World Cup Superlatives on Matches

First match:
Mexico 1, France 4 in Montevideo, Uruguay on 13/07/1930.

First tied match:
Italy 1, Spain 1 in Florence, Italy on 31/05/1934.

First match with extratime:
Austria vs France on 27/05/1934.

First Final with extratime:
Italy vs Czechoslovakia on 10/06/1934.

First scoreless match:
Brazil vs England in Stockholm, Sweden on 11 June, 1958.

First match decided on penalty shoot-out:
Semi-final between West Germany & France on 8 July, 1982 in which the Germans won the shootout 5:4.

First Final decided on penalty shoot-out:
The 1994 Final in which Brazil beat Italy 3:2 on penalty shoot-out after a 0:0 tie.

First match played indoor:
USA vs Switzerland at Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, USA on 18/06/1994.

First match where a coach was sent off :
Paraguayan coach Cayetano Re in a match against Belgium on 11 June 1986.

Only finals with no Final:
The 1950 finals, where there was only a final pool without a knock-out Final.

Lowest attendance for a match:
300 spectators for the match between Romania & Peru in Montevideo on 14/07/1930.

Highest attendance for a match:
199,850 spectators for the "final" match between Brazil & Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro on 16/07/1950.

Most matches played by a country:
92 matches, by Brazil and by Germany.

Most grand final matches played by a country:
7 finals, by Brazil (in 50,58,62,70,94,98,02) and Germany (in 54,66,74,82,86,90,02).

Most matches played by the same two countries in finals:
7 matches between Brazil and Sweden in 1938, 1950, 1958, 1978, 1990 & 1994 (2 times).

Most matches won by a country:
64 matches, by Brazil.

Most matches lost by a country:
22 matches, by Mexico.

Most matches won by a country consecutively:
11 matches, by Brazil in 2002 (7 matches) & 2006 (4 matches).

Most matches lost by a country consecutively:
9 matches, by Mexico from 1930 to 1958.

Most unbeaten matches played by a country consecutively:
13 matches, by Brazil from 08/06/1958 (beating Austria) until 15/07/1966 (lost to Hungary).

Most consecutive draws by a country:
5 draws by Belgium from 13/6/98 to 10/6/02.

Most consecutive matches by a country without conceding a goal:
5 matches by Italy in 1990.

Most matches played by a player:
25 matches, by Germany's Lothar Matthaus from 1982 to 1998.

Most complete matches played by a player in finals:
23 matches, by Italy's Paolo Maldini from 9 June 1990 to 18 June 2002.

Most matches played as captain:
16 matches, by Argentina's Diego Maradona.

Most matches played by a goalkeeper without conceding a goal:
10 matches by Peter Shilton of England from 1982 to 1990.

Most appearances (in matches) by a coach:
25 matches, by Helmut Schoen of West Germany in 1966, 1970, 1974 & 1978.

Highest score in a finals match:
Austria 7, Switzerland 5 in Lausanne, Switzerland on 26/06/1954.

Most red cards given in a finals match:
4 red cards given in a Round-of-16 match between Portugal (2 reds) and Netherlands (2 reds) refereed by Valentin Ivanov of Russia on 25 June 2006.

Most yellow cards given in a finals match:
16 yellow cards, in a group match on 11 June 2002 (8 to Germany & 8 to Cameroon) and also in a Round-of-16 match on 25 June 2006 (9 to Portugal & 7 to Nederlands).

Most matches by a player as substitute in the same finals:
6 matches, by Poland's Leslaw Cmikiewiez in 1974.


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