Football World Cup Firsts
The World Cup is full of firsts, from the first event in 1930 to the first Middle East nation to host the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
- The FIRST two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, France defeated Mexico 4–1, and the United States beat Belgium 3–0. Both matches were played in Montevideo, Uruguay on 13 July 1930.
- The FIRST player to be sent off was from Peru in a match against Romania on 14 July 1930. According to FIFA, the player was defender Plácido Galindo, but other sources contend that it was midfielder Mario de las Casas.
- The FIRST penalty kick ever in World Cup history was taken on 19 July 1930 by Chile's Carlos Vidal, with Alexis 'Alex' Thépot of France in goals. The shot was saved, so the FIRST goalkeeper to save a penalty was Alexis 'Alex' Thépot of France.
- The FIRST player to score a penalty goal was Mexico's Manuel Rosas against Argentina on 19 July 1930.
- The FIRST player to score an own goal was Mexico's Manuel Rosas in a match against Chile on July 16th.
- The FIRST player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was United States' 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 FIRST player to score in a World Cup match was Lucien Laurent of France in the 19th minute in the first World Cup match on 13 July 1930.
- The FIRST player to be replaced in World Cup finals due to injury was French goalkeeper Alex Thepot. The goalkeeper was kicked by a Mexican player in the jaw in the opening match of the 1930 World Cup. He was replaced by midfielder Augustin Chantrel.
- The FIRST qualifying match was between Sweden and Estonia (6:2) on 11 June 1933.
- The FIRST African country to qualify to the world cup was Egypt in 1934.
- The FIRST player to miss a penalty in World Cup finals was Brazil's Valdemar de Brito. De Brito missed the penalty in Brazil's 3-1 loss to Spain on 27 May 1934. That was Brazil's only match in the 1934 finals, and the only finals in which Brazil did not win any match. He later amended his reputation as he discovered and nurtured Pele.
- The FIRST ever tied match was between Italy and Spain, the score one all. The game was played in Florence, Italy on 31 May 1934.
- The FIRST match with extra-time was Austria vs France on 27 May 1934.
- The FIRST final with extra-time was Italy vs Czechoslovakia on 10 June 1934.
- The FIRST man to score a second-half hattrick was Edmund Conen, in a game for Germany v Belgium. His goals came in the 60th, 70th and 87th minutes.
- The FIRST and only qualifying match played by a host country was by Italy (hosts) 4, Greece 0 on 25 March 1934.
- The FIRST player to have scored 4 goals in a qualifier was Ireland's Paddy Moore who scored 4 goals in their 4:4 draw with Belgium on 25 Feb 1934 in Dublin.
- The FIRST Asian country to play in a qualifying match was Palestine which lost 1:7 in Egypt on 10 March 1934.
- The FIRST Asian country to appear in finals was the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1938.
- The FIRST time numbers were used on players' shirts in the World Cup was in the 1938 finals in France.
- The FIRST player to score a hattrick or more and end up on the losing side was Ernest Wilimowski of Poland. Brazil beat them 6-5, with Brazilian Leônidas scoring a hattrick of his own.
- The FIRST replacement of a player in a qualifying match was Germany's Horst Eckel replaced by Richard Gottinger against Saar on 11 October 1953.
- The FIRST time the tradition of swapping shirts began in World Cup 1954.
- The FIRST country to be eliminated by toss of coin in qualifying round was Spain which lost to Türkiye on toss after a 2:2 tie in a play-off match on 17 March 1954.
- The FIRST man to score a first-half hattrick was Erich Probst for Austria v Czechoslovakia. It is also the earliest hattrick, with his scores coming in the 4th, 21st and 24th minutes.
- The FIRST player to score an own goal in extra-time was English player Jimmy Dickinson in a match England drew 4-4 with Belgium.
- The FIRST scoreless match was Brazil vs England in Stockholm, Sweden on 11 June, 1958.
- The FIRST live worldwide TV coverage of the World Cup was in 1958.
