Klose (🇩🇪 germany), (2002–2006) and Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany, 2010–2014)
 * Most qualification tournaments with at least one goal: 5, Rafael Márquez (🇲🇽 mexico, 2002–2018) and Carlos Ruiz (, 2002–2018)
 * Longest period between a player's first and last goals overall: 16 years, 180 days, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 16 June 2006 – 13 December 2022)
 * Longest period between successive goals: 12 years, Michael Laudrup (, 1986–1998) and Ivica Olić (, 2002–2014)
 * First goalscorer: Lucien Laurent (🇫🇷 france), vs. 🇲🇽 mexico, 13 July 1930
 * 100th goal goalscorer: Angelo Schiavio (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇺🇸 united states, 27 May 1934
 * 1000th goal goalscorer: Rob Rensenbrink, vs. , 11 June 1978
 * 2000th goal goalscorer: Marcus Allbäck (🇸🇪 sweden), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 20 June 2006
 * Youngest goalscorer: 17 years, 243 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales, 19 June 1958
 * Youngest hat-trick scorer: 17 years, 248 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇫🇷 france, 24 June 1958
 * Youngest goalscorer, final: 17 years, 253 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 29 June 1958
 * Oldest goalscorer: 42 years, 49 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), vs. 🇷🇺 russia, 28 June 1994
 * Oldest goalscorer in a knockout game: 39 years, 293 days, Pepe, vs. , 6 December 2022
 * Oldest debut goal: 38 years, 28 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), 1990
 * Oldest hat-trick scorer: 33 years, 137 days, Cristiano Ronaldo, vs. 🇪🇸 spain, 15 June 2018
 * Oldest goalscorer, final: 35 years, 272 days, Nils Liedholm (🇸🇪 sweden), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 29 June 1958
 * The oldest player who received "at least Bronze Boot" for being top goalscorer in the tournament: 38 years, 58 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), 1990
 * Only player to score in his teens, twenties and thirties: Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina) (2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022)
 * Most penalties scored (excluding shoot-outs): 4, Eusébio (, 4 in 1966), Rob Rensenbrink (, 4 in 1978) – both records for one tournament, Gabriel Batistuta (🇦🇷 argentina, 2 each in 1994 and 1998), Harry Kane (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿), 3 in 2018, 1 in 2022
 * Most penalties missed (excluding during shoot-outs): 2, Asamoah Gyan (🇬🇭 ghana), vs. 🇨🇿 czech republic, 2006 and vs., 2010; Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina), vs. 🇮🇸 iceland, 2018 and vs. 🇵🇱 poland, 2022
 * Fastest goal from kick-off: 11 seconds, Hakan Şükür (🇹🇷 turkey), vs. 🇰🇷 south korea, 2002
 * Fastest goal by a substitute: 16 seconds, Ebbe Sand, vs. 🇳🇬 nigeria, 1998
 * Fastest goal in a final: 90 seconds, Johan Neeskens, vs. , 1974 final
 * Fastest goal in a qualifying match: 8.1 seconds, Christian Benteke (🇧🇪 belgium), vs. 🇬🇮 gibraltar, 10 October 2016, 2018 UEFA Group H
 * Fastest brace scored: 69 seconds, Toni Kroos (🇩🇪 germany), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 2014
 * Latest goal in regular time: 90+13th minute, Mehdi Taremi (🇮🇷 iran), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 2022
 * Latest goal from kick-off: 121st minute, Alessandro Del Piero (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006 and Abdelmoumene Djabou, vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2014
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final: 120th minute, Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 1966 (see "They think it's all over")
 * Latest goal from kick-off, with no goals scored between: 119th minute, David Platt (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 1990 and Fabio Grosso (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * First goalscorer: Lucien Laurent (🇫🇷 france), vs. 🇲🇽 mexico, 13 July 1930
 * 100th goal goalscorer: Angelo Schiavio (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇺🇸 united states, 27 May 1934
 * 1000th goal goalscorer: Rob Rensenbrink, vs. , 11 June 1978
 * 2000th goal goalscorer: Marcus Allbäck (🇸🇪 sweden), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 20 June 2006
 * Youngest goalscorer: 17 years, 243 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales, 19 June 1958
 * Youngest hat-trick scorer: 17 years, 248 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇫🇷 france, 24 June 1958
 * Youngest goalscorer, final: 17 years, 253 days, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 29 June 1958
 * Oldest goalscorer: 42 years, 49 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), vs. 🇷🇺 russia, 28 June 1994
 * Oldest goalscorer in a knockout game: 39 years, 293 days, Pepe, vs. , 6 December 2022
 * Oldest debut goal: 38 years, 28 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), 1990
 * Oldest hat-trick scorer: 33 years, 137 days, Cristiano Ronaldo, vs. 🇪🇸 spain, 15 June 2018
 * Oldest goalscorer, final: 35 years, 272 days, Nils Liedholm (🇸🇪 sweden), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 29 June 1958
 * The oldest player who received "at least Bronze Boot" for being top goalscorer in the tournament: 38 years, 58 days, Roger Milla (🇨🇲 cameroon), 1990
 * Only player to score in his teens, twenties and thirties: Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina) (2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022)
 * Most penalties scored (excluding shoot-outs): 4, Eusébio (, 4 in 1966), Rob Rensenbrink (, 4 in 1978) – both records for one tournament, Gabriel Batistuta (🇦🇷 argentina, 2 each in 1994 and 1998), Harry Kane (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿), 3 in 2018, 1 in 2022
 * Most penalties missed (excluding during shoot-outs): 2, Asamoah Gyan (🇬🇭 ghana), vs. 🇨🇿 czech republic, 2006 and vs., 2010; Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina), vs. 🇮🇸 iceland, 2018 and vs. 🇵🇱 poland, 2022
 * Fastest goal from kick-off: 11 seconds, Hakan Şükür (🇹🇷 turkey), vs. 🇰🇷 south korea, 2002
 * Fastest goal by a substitute: 16 seconds, Ebbe Sand, vs. 🇳🇬 nigeria, 1998
 * Fastest goal in a final: 90 seconds, Johan Neeskens, vs. , 1974 final
 * Fastest goal in a qualifying match: 8.1 seconds, Christian Benteke (🇧🇪 belgium), vs. 🇬🇮 gibraltar, 10 October 2016, 2018 UEFA Group H
 * Fastest brace scored: 69 seconds, Toni Kroos (🇩🇪 germany), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 2014
 * Latest goal in regular time: 90+13th minute, Mehdi Taremi (🇮🇷 iran), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 2022
 * Latest goal from kick-off: 121st minute, Alessandro Del Piero (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006 and Abdelmoumene Djabou, vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2014
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final: 120th minute, Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 1966 (see "They think it's all over")
 * Latest goal from kick-off, with no goals scored between: 119th minute, David Platt (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 1990 and Fabio Grosso (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * Most penalties scored (excluding shoot-outs): 4, Eusébio (, 4 in 1966), Rob Rensenbrink (, 4 in 1978) – both records for one tournament, Gabriel Batistuta (🇦🇷 argentina, 2 each in 1994 and 1998), Harry Kane (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿), 3 in 2018, 1 in 2022
 * Most penalties missed (excluding during shoot-outs): 2, Asamoah Gyan (🇬🇭 ghana), vs. 🇨🇿 czech republic, 2006 and vs., 2010; Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina), vs. 🇮🇸 iceland, 2018 and vs. 🇵🇱 poland, 2022
 * Fastest goal from kick-off: 11 seconds, Hakan Şükür (🇹🇷 turkey), vs. 🇰🇷 south korea, 2002
 * Fastest goal by a substitute: 16 seconds, Ebbe Sand, vs. 🇳🇬 nigeria, 1998
 * Fastest goal in a final: 90 seconds, Johan Neeskens, vs. , 1974 final
 * Fastest goal in a qualifying match: 8.1 seconds, Christian Benteke (🇧🇪 belgium), vs. 🇬🇮 gibraltar, 10 October 2016, 2018 UEFA Group H
 * Fastest brace scored: 69 seconds, Toni Kroos (🇩🇪 germany), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 2014
 * Latest goal in regular time: 90+13th minute, Mehdi Taremi (🇮🇷 iran), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 2022
 * Latest goal from kick-off: 121st minute, Alessandro Del Piero (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006 and Abdelmoumene Djabou, vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2014
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final: 120th minute, Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 1966 (see "They think it's all over")
 * Latest goal from kick-off, with no goals scored between: 119th minute, David Platt (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 1990 and Fabio Grosso (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * Fastest brace scored: 69 seconds, Toni Kroos (🇩🇪 germany), vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, 2014
 * Latest goal in regular time: 90+13th minute, Mehdi Taremi (🇮🇷 iran), vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 2022
 * Latest goal from kick-off: 121st minute, Alessandro Del Piero (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006 and Abdelmoumene Djabou, vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2014
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final: 120th minute, Geoff Hurst (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 1966 (see "They think it's all over")
 * Latest goal from kick-off, with no goals scored between: 119th minute, David Platt (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 1990 and Fabio Grosso (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * Latest goal from kick-off, with no goals scored between: 119th minute, David Platt (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 1990 and Fabio Grosso (🇮🇹 italy), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * Latest goal from kick-off in a final, with no goals scored between: 116th minute, Andrés Iniesta (🇪🇸 spain), vs., 2010
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)
 * Players to score against the country of their birth: Alfred Bickel for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1938); Breel Embolo for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇨🇲 cameroon (2022); Wahbi Khazri for 🇹🇳 tunisia vs. 🇫🇷 france (2022); Xherdan Shaqiri for 🇨🇭 switzerland vs. 🇷🇸 serbia (2018, 2022)

