There have been lots of records set recently in the world of soccer, and many new records have been surpassed of created in the 2022 World Cup, many of them because of the rise of a new, younger generation of international stars. Here are some of the records set during this year's World Cup.
First Host Nation To Lose Their Opening Game: Qatar
The opening game of the World Cup was Ecuador vs Qatar, which started with Ecuador scoring a very early goal that was chalked off by VAR. Ecuador continued their pressing and won a penalty, which was calmly hit in by Enner Valencia. Valencia also scored off of an incredible header in the 31st minute to make the game 2-0 Ecuador. The game ended this way, which made Qatar the first team from all of the 22 World Cups ever held to lose the opening game as a host nation.
First African Team To Make It To The Semi Finals: Morocco
Morocco started the World Cup off strong, tying Croatia, beating Belgium, and beating Canada to top a tough group. After this, the upsets kept on coming, when Morocco won in penalties against Spain and then beat Portugal with a 42nd minute header that was the only goal of the game. The game against Portugal was in the quarter finals, so they went on to the semi finals of the World Cup, higher than any African team has ever made it. Then they unfortunately lost to France in the semi final, but their amazing upsets will be remembered.
Oldest Player To Score In The Knockout Stages: Pepe (Portugal)
The first goal scored in Portugal’s one sided 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 was scored by the defender Pepe. The ball came in off of a corner kick and Pepe headed the ball in with authority. He became the oldest player to score in the knockout stage of a World Cup, as he was 39 years and 283 days old.
Most Yellow Cards Given In A World Cup Match: Argentina vs Netherlands
The quarter final between Argentina and the Netherlands was a game with an incredible comeback from the Netherlands, who were down 2-0 until the 85th minute, and then they went on to tie the game, but Argentina prevailed in penalties. This game holds an unsavory record though, that of the most yellow cards in a World Cup match and the game is now dubbed the battle of Lusail (Which is the name of the stadium). The cards started flowing in the 43rd minute, when a player on each team received a yellow, and both teams ended the half with 2 yellow cards (And a member of the Argentine coaching staff got one too). The second half and extra time was ugly in terms of yellow cards, with 18 yellow cards given by the end (2 given to a Dutch player in the penalty shootout, ending in a red. Another one of those yellows was given to the Argentina manager).
Most World Cup Goals Scored Before The Age Of 24: Kylian Mbappe (France)
A 60 year old record held by Pele was broken in France’s 3-1 round of 16 win vs Poland when Kylian Mbappe scored his second goal of the game. This brought Mbappe’s World Cup goal total in the 2 World Cups he has played to 9. All of this has been done while the French forward is still just 23 years old, which means he beat the record of the most World Cup goals scored before turning 24, previously held by Pele, who had 8. This is definitely a sign that the future is bright for the PSG star.
First Player Born In The 21st Century To Score In The World Cup: Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham scored the first goal in 6-2 win over Iran for England’s first game of the group stage and the 19 year old was praised across the world. Bellingham, who will be the target of many club’s transfers in the upcoming transfer window became the first player born in the 21st century to score in a world cup game. The midfielder, born in 2003, beat the Spanish player Gavi, who was born in 2004 by a matter of days, as Gavi scored two days later in Spain 7-0 blow out against Costa Rica.
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