In this new edition of the World Football Annual we delve into the records and stories from across the global game and revisit some of the most iconic football moments in history. You’ll read up on history’s greatest major tournament performances, including Pele’s Brazil, Lionel Messi inspiring La Albiceleste to a third World Cup crown in Qatar, and Spain winning a record fourth European Championship. We’ll tour the world and break down the legendary players and seminal victories from each nation, as well as counting down their top scorers and appearance record holders. Enjoy!
WORLD FOOTBALL ANNUAL
World Football Annual
PART 1: FIFA WORLD CUP ALL-TIME RECORDS • The 2022 Qatar World Cup started ominously for Lionel Messi and Argentina. In a campaign that would ultimately end in glory for the game’s greatest player and tournament appearance-holder, Lionel Scaloni’s men fell to a stunning 2-1 opening defeat to minnows Saudi Arabia. But Messi refused to be denied for a fifth time, and through a series of mercurial performances (and coolly taken penalties) he helped Argentina to navigate a route to the final – and what a final it was. Deadlocked at 3-3 after extra time, France and Argentina faced the lottery of penalties. Showing their customary steel under pressure, Argentina won the shootout 4-2 to claim the country’s third World Cup.
FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
FIFA WORLD CUP TEAM RECORDS
FIFA WORLD CUP GOALSCORING
FIFA WORLD CUP APPEARANCES • The opportunity to play for your country at a World Cup represents the peak of any player’s career, and many have been fortunate enough to do so at several tournaments. However, only six men to date have played in five different World Cups. This elite group consists of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lothar Matthaus and three Mexicans: Antonio Carbajal, Andres Guardado and Rafael Marquez. Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon and Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa have both made five squads but only played in four and three tournaments respectively.
FIFA WORLD CUP GOALKEEPING
FIFA WORLD CUP MANAGERS
PART 2: THE COUNTRIES
EUROPE • As soon as modern association football’s rules were written in England the game’s growth was rapid – enthusiasm spreading swiftly across Europe, the cradle of the game. UEFA, the European football confederation, now boasts 55 member states, from tiny Andorra and Gibraltar to world giants, Spain, Germany, Italy, England, the Netherlands and France. The game is played and followed with a fervent passion across the continent, not only at club but also at national levels. France’s 2018 FIFA World Cup glory made it a record four straight wins for Europe, but Argentina would finally break that streak in Qatar in the winter of 2022.
ENGLAND • England is where football began; the country where the game was first developed, which saw the creation of the game’s first Football Association and the first organised league, and which now plays host to the richest domestic league in the world. But England have not had it all their own way on the international scene. Far from it. One solitary FIFA World Cup win apart, as hosts in 1966, the Three Lions have found it hard to shake off the ‘underachievers’ tag. They failed to do so again in Qatar in 2022, losing 2-1 to eventual finalists France in a close quarter-final, but they did manage to reach the EURO 2024 final.
FRANCE • France are one of the most successful teams in the history of football and one of only three countries to be World and European champions at the same time. They won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 as hosts, routing Brazil 3-0 in the final. Two years later they snatched a sensational last-gasp win over Italy in the Euro 2000 final. The French equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time, then went on to win 2-1 with a golden goal. France had previously won the...