Team

 * Biggest margin of victory: 9, 🇭🇺 hungary 9–0 🇰🇷 south korea, 1954; 9–0, 1974 and 🇭🇺 hungary 10–1 🇸🇻 el salvador, 1982
 * Biggest margin of victory, knockout match: 8, 🇸🇪 sweden 8–0 🇨🇺 cuba, 1938 quarter-final
 * Biggest margin of victory, qualifying match: 31, 🇦🇺 australia 31–0, 11 April 2001, 2002 OFC Group 1
 * Most goals scored in a match, one team: 10, 🇭🇺 hungary 10–1 🇸🇻 el salvador, 1982
 * Most goals scored in a match, both teams: 12, 🇦🇹 austria 7–5, 1954
 * Highest scoring draw: 4–4, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇧🇪 belgium (a.e.t.), 1954 and vs. 🇨🇴 colombia, 1962
 * Largest deficit overcome in a win: 3 goals, 🇦🇹 austria, 1954 (coming from 0–3 down to win 7–5 vs. ) and, 1966 (coming from 0–3 down to win 5–3 vs. 🇰🇵 north korea)
 * Largest deficit overcome in a draw: 3 goals, 🇨🇴 colombia, 1962 (coming from 0–3 down to draw 4–4 vs. ) and, 2002 (coming from 0–3 down to draw 3–3 vs. 🇸🇳 senegal)
 * Most goals scored in extra time, both teams: 5, 🇮🇹 italy 3–2, 1970
 * Most goals scored in a final, one team: 5, 🇧🇷 brazil, 1958
 * Most goals scored in a final, both teams: 7, 🇧🇷 brazil 5–2 🇸🇪 sweden, 1958
 * Fewest goals scored in a final, both teams: 0, 🇧🇷 brazil 0–0 🇮🇹 italy, 1994
 * Biggest margin of victory in a final: 3, 🇧🇷 brazil 5–2 🇸🇪 sweden, 1958; 🇧🇷 brazil 4–1 🇮🇹 italy, 1970 and 🇫🇷 france 3–0 🇧🇷 brazil, 1998
 * Largest deficit overcome in a win in a final: 2,, 1954 (coming from 0–2 down to win 3–2 vs. 🇭🇺 hungary)
 * Most goals in a tournament, one team: 27, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one match: 7,, vs. , 1974 (Dušan Bajević, Dragan Džajić, Ivica Šurjak, Josip Katalinski, Vladislav Bogićević, Branko Oblak and Ilija Petković)
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one tournament
 * 11, 🇧🇪 belgium, 2018 (Michy Batshuayi, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen and an own goal by Brazil's Fernandinho)
 * Most goals scored in a final, one team: 5, 🇧🇷 brazil, 1958
 * Most goals scored in a final, both teams: 7, 🇧🇷 brazil 5–2 🇸🇪 sweden, 1958
 * Fewest goals scored in a final, both teams: 0, 🇧🇷 brazil 0–0 🇮🇹 italy, 1994
 * Biggest margin of victory in a final: 3, 🇧🇷 brazil 5–2 🇸🇪 sweden, 1958; 🇧🇷 brazil 4–1 🇮🇹 italy, 1970 and 🇫🇷 france 3–0 🇧🇷 brazil, 1998
 * Largest deficit overcome in a win in a final: 2,, 1954 (coming from 0–2 down to win 3–2 vs. 🇭🇺 hungary)
 * Most goals in a tournament, one team: 27, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one match: 7,, vs. , 1974 (Dušan Bajević, Dragan Džajić, Ivica Šurjak, Josip Katalinski, Vladislav Bogićević, Branko Oblak and Ilija Petković)
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one tournament
 * 11, 🇧🇪 belgium, 2018 (Michy Batshuayi, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen and an own goal by Brazil's Fernandinho)
 * Largest deficit overcome in a win in a final: 2,, 1954 (coming from 0–2 down to win 3–2 vs. 🇭🇺 hungary)
 * Most goals in a tournament, one team: 27, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one match: 7,, vs. , 1974 (Dušan Bajević, Dragan Džajić, Ivica Šurjak, Josip Katalinski, Vladislav Bogićević, Branko Oblak and Ilija Petković)
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one tournament
 * 11, 🇧🇪 belgium, 2018 (Michy Batshuayi, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen and an own goal by Brazil's Fernandinho)
 * Most individual goalscorers for one team, one tournament
 * 11, 🇧🇪 belgium, 2018 (Michy Batshuayi, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen and an own goal by Brazil's Fernandinho)
 * 11, 🇧🇪 belgium, 2018 (Michy Batshuayi, Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen and an own goal by Brazil's Fernandinho)


