Interesting facts about the Fifa World Cup

Who do you think will lift the Fifa World Cup this year in Russia?

With the 2018 Fifa World Cup just three months away, Nation Sport takes a look at some interesting facts about the tournament:

• The World Cup in 2018 will mark the first time Russia has ever hosted this event and their 11th World Cup appearance. Their highest finish was a fourth place finish in 1966.

• The World Cup has been played 20 times, Brazil holds the most titles with five. Italy and Germany are close behind with four each.

• The oldest goal scorer in the World Cup was Roger Milla, who was 42 in 1994 when he scored a goal for Cameroon against Russia.

• The first World Cup was played in 1930. Uruguay was both the tournament host and winner that year.

• The World Cup trophy went missing for seven days in 1966, when it was stolen just prior to the tournament.

• The highest scoring game in World Cup history was in 1954, when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5.

• Surprisingly, Mexico has the most World Cup losses (25), though they do also have 14 wins and 14 draws.

• While 32 teams will qualify for the 2018 tournament, the number will jump to 48 in 2026.

• Other than South Africa (2010), all hosts have reached the second round. In 30 percent of cases (6/20), they have been champions (the last was France in 1998).

• All World Cups have been won by European (11) or South American (9) sides.

• There have only been four times when a team has won all of their games at a World Cup (Uruguay, 4/4 in 1930), Italy (4/4 in 1938) and Brazil (6/6 in 1970, 7/7 in 2002).

• Germany will hope to be the first national team to win back to back World Cups since Brazil in 1962. Only Brazil (5) have more titles than Germany (4).

• Mexico has qualified without winning the trophy more than any other country (16 times).

• Brazil has had the most red cards in the history of the competition (11), with Argentina (10) and Uruguay (9) not far behind.

• Frenchman Just Fontaine still holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup (13, in 1958), while Russian forward Oleg Salenko has bagged more than any other in a single World Cup match: five goals against Cameroon, on 28 June 1994.

• Among the current players, Thomas Muller has the most World Cup goals, with 10 (5 in each of the last two tournaments); He is six goals shy of all-time top scorer Miroslav Klose (16).

• Mexican Antonio Carbajal and the German Lothar Matthäus have played in more World Cups (5) than any other footballer; only Rafael Marquez could reach this tally in Russia.

• Every World Cup has been won by a coach who is the same nationality as his team.

• Helmut Schön is the coach with the most matches in the history of World Cups, 25 and all with Germany.

• Playing as Russia (not the USSR), the hosts have never managed to overcome the group stage in a World Cup (1994, 2002, 2014), finishing in third position on each occasion.

• Cristiano Ronaldo was the player who participated directly in the most goals (18) in the Uefa qualifiers: 15 goals and three assists.

• Iceland are the country with the smallest population to ever compete at a World Cup, with 334,000 residents.

• Brazil are the only side to have competed in every World Cup (21), have the most titles, 25 percent of tournaments, and the last to win back to back titles (1958 and 1962).

• No African country has qualified as often as Nigeria since their debut in 1994. 2018 will be their sixth World Cup.

• It will be the second major tournament for Aliou Cisse as a coach, after he reached the quarter final of the African Cup of Nations in 2017. As a player, he captained Senegal in their only World Cup (2002).

• It will be Hector Cuper’s first World Cup as a coach, he was also coach of Egypt for the African Cup of Nations in 2017, losing the final 2-1 to Cameroon.

• Senegal have qualified for their second World Cup, reaching the quarter final in 2002.