FIFA World Cup: Stats, records, key numbers from the group stage in Qatar

The group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is over. There are now 16 teams left in the competition in Qatar and 16 have been eliminated.

Football’s premier tournament, played for the first time in the Middle East, began on November 20 with the host Qatar taking on Ecuador. The group stages concluded on December 3.

Also read: Full coverage of FIFA World Cup 2022

Ahead of the Round of 16, let us look at records, statistics, numbers and more from the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

• For the first time since 1994, there is no team emerged out of the group stage with an all-win record from the three games
• Brazil extended its proud record of progressing from the group stage at every single World Cup it has played in
• Germany, for the second successive World Cup, failed to progress past the group stage
• Qatar, which got automatic qualification as the host, became the first host nation to lose three consecutive matches in a single edition of the World Cup

Watch: Meet the Round of 16 teams

• Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo became the first male player to score at five World Cups
• Ronaldo also became the first player to attempt 100 shots in World Cup history
• Argentina’s skipper Lionel Messi became the only man to register an assist at five World Cups
• Spain registered its biggest-ever World Cup win with a 7-0 rout of Costa Rica
• In the game against Costa Rica, Spain completed exactly 1,000 passes to become the first team in World Cup history to reach that mark in a 90-minute contest
• At 39 years and 210 days, Daniel Alves became the oldest footballer to play for Brazil at a World Cup. He featured in the game against Cameroon
• At 18 years and 110 days, Spain Gavi became the youngest World Cup goalscorer since Pele in 1958. Gavi scored against Costa Rica
• Japan, with just 17.7% of the ball possession against Spain, became the first team to win a World Cup game with the lowest possession figure
• Kai Havertz became the second player from Germany to score two goals in a single match (against Costa Rica) as a substitute at the World Cup after Andre Schurrle (vs Brazil in 2014)
• Harry Kane became only the second England player to set up (assists) three goals in a World Cup after David Beckham in 2002
• Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny became only the fourth man at the World Cup to save multiple penalties outside of shoot-outs. The other three custodians are – Jan Tomaszewski, Brad Friedel and Iker Casillas
• Lionel Messi claimed an unwanted record of becoming only the second player, after Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), to fail to score two penalties outside of shoot-outs at the World Cup
• Germany’s Jamal Musiala completed 12 dribbles against Costa Rica, the most on record for a teenager in World Cup history, from 1966
• France’s Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup when she was in charge of the match between Germany and Costa Rica

Also read: Substitutes light up Qatar World Cup

Key numbers

525 – The number of additional stoppage time minutes during the group stage in Qatar

18 – Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny made the most number of saves in the group stage

9 – Most goals scored in the group stage. Both England and Spain scored 9 goals each with the latter scoring 7 in a single game

3 – Most goals by a player during the group stage. (Alvaro Morata of Spain, France’s Kylian Mbappe, England’s Marcus Rashford, Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands and Enner Valencia of Ecuador scored 3 goals each)

48 – The total number of group stage games in Qatar

120 – The total number of goals in the group stage