 * Most consecutive goals for a team scored by same player: 6: Eusébio, Paolo Rossi (🇮🇹 italy), Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), Enner Valencia (🇪🇨 ecuador)
 * Most consecutive goals for a team scored by same player: 6: Eusébio, Paolo Rossi (🇮🇹 italy), Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), Enner Valencia (🇪🇨 ecuador)

Tournament

 * Most goals scored in a tournament: 171 goals, 1998 and 2014
 * Fewest goals scored in a tournament: 70 goals, 1930 and 1934
 * Most goals per match in a tournament: 5.38 goals per match, 1954
 * Fewest goals per match in a tournament: 2.21 goals per match, 1990
 * Most matches without a scoreless draw: 63 matches, 2018
 * Most consecutive matches without a scoreless draw: 36 matches, 2018
 * Most knockout matches without a scoreless draw: 16 matches, 2018
 * Most scorers in a tournament: 122, 2018
 * Most players scoring at least two goals in a tournament: 37, 1998
 * Most players scoring at least three goals in a tournament: 21, 1954
 * Most players scoring at least four goals in a tournament: 11, 1954
 * Most players scoring at least five goals in a tournament: 6, 1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (🇧🇬 bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), Romário (🇧🇷 brazil), Jürgen Klinsmann (🇩🇪 germany), Roberto Baggio (🇮🇹 italy) and Kennet Andersson (🇸🇪 sweden)
 * Most players scoring at least six goals in a tournament: 4, 1954 – Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary), Erich Probst (🇦🇹 austria), Max Morlock and Josef Hügi
 * Most players scoring at least seven goals in a tournament: 2, 1970 – Gerd Müller and Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil)
 * Longest distance covered by a player in a tournament: 84 km, 2014 – Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany)
 * Most scorers in a tournament: 122, 2018
 * Most players scoring at least two goals in a tournament: 37, 1998
 * Most players scoring at least three goals in a tournament: 21, 1954
 * Most players scoring at least four goals in a tournament: 11, 1954
 * Most players scoring at least five goals in a tournament: 6, 1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (🇧🇬 bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), Romário (🇧🇷 brazil), Jürgen Klinsmann (🇩🇪 germany), Roberto Baggio (🇮🇹 italy) and Kennet Andersson (🇸🇪 sweden)
 * Most players scoring at least six goals in a tournament: 4, 1954 – Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary), Erich Probst (🇦🇹 austria), Max Morlock and Josef Hügi
 * Most players scoring at least seven goals in a tournament: 2, 1970 – Gerd Müller and Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil)
 * Longest distance covered by a player in a tournament: 84 km, 2014 – Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany)
 * Most players scoring at least five goals in a tournament: 6, 1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (🇧🇬 bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (🇷🇺 russia), Romário (🇧🇷 brazil), Jürgen Klinsmann (🇩🇪 germany), Roberto Baggio (🇮🇹 italy) and Kennet Andersson (🇸🇪 sweden)
 * Most players scoring at least six goals in a tournament: 4, 1954 – Sándor Kocsis (🇭🇺 hungary), Erich Probst (🇦🇹 austria), Max Morlock and Josef Hügi
 * Most players scoring at least seven goals in a tournament: 2, 1970 – Gerd Müller and Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil)
 * Longest distance covered by a player in a tournament: 84 km, 2014 – Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany)
 * Most players scoring at least seven goals in a tournament: 2, 1970 – Gerd Müller and Jairzinho (🇧🇷 brazil)
 * Longest distance covered by a player in a tournament: 84 km, 2014 – Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany)
 * Longest distance covered by a player in a tournament: 84 km, 2014 – Thomas Müller (🇩🇪 germany)

Top scoring teams by tournament

 * 1930: 🇦🇷 argentina, 18 goals
 * 1934: 🇮🇹 italy, 12 goals
 * 1938: 🇭🇺 hungary, 15 goals
 * 1950: 🇧🇷 brazil, 22 goals
 * 1954: 🇭🇺 hungary, 27 goals
 * 1958: 🇫🇷 france, 23 goals
 * 1962: 🇧🇷 brazil, 14 goals
 * 1966:, 17 goals
 * 1970: 🇧🇷 brazil, 19 goals
 * 1974: 🇵🇱 poland, 16 goals
 * 1978: 🇦🇷 argentina and, 15 goals each
 * 1982: 🇫🇷 france, 16 goals
 * 1986: 🇦🇷 argentina, 14 goals
 * 1990: , 15 goals
 * 1994: 🇸🇪 sweden, 15 goals
 * 1998: 🇫🇷 france, 15 goals
 * 2002: 🇧🇷 brazil, 18 goals
 * 2006: 🇩🇪 germany, 14 goals
 * 2010: 🇩🇪 germany, 16 goals
 * 2014: 🇩🇪 germany, 18 goals
 * 2018: 🇧🇪 belgium, 16 goals

Teams listed in bold won the tournament. Fewer than half of all World Cup tournaments have been won by the highest scoring team.

Goal scoring by tournament

 * 1930: 70 goals in 18 matches (15 group matches, 3 knockout matches). 3.89 goals per game (gpg)
 * 1934: 70 goals in 17 matches (15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off, 1 replay). 4.67 gpg
 * 1938: 84 goals in 18 matches (14 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off, 3 replays). 3.56 gpg
 * 1950: 88 goals in 22 matches (22 group matches). 4 gpg
 * 1954: 140 goals in 26 matches (16 group matches, 7 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off, 2 progress play-offs). 5.38 gpg
 * 1958: 126 goals in 35 matches (24 group matches, 7 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off, 3 progress play-offs). 3.6 gpg
 * 1962: 89 goals in 32 matches (24 group matches, 7 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.78 gpg
 * 1966: 89 goals in 32 matches (24 group matches, 7 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.78 gpg
 * 1970: 95 goals in 32 matches (24 group matches, 7 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off) 2.97 gpg
 * 1974: 97 goals in 38 matches (36 group matches, 1 final, 1 third place play-off). 2.55 gpg
 * 1978: 102 goals in 38 matches (36 group matches, 1 final, 1 third place play-off). 2.68 gpg
 * 1982: 146 goals in 52 matches (48 group matches, 3 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.81 gpg
 * 1986: 132 goals in 52 matches (36 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.54 gpg
 * 1990: 115 goals in 52 matches (36 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.21 gpg
 * 1994: 141 goals in 52 matches (36 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.71 gpg
 * 1998: 171 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.67 gpg
 * 2002: 161 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.52 gpg
 * 2006: 147 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.3 gpg
 * 2010: 145 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.27 gpg
 * 2014: 171 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.67 gpg
 * 2018: 169 goals in 64 matches (48 group matches, 15 knockout matches, 1 third place play-off). 2.64 gpg

