World Cup 2022 is taking place in Qatar, the first country in the Middle East to host football’s biggest event.
Brazil is the most successful team in the tournament’s history, having won the event five times.
Here are some more stats and figures on World Cup history:
20: There have been 20 World Cup tournaments held since the inaugural competition in 1930.
32: There are 32 teams competing across eight groups in this year’s event.
80: Qatar will become the 80th team to play in the World Cup.
8: Only eight countries have ever lifted the trophy. Brazil won five times, while Germany and Italy have four titles each. Argentina, France and Uruguay have each won the World Cup twice, while England and Spain have each won once.
80,000: The capacity of Lusail Stadium, which will host the Qatar 2022 final.
2.6: Average number of goals per game during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
6: The World Cup has been won by its host country six times.
27.7: Average age of the Argentina squad, the oldest at Qatar 2022.
24.5: Average age of the USA squad, the youngest at Qatar 2022.
5 billion: People, more than half the planet’s population, are expected to watch this year’s World Cup.
334,000: Population of Iceland, the smallest country to ever qualify for a World Cup (2018).
13: Number of goals France’s Just Fontaine scored in 1958, making him the record holder for the most goals in a single World Cup.
56: The number of seconds played before the fastest sending-off in World Cup history when Uruguay’s Jose Batista was sent off in their 1986 match against Scotland for his crunching foul against Gordon Strachan.
16: Most World Cup goals scored by a single player – Germany’s Miroslav Klose – over a span of four tournaments between 2002 and 2014.
11,581: The area, in square kilometres, of Qatar, the smallest country to ever host the World Cup. This is about the same size as metropolitan New York City.
$44m: The prize money for the winner of the World Cup in Qatar.