- The FIRST " Olympic goal" 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 FIRST time drug testing was introduced was in World Cup finals in 1966. Players banned after failing in drug testing include Haiti's Ernest Jean-Joseph (1974), Scotland's Willie Johnston (1978) and Argentina's Diego Maradona (1994).
- The FIRST World Cup mascot was a lion-like boy called Willie used for the England 1966 World Cup.
- The FIRST player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final was Geoff Hurst of England in 1966, with a goal in each of the first-half, second-half and extra-time..
- The FIRST first team to score two own goals in the one tournament was Bulgaria. They did so in favour of Portugal and Hungary, losing both matches.
- The FIRST Asian team to progress beyond the first round of the World Cup finals was North Korea in 1966.
- The FIRST time the term 'group of death' was used was when Mexican journalists described Group 3 'grupo de la muerte', which included reigning champions England, eventual tournament winners Brazil, the 1962 runners-up in Czechoslovakia, and Romania.
- The FIRST substitution of a goalkeeper was Romania's Necula Raducanu who replaced Steve Adamache in a match against Brazil on 10 June 1970.
- The FIRST player to receive a yellow card was Lovchev of the USSR in the 1970 opening match against Mexico on 31 May 1970.
- The FIRST substitute to score a goal was Mexico's Juan Basaguren in the match against El Salvador on 7 June 1970.
- The FIRST time substitutes were used in World Cup finals matches was 1970. Before 1970, only injured players were allowed to be replaced.
- The FIRST substitute in World Cup finals was Soviet player Anatoly Puzach who replaced Serebrannikov in the 1970 opening match against Mexico on 31 May 1970.
- The FIRST red-carded player was Chile's Carlos Caszely in a match against West Germany on 14 June 1974.
- The FIRST time that the newly designed FIFA World Cup Trophy was awarded was in 1974, replacing the Jules Rimet Trophy.
- The FIRST black African nation to play in a World Cup finals was Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1974.
- The FIRST Oceanian nation to qualify the World Cup was Australia in 1974
- The FIRST qualifying match played on artificial turf was between Canada and USA on 24 Sept 1976 in Vancouver, Canada.
- The FIRST qualifying match played indoor was between USA and Canada on 20 Oct 1976 in Seattle, USA.
- The FIRST team to win a qualifying match on penalty shootout was Tunisia, which won 4:2 on penalties over Morocco after a 1:1 tie at home on 9 Jan 1977.
- The FIRST country to withdraw from the World Cup due to the inability to pay the entrance fee was Sri Lanka which withdrew from the 1978 World Cup.
- The FIRST time penalty shootouts for tied games were introduced to the World Cup was in 1978 (though the first to occur was in 1982)
- The FIRST player to score for both teams in a match was Ernie Brandts of the Netherlands. In a game in 1978, he first scored an own goal Italy, and then the equaliser for his own team.
- The FIRST match decided with a penalty shoot-out was the semi-final between West Germany and France on 8 July, 1982, in which the Germans won the shootout 5:4.
- The FIRST player to take penalty in a shootout in World Cup finals was Alain Giresse of France, who scored the FIRST ever penalty in a shootout where France lost 4:5 to West Germany.
- The FIRST substitute to score a hat-trick was Laszlo Kiss of Hungary in a match against El Salvador on 15 June 1982.
- The FIRST match where a coach was sent off was in a first round match against Belgium on 11 June 1986, with Paraguayan coach Cayetano Re being shown his marching orders.
- The FIRST the first person to win the World Cup as Captain and then Coach was the ‘Kaiser’ Franz Beckenbauer, who led Germany to a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in 1974, then went on to coach Germany to victory in 1990.
- The FIRST goalless World Cup final was between Brazil and Italy at California's Rose Bowl in 1994, won by Brazil on penalties.
- The FIRST Final decided on penalty shoot-out was the 1994 Final in which Brazil beat Italy 3:2 on penalty shoot-out after the match finished in a 0:0 tie.
- The FIRST player to take a penalty shootout in a final was Franco Baresi of Italy, taking the shootout in the 1994 final but blasted it over the bar.
- The FIRST match played indoors was at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, USA on 18 June 1994, in a match between USA and Switzerland.