Assisting

 * Most assists provided, overall, final tournaments: 10, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil, 1958–1970)
 * Most assists provided in a tournament: 6, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil, 1970)
 * Most assists provided in a match (since 1966): 4, Robert Gadocha (🇵🇱 poland), vs., 1974
 * Most assists provided in final matches: 3, Pelé (🇧🇷 brazil, 1 in 1958, 2 in 1970)
 * Most tournaments with at least one assist: 5, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022)
 * Most consecutive tournaments with at least one assist: 5, Lionel Messi (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2022)

By team

 * Most awarded: 19, 🇪🇸 spain


 * Most converted: 16, 🇪🇸 spain
 * Most converted: 16, 🇪🇸 spain


 * Most missed or saved: 4, 🇦🇷 argentina, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most missed or saved: 4, 🇦🇷 argentina, 🇧🇷 brazil

By tournament

 * Most awarded: 29, 2018
 * Most converted: 22, 2018
 * Most not converted: 7, 2018
 * Most not converted: 7, 2018
 * Most not converted: 7, 2018

By team

 * Most played: 6, 🇦🇷 argentina (1990 (2), 1998, 2006, 2014, 2022)
 * Most played in one tournament: 2, 🇦🇷 argentina (1990), 🇪🇸 spain (2002), and  (2014),  and 🇷🇺 russia (2018),  (2022)
 * Most won: 5, 🇦🇷 argentina (1990 (2), 1998, 2014, 2022)
 * Most won in one tournament: 2, 🇦🇷 argentina (1990) and (2018, 2022)
 * Most lost: 4, 🇪🇸 spain (1986, 2002, 2018, 2022)
 * Most played shoot-out: 2, 🇫🇷 france vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1998, 2006) and 🇦🇷 argentina vs. (2014, 2022)
 * Most won in one tournament: 2, 🇦🇷 argentina (1990) and (2018, 2022)
 * Most lost: 4, 🇪🇸 spain (1986, 2002, 2018, 2022)
 * Most played shoot-out: 2, 🇫🇷 france vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1998, 2006) and 🇦🇷 argentina vs. (2014, 2022)
 * Most played shoot-out: 2, 🇫🇷 france vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1998, 2006) and 🇦🇷 argentina vs. (2014, 2022)
 * Most played shoot-out: 2, 🇫🇷 france vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1998, 2006) and 🇦🇷 argentina vs. (2014, 2022)

By tournament

 * Most played: 4, 1990, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022
 * Fewest played (since the introduction in 1978): 0, 1978
 * Fewest played (since the introduction in 1978): 0, 1978

By team

 * Most played: 11, 🇩🇪 germany (1938, 1966, 1970 (2), 1982, 1986, 1990, 2006 (2), 2014 (2)), 🇮🇹 italy (1934 (2), 1938, 1970, 1990, 1994 (2), 1998, 2002, 2006 (2))
 * Most tournaments playing extra time: 8, 🇩🇪 germany (1938, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2014), 🇮🇹 italy (1934, 1938, 1970, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 * Most consecutive tournaments playing extra time: 5, 🇮🇹 italy (1990–2006)
 * Most played in one tournament: 3, 🇧🇪 belgium (1986), 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990), 🇦🇷 argentina (2014), (2018)
 * Most consecutive played in one tournament: 3, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990), (2018)
 * Most won (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 5, 🇮🇹 italy (1934, 1938, 1970, 1994, 2006)
 * Most lost (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 3, 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1970, 2006)
 * Most won in one tournament (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990), 🇩🇪 germany (2014)
 * Most consecutive won in one tournament (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990)
 * Most played match: 3, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1970, 1990)
 * Most consecutive played match: 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966–1970)
 * Most lost (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 3, 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1970, 2006)
 * Most won in one tournament (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990), 🇩🇪 germany (2014)
 * Most consecutive won in one tournament (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990)
 * Most played match: 3, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1970, 1990)
 * Most consecutive played match: 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966–1970)
 * Most consecutive won in one tournament (excluding replays and shoot-outs): 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1990)
 * Most played match: 3, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966, 1970, 1990)
 * Most consecutive played match: 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966–1970)
 * Most consecutive played match: 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966–1970)
 * Most consecutive played match: 2, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1966–1970)

By tournament

 * Most played: 8, 1990, 2014
 * Most played, not ending in replays or shoot-outs: 4, 1990, 2014
 * Most played ending in replays: 3, 1938
 * Most played ending in shoot-outs: 4, 1990, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022
 * Most played ending in a golden goal (sudden death): 3, 2002
 * Fewest played: 0, 1930, 1950, 1962, 1974
 * Most played ending in shoot-outs: 4, 1990, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022
 * Most played ending in a golden goal (sudden death): 3, 2002
 * Fewest played: 0, 1930, 1950, 1962, 1974
 * Fewest played: 0, 1930, 1950, 1962, 1974
 * Fewest played: 0, 1930, 1950, 1962, 1974

Tiebreakers

 * Cases when replays were used
 * 1934 quarter-finals – To determine who advanced to the semi-finals (🇮🇹 italy vs. 🇪🇸 spain)
 * 1938 round of 16 – To determine who advanced to the quarter-finals ( vs. 🇩🇪 germany) and (🇨🇺 cuba vs. 🇷🇴 romania)
 * 1938 quarter-finals – To determine who advanced to the semi-finals (🇧🇷 brazil vs. )
 * Cases when play-offs were used
 * 1954 group stage – To determine second place in Group 2 ( vs. 🇹🇷 turkey) and Group 4 ( vs. 🇮🇹 italy)
 * 1958 group stage – To determine second place in Group 1 ( vs. ), Group 3 (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales vs. 🇭🇺 hungary) and Group 4 ( vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england)
 * Cases when drawing of lots was used
 * 1954 group stage – To determine first place in Group 1 (🇧🇷 brazil ahead of ) and Group 3 ( ahead of 🇦🇹 austria)
 * 1970 group stage – To determine first place in Group 1 ( ahead of 🇲🇽 mexico)
 * 1990 group stage – To determine second place (🇮🇪 ireland) and third place in Group F
 * Cases when fair play points were used
 * 2018 group stage – To determine second place in Group H (🇯🇵 japan qualified over 🇸🇳 senegal due to having received fewer yellow cards)

