Records set at the 2022 World Cup

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the best two players in the world for over a decade, breaking countless records in their illustrious careers.

The duo now join the list of players to have played at 5 World Cups, having made their debut in 2006. Mexican pair Andres Guardado and World Cup icon Guillermo Ochoa have also joined the list of eight, alongside their fellow countrymen Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Marquez. Legends of the game, Lothar Matthaus and Gianluigi Buffon also hold this record.

Since their debut in the competition at the 1986 World Cup In Mexico, Denmark have always been capable of causing an upset by beating huge nations.

However, the Danes are now out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with extremely poor performances, especially from a side that many expected to qualify for the round of 16. Unfortunately for the Scandinavian side, this is the first time in their history that they have been unable to win a game at a World Cup.

When any side faces Spain, they expect to be without the ball for large periods of the game.

Japan experienced that to the extreme on Thursday, as they only had 17.7% possession, the lowest ever recorded at a World Cup. However, the only statistic that will interest Japan is the 2-1 score line that put them top of Group E, booking their place in the knockouts ahead of Spain in second place.

Cristiano Ronaldo features for the second time, as he is the first player to score at five World Cups.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored 8 goals at the World Cup, with his first coming in 2006 against Iran. Ronaldo’s most famous World Cup performance came in 2018, where he scored a hattrick in a 3-3 draw against Spain, with an 88th-minute signature free kick taking all the headlines.

Australia have shocked the footballing world with two 1-0 victories over Denmark and Tunisia.

Prior to the tournament, many people believed they would finish rock bottom of the group given their opponents. The Socceroos kept their first clean sheet since 1974 when they defeated Tunisia in round 2. They went on to make history when they beat Denmark this week, making it the first time they have won 2 games at a World Cup and the first time they have kept two clean sheets at the tournament also.

African nations have displayed tons of quality so far at the World Cup in Qatar and for the first time ever, all African teams have homegrown coaches.

Morroco have finished top of their group unbeaten, Senegal have made it through to the round of 16 for only the second time, Tunisia have defeated a European side for the first time in their history, Ghana and Cameroon also can progress to the round of 16. Is the 2022 World Cup in Qatar the year of African triumph?

As hosts of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar will have wanted to start brightly in order to show their quality to the world.

The opening game against a strong Ecuador side wasn’t exactly the easiest of fixtures, but their performance was uninspiring as they were easily defeated 2-0. The odd bit of quality shown by Akram Afif was the only positive sign for the hosts, as they were unable to even register a shot on target. Qatar lost all three group games and became the first host nation to lose the opening fixture.