- The FIRST goalkeeper to be sent-off was Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy in a match against Norway on 23 June 1994.
- The FIRST player to have scored five goals in a single match was Oleg Salenko during the 1994 FIFA World Cup match between Russia and Cameroon.
- The FIRST player to score a golden goal was France's Laurent Blanc in the 113th minute in the Second Round match against Paraquay on 28 June 1998.
- The FIRST player to have scored for 2 different teams in World Cup finals was Robert Prosinecki, having scored for Yugoslavia in 1990 and for Croatia in 1998.
- The FIRST French player to be sent off in World Cup finals was Zindine Zidane, in the first Round match against Saudi Arabia on 18 June 1998. France had kept a clean sheet for 68 years until France 98!
- The FIRST time there was more than one host country waa in 2002 when South Korea and Japan agreed to co-host the event. It was also the FIRST World Cup held in Asia.
- The FIRST time teams from each of Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia reached the quarter-finals of the same tournament was in 2002.
- The FIRST match with two own goals was United States vs Portugal, 2002
- The FIRST tournament for which the defending champion does not automatically qualify was in 2006.
- The FIRST Game of the Germany '06 tournament was between the host Germany and Costa Rica. This is the first time the Cup holders did not open the tournament.
- The FIRST goal scored in Germany 2006 Finals was by the German player Lahm.
- The FIRST player whose own goal is the only score in the game, was Carlos Gamarra of Paraguay. England won 1-0.
- The FIRST World Cup not to have at least one hat-trick scored was the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
- The FIRST time the host country had ever been eliminated in the first round was in South Africa.
- The FIRST World Cup with no debutant associations was in 2010, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have previously appeared as parts of former competing nations.
- The FIRST European team to win a World Cup played outside of Europe was by Spain in 2010.
- The FIRST time goal-line technology (as well as vanishing foam for free kicks) was used at the World Cup was in 2014. The FIRST World Cup goal to be awarded with goal-line technology was an own goal by Noel Valladares, Honduras against France, 2014.
- The FIRST cooling break in World Cup play took place during the 32nd minute of the Netherlands vs. Mexico Round of 16 match.
- The FIRST time video replays was used was at the World Cup in 2018.
- The FIRST World Cup ever held in Eastern Europe is Russia 2018.
- The FIRST first Asian nation to defeat a South American opponent at a World Cup was Japan when they beat Colombia 2-1 in their group match.
- The FIRST team to be eliminated by the fair play rule at the World cup was Senegal, who were booted out by Japan after finishing on equal points and goals, and had to rely on the number of yellow cards given to separate the teams.
- The FIRST player to score an own goal in a World Cup final was Coatian Mario Mandzukic in the 2018 final gainst France.
- The FIRST Middle East nation to host the World Cup is Qatar.
- The FIRST World Cup to be played in the winter occurred when Qatar hosted the event in 2022. Although it is the northern hemisphere wintertime, it will not be cold at all when they play.
- The FIRST host nation to lose their opening match was Qatar in 2022. Ultimately, Qatar became FIRST host nation to fail to record a point in the group stage.
- The FIRST woman to officiate a men's World Cup match was Frenchwoman Stéphanie Frappart who took the field as the fourth official for the group match between Mexico and Poland. She was joined by two other female referees at the tournament, Japan's Yamashita Yoshimi and Rwanda's Salima Mukansanga.
- The FIRST player to score in five FIFA World Cups was Portugal's Christiano Ronaldo (2006-2022).
- The FIRST player to win the golden ball award for best player at the tournament was Lionel Messi (in 2014 and 2022)
- The FIRST African nation to make the World Cup semi-finals was Morocco.
- The FIRST World Cup to be hosted by three nations will be in 2026 (United States, Mexico, and Canada).
- The FIRST World Cup with 48 teams.
2030 Spain, Portugal and Morocco
- The FIRST time three countries from two continents will host the competition.
Related Pages
- World Cup Trivia
- World Cup Goal Trivia
- World Cup Quiz
- Women's World Cup Firsts
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