Goalkeeping

 * Most clean sheets (matches without conceding): 10, Peter Shilton (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 1982–1990) and Fabien Barthez (🇫🇷 france, 1998–2006)
 * Most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal (finals): 517 mins (5 consecutive clean sheets), Walter Zenga (🇮🇹 italy, 1990)
 * Most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal (qualifying): 930 mins (9 consecutive clean sheets), Richard Wilson (🇳🇿 new zealand, 1982)
 * Most goals conceded: 25, Antonio Carbajal (🇲🇽 mexico) and Mohamed Al-Deayea
 * Most goals conceded, one tournament: 16, Hong Deok-young (🇰🇷 south korea), 1954
 * Most goals conceded, one match: 10, Luis Guevara Mora (🇸🇻 el salvador), 1982 (vs. 🇭🇺 hungary)
 * Fewest goals conceded, one tournament, champions: 2, Fabien Barthez (🇫🇷 france), 1998, Gianluigi Buffon (🇮🇹 italy, 2006), Iker Casillas (🇪🇸 spain, 2010)
 * Fewest goals conceded, one tournament: 0, Pascal Zuberbühler, 2006
 * Fewest goals conceded, penalty shoot-outs, one match: 0, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi (🇺🇦 ukraine), vs., 2006, Bono (🇲🇦 morocco), vs. 🇪🇸 spain, 2022.
 * Most saves, one match: 16, Tim Howard (🇺🇸 united states), vs. 🇧🇪 belgium, 2014
 * Most penalties saved, one tournament (excluding during shoot-outs): 2, Jan Tomaszewski (🇵🇱 poland), 1974, Brad Friedel (🇺🇸 united states), 2002, Wojciech Szczęsny (🇵🇱 poland), 2022
 * Most penalties saved overall (excluding during shoot-outs): 2, Jan Tomaszewski (🇵🇱 poland, both in 1974), Brad Friedel (🇺🇸 united states, both in 2002), Iker Casillas (🇪🇸 spain, 2002, 2010), Wojciech Szczęsny (🇵🇱 poland, both in 2022)
 * Most penalties saved in one penalty shoot-out: 3, Ricardo, vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 2006, Danijel Subašić , vs. , 2018, Dominik Livaković , vs. 🇯🇵 japan, 2022
 * Most penalties saved overall in penalty shoot-outs: 4, Harald Schumacher (2 vs. 🇫🇷 france in 1982 and 2 vs. 🇲🇽 mexico in 1986), Sergio Goycochea (🇦🇷 argentina; 2 vs. in 1990 and 2 vs. 🇮🇹 italy in 1990), Danijel Subašić (3 vs.  and 1 vs. 🇷🇺 russia, both in 2018), Dominik Livaković (3 vs. 🇯🇵 japan  and 1 vs. 🇧🇷 brazil, both in 2022)
 * Youngest goalkeeper: 19 years, 195 days, Lee Chang-myung (🇰🇵 north korea), vs., 12 July 1966
 * Youngest goalkeeper to save a penalty (excluding during shoot-outs): 21 years, 32 days, Iker Casillas (🇪🇸 spain), vs. 🇮🇪 ireland, 16 June 2002
 * Youngest goalkeeper to save a penalty in a shoot-out: 21 years, 32 days, Iker Casillas (🇪🇸 spain), vs. 🇮🇪 ireland, 16 June 2002
 * Oldest goalkeeper: 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest goalkeeper to save a penalty (excluding during shoot-outs): 45 years, 171 days, Essam El-Hadary (🇪🇬 egypt), vs., 25 June 2018
 * Oldest goalkeeper to save a penalty in a shoot-out: 36 years, 241 days, Jens Lehmann (🇩🇪 germany), vs. 🇦🇷 argentina, 30 June 2006

Coaching

 * Most matches coached: 25, Helmut Schön (, 1966–1978)
 * Most matches won: 16, Helmut Schön (, 1966–1978)
 * Most tournaments won: 2, Vittorio Pozzo (🇮🇹 italy, 1934–1938)
 * Most tournaments: 6, Carlos Alberto Parreira (1982, 1990–1998, 2006, 2010)
 * Most nations coached: 5, Bora Milutinović (🇲🇽 mexico, 1986;, 1990; 🇺🇸 united states, 1994; 🇳🇬 nigeria, 1998; 🇨🇳 china, 2002), and Carlos Alberto Parreira (, 1982; , 1990; 🇧🇷 brazil, 1994 and 2006; , 1998, , 2010)
 * Most consecutive tournaments: 5, Bora Milutinović (🇲🇽 mexico, 1986;, 1990; 🇺🇸 united states, 1994; 🇳🇬 nigeria, 1998; 🇨🇳 china, 2002)
 * Most consecutive tournaments with same team: 4, Walter Winterbottom (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 1950–1962); Helmut Schön (, 1966–1978) (note that Sepp Herberger took Germany/West Germany to four tournaments, (1938, 1954, 1958, 1962) omitting the 1950 competition from which Germany was banned)
 * Most consecutive wins: 11, Luiz Felipe Scolari (🇧🇷 brazil, 2002, 7 wins;, 2006, 4 wins – Portugal "won" its next match, the quarter-final against England, by penalty shoot-out, which technically counts as a draw)
 * Most consecutive matches without a loss: 12, Luiz Felipe Scolari (🇧🇷 brazil, 2002, 7 matches;, 2006, 5 matches), Louis van Gaal (, 2014, 7 matches; 2022, 5 matches)
 * Most matches coached, never losing: 12, Louis Van Gaal ( (2014, 7 games, 2022, 5 games)
 * Youngest coach: 27 years, 274 days, Juan José Tramutola (🇦🇷 argentina, 1930)
 * Youngest coach, champions: 31 years, 259 days, Alberto Suppici (, 1930)
 * Oldest coach: 71 years, 335 days, Otto Rehhagel (, 2010)
 * Oldest coach, champions: 59 years, 215 days, Vicente del Bosque (🇪🇸 spain, 2010)
 * Quickest substitution made: 4th minute, Cesare Maldini, Giuseppe Bergomi for Alessandro Nesta (🇮🇹 italy, vs. 🇦🇹 austria, 1998); Sven-Göran Eriksson, Peter Crouch for Michael Owen (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 2006)
 * Most championship wins as player and head coach: 3, Mário Zagallo, 🇧🇷 brazil (1958–1962 as player, 1970 as coach)
 * Most tournament appearances as player and head coach: 5, Mário Zagallo, 🇧🇷 brazil (1958–1962 as player, 1970–1974 and 1998 as coach); Franz Beckenbauer, (1966–1974 as player, 1986–1990 as coach); Berti Vogts,  (1970–1978 as player, 1994–1998 as coach); Diego Maradona, 🇦🇷 argentina (1982–1994 as player, 2010 as coach); Rigobert Song 🇨🇲 cameroon (1994–2002 and 2010 as player, 2022 as coach)
 * Won tournaments as both player and head coach: Mário Zagallo, 🇧🇷 brazil (1958–1962 as player, 1970 as coach), Franz Beckenbauer, (1974 as player, 1990 as coach), and Didier Deschamps, 🇫🇷 france (1998 as player, 2018 as coach)
 * First World Cup player to coach a team in a World Cup: Milorad Arsenijević, (1930 as player, 1950 as coach)
 * Won tournament as a foreign head coach: No foreign coach has won a tournament (all winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached)
 * Best finish for a foreign head coach: Runners-up, George Raynor (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, coached 🇸🇪 sweden in 1958) and Ernst Happel (🇦🇹 austria, coached in 1978)

