FIFA World Cup Goal Trivia
See also general World Cup Trivia and the list of top goal scorers.
- The first player to score in the World Cup was Lucien Laurent of France, in the 19th minute in the first World Cup match on 13 July 1930.
- The first player to score a penalty goal was Mexico's Manuel Rocquetas Rosas against Argentina on 19 July 1930.
- The fastest goal in a World Cup match was scored by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002. See more fastest goal scorers.
- The latest goal scored in a match was by Italian Del Piero who scored in the 121st minute when Italy beat Germany 2-0 in 2006. In the same match Fabio Grosso scored in the 119th minute. In 2014, Algerian Abdelmoumene Djabou also scored in the 120+1st minute against Germany
- The fastest hat-trick was made by Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes.
- The only substitute to have scored a hat-trick was Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes.
- The record for the most goals at a World Cup is 13 by Frenchman Just Fontaine in 1958, which he achieved in six games.
- The overall top goal scorer in the World Cup is German Miroslav Klose, who has scored 16 goals.
- The only players to have scored from three headers in a single match are Tomáš Skuhravý in 1990 and Miroslav Klose in 2002.
- Hungary holds the record for the highest thrashings - beating El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 and South Korea 9-0 in 1954.
- Three players have scored in four successive finals tournaments. Both Pelé of Brazil and Uwe Seeler of West Germany scored in the finals of 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970, and German Miroslav Klose scored in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
- The only players to have scored in every match including the final are Jairzinho of Brazil, who did this in the 1970 World Cup and Alcide Ghiggia of Uruguay in 1950. However, Ghiggia only played four games whereas Jairzinho played six.
- The only "Olympic goal" (goal scored directly from a corner kick) in the World Cup was scored for Colombia by Marcos Coll, beating goalkeeper Lev Yashin in a 4–4 draw with the Soviet Union in 1962.
- The most goals ever scored by one player in a World Cup match is five, by Russian Oleg Salenko.
- The only players to have scored in two World Cup finals are; Vava of Brazil in 1958 and 1962, Pelé of Brazil 1958 and 1970, Paul Breitner of West Germany in 1974 and 1982, and Zinedine Zidane: 2 v. Brazil in '98, and one in '06 v. Italy.
- The first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was United States's Bert Patenaude who did this against Paraguay in the first round of the 1930 World Cup. Some records wrongly have the first player scoring a hat-trick as Guillermo Stabile of Argentina in their 6:3 win over Mexico on 19 July 1930, two days after Patenaude.
- The only player to score four goals in one match and still end up on the losing team was Poland's Ernst Willimowski against Brazil in 1938. Leonidas of Brazil also scored three goals in that match when his team won 6-5.
- The highest scoring game in World Cup history was in 1954, when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5.
- The first substitute to score a goal was Juan Basaguren when he netted the last goal against El Salvador in Mexico's 4-0 win in 1970.
- The only player to have scored a goal plus an own-goal in the same match is Ernie Brandts of Holland in the second phase match against Italy in 1978. The Dutch team won 2-1.
- The 1994 joint golden boot winner Russian Oleg Salenko is the only player to win the award playing for a team that were eliminated in the group stages. His six goals are the only international goals he ever scored.
- The only player to have scored for two countries is Robert Prosinecki who represented Yugoslavia in 1990 scoring against the United Arab Emirates, and Croatia in 1998 scoring against Jamaica.
- The fastest goal by a substitute was made by Ebbe Sand of Denmark against Nigeria in the second round in 1998. Sand scored only 16 secs after coming on in Denmark's 4-1 win.
- Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored his first international goal, and became the player with the longest (single) second name of any goalscorer in World Cup history.
Related Pages
- List of top goal scorers for each world cup, and the list of top scorers overall.
- Fastest Goal Scorers at the World Cup
- Youngest Goal Scorers at the World Cup
- More World Cup Trivia
- World Cup FIRSTS
- Oldest and Youngest at the World Cup
- Women's World Cup Trivia
- World Cup Quiz
- World Cup Home
- More Sports Trivia
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