2006 FIFA World Cup Germany preliminary competition stats

Posted in Sport

194 teams, 847 games and 2,464 goals

As is always the case with the four-yearly FIFA World Cup preliminary competition, the world?s ?biggest football tournament? has once again served up a mine of information for statistics lovers.

The facts and figures need little introduction: while there was no increase on the number of teams that entered the 2002 qualifiers (194) and that figure can barely increase any further given the number of FIFA member associations, the number of matches required to determine the 31 teams that will join hosts Germany in the final competition rose by almost 10%, with some 847 games being played across the six geographic zones. Over 18 million spectators (approximately 22,000 per match) attended preliminary competition matches and celebrated a total of 2,464 goals (averaging 2.91 per game). For these and a whole host of other statistics, see the table below and the official event website www.FIFAworldcup.com.

STATS

Number of matches

Total: 847

African Zone: 190

Asian Zone: 135

European Zone: 282

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone: 111

Oceanian Zone: 38

South American Zone: 91

Most/Fewest matches needed to qualify

20 - Trinidad and Tobago / 9 - Australia

Wins (W)/ Draws (D)/Losses (L)

Overall        W/L: 659 (78%) / D: 188 (22%)

Home (H)     W: 410 (50%) / D: 183 (23%) / L: 219 (27%)

Away (A)     W: 219 (27%) / D: 183 (23%) / L: 410 (50%)

Neutral (N)   W/L: 30 (4%) / D: 5 (1%)

Most common results

1:0 / 0:1 (134x)

Teams unbeaten in the preliminary competition

CROATIA, Cuba, FRANCE, Israel, Morocco, NETHERLANDS, PORTUGAL, SAUDI ARABIA, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, SPAIN

Oldest/youngest team to qualify

Sweden (27/03) / Togo (22/04)

Number of 2006 finalists to have qualified for last five World Cups / first-time qualifiers in 2006

2002: 20; 1998: 15; 1994: 9; 1990: 7; 1986: 6

(Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Korea Republic, Spain) / Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine

Finalists with most appearances in preliminary competitions

17 - Portugal; 16 - Czech Republic (30-94 TCH, as from 1998 CZE), Serbia and Montenegro (30-02 YUG, as from 06 SCG), Sweden, Switzerland

Total number of yellow cards (average per game)

3.016 (3.56)

Most/Fewest goals scored (qualified teams only)

67 - Mexico / 14 - France

Highest/lowest goal average (GF/MP)

3.87 - Australia / 1.25 - Angola

Highest-scoring games & highest wins

13:0 Bermuda v. Montserrat

Number of goals from penalties

Most goals from penalties (team, player)

6 - Brazil; 3 - RONALDO, RONALDINHO (BRA)

Number of goals by substitutes

Most goals by substitutes (team, player)

321

9 - Costa Rica, Portugal; 4 - JOHNSON (USA)

Highest-scoring shirt numbers

?9? - 382; ?10? - 306; ?11? - 225

Hat tricks

61 (5 goals: HMAE/NCL, LAKE/SKN)

Oldest/youngest player in preliminary competition

46/07 - TAYLOR (VIR)

15/09 - SAELUA (ASA)

Oldest/youngest goalscorer in preliminary competition

41/00 - BWALYA (ZAM)

17/03 - THONGPHACHAN (LAO)

Total number of red cards (average per game)

188 (0.22)

Finalists with most yellow/red cards

43 - Argentina / 4 - Argentina

Highest attendances

110,000 - Iran v. Japan 25.03.2005 TEHRAN

90,000 - India v. Japan 08.09.2004 CALCUTTA

85,000 - Congo DR v. South Africa 05.09.2004 KINSHASA

Number of coaches who have qualified for/participated in previous final competitions

Total number of referees/assistant referees

359 / 729

Most refereeing assignments

REF: 9 - ARCHUNDIA (MEX), STOTT (USA)

ARF: 9 - GARWOOD (JAM), HANSEN B. (DEN), REIS (BRA), SALINAS (HON)