Refereeing

 * Most tournaments: 3 – John Langenus (Belgium, 1930–1938), Ivan Eklind (Sweden, 1934–1950), Benjamin Griffiths (Wales, 1950–1958), Arthur Ellis (England, 1950–1958), Juan Gardeazábal (Spain, 1958–1966), Erik Fredriksson (Sweden, 1982–1990), Jamal Al Sharif (Syria, 1986–1994), Joël Quiniou (France, 1986–1994), Ali Mohamed Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates, 1994–2002), Óscar Ruiz (Colombia, 2002–2010), Carlos Eugênio Simon (Brazil, 2002–2010), Marco Rodríguez (Mexico, 2006–2014), Joel Aguilar (El Salvador, 2010–2018), Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan, 2010–2018), Alireza Faghani (Iran, 2014–2022), Bakary Gassama (Gambia, 2014–2022)
 * Most matches refereed, overall: 11 – Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan, 2010–2018)
 * Most matches refereed, one tournament: 5 – Benito Archundia (Mexico, 2006), Horacio Elizondo (Argentina, 2006), Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan, 2010) and Néstor Pitana (Argentina, 2018)
 * Youngest referee: 24 years and 193 days – Juan Gardeazábal (Spain, 1958)
 * Oldest referee: 53 years and 236 days – George Reader (England, 1950)

Referees listed in italics attended three tournaments but did not act as main referee in all of them. Instead, they were exclusively used as fourth officials in minimum one edition.

Discipline
Note: There are no official records for cautions issued in tournaments before the introduction of yellow cards in 1970.
 * Fastest caution: 11 seconds, Jesús Gallardo (🇲🇽 mexico), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 2018
 * Fastest sending off: 56 seconds, José Batista, vs. , 1986
 * Fastest sending off, qualification: 37 seconds, Rashed Al Hooti (🇧🇭 bahrain), vs. 🇮🇷 iran, 11 October 2011, 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
 * Latest caution: after penalty shoot-out: Noa Lang, vs. 🇦🇷 argentina, 2022
 * Latest sending off: after penalty shoot-out: Leandro Cufré (🇦🇷 argentina), vs. 🇩🇪 germany, 2006; Denzel Dumfries, vs. 🇦🇷 argentina, 2022
 * Sent off from the bench: Claudio Caniggia (🇦🇷 argentina), vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 2002
 * Most cards (all-time, player): 7, Javier Mascherano (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2018)
 * Most cautions (all-time, player): 7, Javier Mascherano (🇦🇷 argentina, 2006–2018)
 * Most sendings off (all-time, player): 2, Rigobert Song (🇨🇲 cameroon, 1994 and 1998) and Zinedine Zidane (🇫🇷 france, 1998 and 2006)
 * Most sendings off (tournament): 28 (in 64 games), 2006
 * Most sendings off (all-time, team): 11 (in 97 games), 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most sendings off (match, both teams): 4 (2 each) in vs., 2006 (also known as Battle of Nuremberg)
 * Most sendings off (final match): 2, Pedro Monzón and Gustavo Dezotti (both Argentina), v, 1990
 * Most cautions (tournament): 345 (in 64 matches), 2006
 * Most cautions (all-time, team): 88 (in 64 games until 2006), 🇦🇷 argentina
 * Most cautions (match, one team): 10, 🇦🇷 argentina, 2022, vs.
 * Most cautions (match, both teams): 18, 8 and 10 (🇦🇷 argentina), 2022
 * Most cautions (match, player): 3 (61', 90', 93') Josip Šimunić, vs. 🇦🇺 australia, 2006 (referee: Graham Poll)
 * Most cautions (final match, both teams): 14, 9 and 5 (🇪🇸 spain), 2010
 * Most suspensions (tournament, player): 2, André Kana-Biyik (🇨🇲 cameroon), 1990

All time

 * Most matches played: 114, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Fewest matches played: 1, 🇮🇩 indonesia (as Dutch East Indies)
 * Most wins: 76, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most losses: 28, 🇲🇽 mexico
 * Most draws: 22, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england
 * Most points: 247, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most average points/match: 2.17, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Highest draw rate (participating in more than one finals): 61.5%, 🇮🇪 ireland (8 draws from 13 matches)
 * Most matches played without a point (win or a draw): 6, 🇨🇦 canada, 🇸🇻 el salvador
 * Most matches played without a win: 9,
 * Most matches played until first win: 17, 🇧🇬 bulgaria
 * Most goals scored: 233, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most goalscorers: 82, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Most goals conceded: 130, 🇩🇪 germany
 * Fewest goals scored: 0, 🇨🇳 china, 🇮🇩 indonesia (as Dutch East Indies), and 🇨🇩 congo (as Zaire)
 * Fewest goals conceded: 2,
 * Best goal difference: +126, 🇧🇷 brazil
 * Worst goal difference: –39, 🇲🇽 mexico
 * Most matches played without ever scoring a goal: 3, 🇨🇳 china, and 🇨🇩 congo (as Zaire)
 * Most matches played always conceding a goal: 6, 🇨🇦 canada, 🇸🇻 el salvador
 * Highest average of goals scored per match: 2.72, 🇭🇺 hungary (87 goals in 32 matches)
 * Lowest average of goals conceded per match: 0.67, (2 goals in 3 matches)
 * Highest average of goals conceded per match: 6, 🇮🇩 indonesia (as Dutch East Indies)
 * Lowest average of goals both scored and conceded per match: 1,
 * Highest average of goals both scored and conceded per match: 6, 🇮🇩 indonesia (as Dutch East Indies)
 * Most meetings between two teams: 7 times, 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990 and twice in 1994), 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990, 1998 and 2010) and 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010 and 2014)
 * Most meetings between two teams in the knockout stage: 5 times, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986 final, 1990 final, 2006 quarter-final, 2010 quarter-final and 2014 final)
 * Most meetings between two teams, final-four or final (not counting 3rd place match): 3 times, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986 final, 1990 final, 2014 final), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1950 final group, 1958 final, 1994 semi-final), 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1938 semi-final, 1970 final, 1994 final), 🇩🇪 germany vs. 🇮🇹 italy (1970 semi-final, 1982 final, 2006 semi-final)
 * Most meetings between two teams in the group stage: 6 times, 🇧🇷 brazil vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1930 group 2, 1950 group 1, 1954 group 1, 1974 group 2, 2018 group E, 2022 group G)
 * Most meetings between two teams, final match: 3 times, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986, 1990, 2014)
 * Most frequent matchup without a loss: 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇸🇪 sweden, 5 wins and 2 draws
 * Most frequent matchup with a perfect record: 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇳🇬 nigeria, 5 wins (1994, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018)
 * Most frequent matchup in the knockout stage with a perfect record: 🇧🇷 brazil eliminated 4 times (1962 semi-final, 1998 round of 16, 2010 round of 16 and 2014 round of 16)
 * Most consecutive meetings between two teams: 5 times, 🇮🇹 italy vs. 🇦🇷 argentina (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990)
 * Most consecutive meetings between two teams in the knockout stage: 3 times, 🇩🇪 germany vs. /🇷🇸 serbia (1954 quarter-final, 1958 quarter-final and 1962 quarter-final), 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (2006 quarter-final, 2010 quarter-final and 2014 final)
 * Most consecutive meetings between two teams, final match: 2 times, 🇦🇷 argentina vs. 🇩🇪 germany (1986–1990)
 * Most knockout wins: 35, 🇩🇪 germany
 * Most knockout losses: 14, 🇩🇪 germany
 * Most tournaments unbeaten: 7, 🇧🇷 brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 2002)
 * Most tournaments eliminated without having lost a match: 3, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1982, 1990, 2006), (1998, 2014, 2022)
 * Most tournaments eliminated without having won a match: 6, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978) and 🇧🇬 bulgaria (1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1998)

