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FIFA World Cup Goal Trivia

SoccerballSee 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 fastest goal in a World Cup match was by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002.

  • The latest goal was scored by David Platt of England, in their second round match against Belgium in 1990 after 119 minutes.

  • 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, in six games.
  • The overall top goal scorer in the Wolrd Cup is Brazilian Ronaldo, who has scored 15 goals.

  • The oldest player to have scored a goal is Roger Milla of Cameroon when he scored against Russia in 1994. He was then 42 years and 39 days old.

  • The youngest player in World Cup history to have scored a goal is Pelé of Brazil when he scored against Wales in 1958. He was then only 17 years and 239 days old.

  • 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.
  • Two players have scored in four successive finals tournaments? Both Pele of Brazil and Uwe Seeler of West Germany have scored in the finals of 1958, 1962, 1966 & 1970.

  • 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. The latter only played four games where as Jairzinho played six.

  • The first player to score a penalty goal was Mexico's Manuel Rocquetas Rosas against Argentina on 19 July 1930.

  • 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.

  • 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 and Paul Breitner of West Germany in 1974 and 1982.

  • 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 four goals in that match when his team won 6-5.

  • 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 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 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.

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