In one tournament

 * Most wins: 7, 🇧🇷 brazil, 2002
 * Fewest wins, champions: 3,, 1950 (out of 4)
 * Most matches not won, champions: 3, 🇮🇹 italy, 1982 (out of 7)
 * Most wins by non-champion (excluding third place play-off): 6,, 2010
 * Most matches not won: 5,, 1974; 🇦🇷 argentina, 1974; , 1978; 🇧🇪 belgium, 1986; 🇮🇪 ireland, 1990; 🇦🇷 argentina, 1990
 * Most matches not won in regulation time: 6, 🇧🇪 belgium, 1986; 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 1990
 * Most losses: 3 (30 teams, of which only 🇲🇽 mexico has accomplished this feat at three different tournaments: 1930, 1950, and 1978)
 * Most losses, champions: 1, 🇩🇪 germany, 1954 and 1974; 🇦🇷 argentina, 1978; 🇪🇸 spain, 2010
 * Most victories over former World Cup winning teams: 3, 🇧🇷 brazil, 1970; 🇮🇹 italy, 1982; 🇦🇷 argentina, 1986; 🇩🇪 germany, 2010 and 2014
 * Most matches against former World Cup champions and staying unbeaten: 4, 🇦🇷 argentina, 1986
 * Most matches between former World Cup champions: 7, 1970
 * All matches won without extra time, replays, penalty shoot-outs or playoffs: in 1930 (4 matches), 🇧🇷 brazil in 1970 (6 matches), and 🇧🇷 brazil in 2002 (7 matches)
 * Highest finish without winning a match: Quarter-finals, 🇮🇪 ireland (1990)
 * Highest finish, winning at most one match: Fourth, 🇸🇪 sweden (1938)
 * Most goals scored: 27, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Fewest goals conceded: 0,, 2006
 * Most goals conceded: 16, 🇰🇷 south korea, 1954
 * Most matches gone into extra time: 3, 🇧🇪 belgium, 1986; 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 1990; 🇦🇷 argentina, 2014;, 2018
 * Most minutes without conceding a goal: 517 mins, 🇮🇹 italy, 1990
 * Highest goal difference: +17, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Highest goal difference, champions: +14, 🇧🇷 brazil, 2002; 🇩🇪 germany, 2014
 * Lowest goal difference: −16, 🇰🇷 south korea, 1954
 * Lowest goal difference, champions: +6, 🇮🇹 italy, 1938 and 1982; 🇪🇸 spain, 2010
 * Highest average of goals scored per match: 5.40, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954;
 * Highest average goal difference per match: +3.2, 🇭🇺 hungary, 1954
 * Highest average goal difference per match, champions: +3.0,, 1930
 * Most goals scored, champions: 25,, 1954
 * Fewest goals scored, champions: 8, 🇪🇸 spain, 2010
 * Fewest goals scored, finalists: 5, 🇦🇷 argentina, 1990
 * Fewest goals conceded, champions: 2, 🇫🇷 france, 1998; 🇮🇹 italy, 2006; 🇪🇸 spain, 2010
 * Most goals conceded, champions: 14,, 1954
 * Lowest average of goals scored per match, champions: 1.14, 🇪🇸 spain, 2010
 * Most unbeaten teams: 5, 2006 (, 🇦🇷 argentina, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 🇫🇷 france, 🇮🇹 italy)
 * Fewest unbeaten teams: 0, 1954
 * Most matches to qualify for World Cup finals: 22, 🇦🇺 australia (2018)
 * Longest distance travelled in a single qualifying campaign: 155,000 miles: 🇦🇺 australia (2018)
 * Most brothers in the same team in the finals: 3, (Johnny Palacios, Jerry Palacios, Wilson Palacios, 2010)

All time
* One of the wins was after extra time. Because a large number of teams have lost all their matches in a World Cup, only teams with a goal difference/match <= −4.0 are included.
 * Best overall performance
 * Worst overall performance

Host team

 * Best overall performance
 * Worst overall performance

Defending champion
* One of the wins was after extra time.
 * Best overall performance
 * Worst overall performance

Champion
See all-time best overall performance above.
 * Best overall performance
 * Worst overall performance

Non-champion

 * Best overall performance

See all-time worst overall performance above.
 * Worst overall performance

Upsets
Teams eliminated by penalty shoot-outs are not considered as defeated.

Overall

 * Biggest upset in the group stage, per FIFA rankings: +74 – (2010) ranked 83 – won 2–1 over 🇫🇷 france (ranked 9)
 * Biggest upset in the knockout stage, per FIFA rankings: +34 – 🇰🇷 south korea (2002) ranked 40 – won 2–1 over 🇮🇹 italy (ranked 6)
 * Biggest upset of a former champion, per FIFA rankings: +74 – (2010) ranked 83 – won 2–1 over 🇫🇷 france (ranked 9)
 * Biggest upset of a defending champion, per FIFA rankings: +56 – 🇰🇷 south korea (2018) ranked 57 – won 2–0 over 🇩🇪 germany (ranked 1)
 * Biggest upset of a top-ranked team, per FIFA rankings: +56 – 🇰🇷 south korea (2018) ranked 57 – won 2–0 over 🇩🇪 germany (ranked 1)

Continental records

 * Biggest upset by an African team, per FIFA rankings: +74 – (2010) ranked 83 – won 2–1 over 🇫🇷 france (ranked 9)
 * Biggest upset by an Asian team, per FIFA rankings: +56 – 🇰🇷 south korea (2018) ranked 57 – won 2–0 over 🇩🇪 germany (ranked 1)
 * Biggest upset by a European team, per FIFA rankings: +29 – 🇸🇰 slovakia (2010) ranked 34 – won 3–2 over 🇮🇹 italy (ranked 5)
 * Biggest upset by an Oceanian team, per FIFA rankings: +24 – 🇦🇺 australia (2006) ranked 42 – won 3–1 over 🇯🇵 japan (ranked 18)
 * Biggest upset by a North American team, per FIFA rankings: +21 – (2014) ranked 28 – won 3–1 over  (ranked 7)
 * Biggest upset by a South American team, per FIFA rankings: +15 – 🇪🇨 ecuador (2002) ranked 36 – won 1–0 over (ranked 21)

Podium finishers who missed subsequent tournaments

 * Most subsequent tournaments missed by champions: 2, (won in 1930, did not participate in 1934 or 1938)
 * Most subsequent tournaments missed by runners-up: 2, 🇸🇪 sweden (runners-up in 1958, did not qualify in 1962 or 1966), (runners-up in 1978, did not qualify in 1982 or 1986)
 * Most subsequent tournaments missed by bronze medalists: 5, 🇹🇷 turkey (third place in 2002, did not qualify from 2006 to 2022)

Hat-tricks

 * Most hat-tricks in a single World Cup: 8, 1954
 * Fewest hat-tricks in a single World Cup: 0, 2006

Streaks

 * Most consecutive successful qualification attempts: 10, 🇪🇸 spain (1986–2022)
 * Most consecutive failed qualification attempts: 21, 🇱🇺 luxembourg (1934–2022)
 * Most consecutive wins: 11, 🇧🇷 brazil, from 2–1 vs. 🇹🇷 turkey (2002) to 3–0 vs. 🇬🇭 ghana (2006)
 * Most consecutive wins by a European team: 7, 🇮🇹 italy, from 1–0 vs. 🇪🇸 spain (Italy, 1934) to 4–2 vs. 🇭🇺 hungary (France, 1938)
 * Most consecutive matches without a loss: 13, 🇧🇷 brazil, from 3–0 vs. 🇦🇹 austria (1958) to 2–0 vs. 🇧🇬 bulgaria (1966)
 * Most consecutive matches without a loss in ordinary time: 19,, from 2–0 vs. (South Africa, 2010) to 2–2 vs. 🇦🇷 argentina (Qatar, 2022)
 * Most consecutive losses: 9, 🇲🇽 mexico, from 1–4 vs. 🇫🇷 france (1930) to 0–3 vs. 🇸🇪 sweden (1958)
 * Most consecutive matches without a win: 17, 🇧🇬 bulgaria, from 0–1 vs. 🇦🇷 argentina (1962) to 0–3 vs. 🇳🇬 nigeria (1994)
 * Most consecutive draws: 5, 🇧🇪 belgium, from 0–0 vs. (1998) to 1–1 vs. 🇹🇳 tunisia (2002)
 * Most consecutive matches without a draw: 16,, from 3–1 vs. 🇭🇺 hungary (1966) to 1–0 vs. Netherlands (2006); 🇧🇪 belgium, from 3–2 vs. 🇷🇺 russia (2002) to 0–2 vs. 🇲🇦 morocco (2022)
 * Most consecutive matches scoring at least one goal: 18, 🇧🇷 brazil (1930–1958) and 🇩🇪 germany (1934–1958)
 * Most consecutive matches scoring at least two goals: 11, (1930–1954)
 * Most consecutive matches scoring at least three / four goals: 4, (1930–1950), 🇭🇺 hungary (1954) (four goals),  (1966),  (1970), 🇧🇷 brazil (1970)
 * Most consecutive matches scoring at least six / eight goals: 2, 🇭🇺 hungary (1954) (eight goals), 🇧🇷 brazil (1950) (six goals)
 * Most consecutive matches without scoring a goal: 5, 🇧🇴 bolivia (1930, 1950 and 1994), (1986 and 2010),  (1982 and 2010–2014)
 * Most consecutive matches without conceding a goal (clean sheets): 5, 🇮🇹 italy (1990), (2006–2010)
 * Most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal: 559, (1994, 2006–2010)
 * Most consecutive matches conceding at least one goal: 22, (1934–1994)
 * Most consecutive matches conceding at least two goals: 9, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930–1958)
 * Most consecutive matches conceding at least three goals: 5, 🇲🇽 mexico (1930–1950)
 * Most consecutive matches conceding at least four goals: 3, 🇧🇴 bolivia (1930–1950), 🇲🇽 mexico (1930–1950)
 * Most consecutive matches conceding at least five / six / seven goals: 2, 🇰🇷 south korea (1954) (seven goals), 🇺🇸 united states (1930–1934) (six goals), 🇦🇹 austria (1954) (five goals)

Host records
Runners-up: 🇸🇪 sweden (1958) Third place: (1962) Fourth place: 🇰🇷 south korea (2002) Quarter-finals: (1954), 🇲🇽 mexico (1970, 1986), 🇷🇺 russia (2018) Round of 16: 🇯🇵 japan (2002) Group stage of 32: (2010), 🇶🇦 qatar (2022)
 * Most times hosted: 2, 🇲🇽 mexico, 1970 and 1986; 🇮🇹 italy, 1934 and 1990; 🇫🇷 france, 1938 and 1998; 🇩🇪 germany, 1974 and 2006; 🇧🇷 brazil, 1950 and 2014
 * Most times hosted, continent: 11, Europe (1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2018)
 * Best performance by host: Winners, 6 times:, 1930; Italy, 1934; 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england, 1966; , 1974; 🇦🇷 argentina, 1978; 🇫🇷 france, 1998
 * Worst performance by host: 🇶🇦 qatar in 2022 were eliminated in the first round after losing all three of their group matches, scoring just one goal. in 2010 were also eliminated in the first round, but finished with a better group stage record of 1–1–1.
 * Had its best performance as hosts: Champions: (1930), 🇮🇹 italy (1934), 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england (1966),  (1974), 🇦🇷 argentina (1978), 🇫🇷 france (1998)
 * Stadium to host most World Cup matches: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico, 19 (10 in 1970 and 9 in 1986)
 * Most times a stadium hosted a World Cup final: 2, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico (1970 and 1986) and Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1950 and 2014)
 * City to host most World Cup matches: Mexico City, Mexico, 23 (19 at Estadio Azteca and 4 at Estadio Olimpico Universitario)
 * Most times a city hosted a World Cup final: 2, Mexico City, Mexico (1970 and 1986); Rome, Italy (1934 and 1990); Paris, France (1938 and 1998); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1950 and 2014)

Attendance

 * Final: 114,600, 🇦🇷 argentina v, 29 June 1986, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico, 1986
 * Decisive match: 199,854, v 🇧🇷 brazil, 16 July 1950, Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950
 * Lowest match attendance in a World Cup tournament: 300, 🇷🇴 romania vs. 🇵🇪 peru, 14 July 1930, Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1930
 * Highest match attendance in a World Cup qualifying match: 162,764, 🇧🇷 brazil vs. 🇨🇴 colombia, 9 March 1977, Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1978 CONMEBOL Group 1
 * Highest average of attendance per match: 69,174, 1994
 * Highest attendance (tournament): 3,594,042, 1994
 * Lowest average of attendance per match: 21,353, 1934
 * Lowest attendance (tournament): 363,000, 1934

Others

 * Most players provided by a club overall: 139, Juventus
 * Most players provided by a club in one tournament: 17, Barcelona (2022)
 * Most players provided by a club for champions squads overall: 25 (22 Italians), Juventus
 * Most players provided by a football association overall: 1,156, Premier League
 * Most players provided by a football association in one tournament: 164, The Football Association (2022)
 * Most players provided by a football association for champions squads overall: 113 (89 Italians), Serie A