The 2022 Qatar World Cup, which had a lot of talk and a lot to see because it was the first Middle East and first winter World Cup, came to a splendid end with the last dance of Argentine living legend Lionel Messi. This tournament, which presented us with happy memories by advancing to the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 12 years, has been summarized in numbers.
◇1= Number of times Lionel Messi has won the 스포츠토토 World Cup. Messi, who made his debut on the World Cup stage through the 2006 World Cup in Germany, kissed the trophy for the first time in what was announced to be his fifth and last World Cup.
◇2 = Bentoho striker Cho Kyu-seong became the first Korean player to score multiple goals in one game in the World Cup finals in the second group H match against Ghana. He hit the net with a header in the 13th and 16th minutes of the second half. Cho Kyu-sung’s Instagram followers increased from 20,000 before the competition to 2.87 million as of the 19th.
◇2.69=Average goals per game in this competition. 172 goals were scored in 64 matches. It is the highest ever goal, a slight increase from the last Russian World Cup (2.64 goals). Korea has scored the most goals in the last three tournaments with five goals.
◇3 = The number of Asian teams that reached the round of 16 of the World Cup. Three Asian Football Confederation (AFC) teams, including South Korea, Japan and Australia, reached the round of 16 simultaneously for the first time ever. Unfortunately, I couldn’t cross the threshold of the round of 16.
◇4 = ‘Team of change’ Morocco’s final ranking. African teams were as strong as Asian teams. In particular, Morocco, a powerhouse in North Africa, defeated Spain and Portugal consecutively in the round of 16 and quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time in Africa. Morocco was the first non-European and South American country to reach the semifinals or higher since Korea in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
◇6=Sum of goals scored by both teams in the final. Argentina and France each scored 3 goals in 120 minutes, including overtime, and presented a ‘historic’ final. A total of 6 goals were scored in the final of the last World Cup in Russia. At that time, France defeated Croatia 4-2.
◇8= The number of goals scored by French ace Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe scored a total of 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the final, beating Messi, who scored 7 goals, to win the first Golden Boot (scoring award) in his career. It is the most goals in a single tournament since Brazil’s Ronaldo (8 goals) in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
◇10 = The number of attack points between Messi and Mbappe. Messi had 7 goals and 3 assists, and Mbafe had 8 goals and 2 assists, so it was hard to distinguish between superiority and inferiority. It is the first two players since Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico to raise more than double-digit attack points in a single tournament.
◇13=Messi’s personal World Cup goals. Messi overtook Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta to record the most goals in the World Cup in Argentina. The final was his 26th World Cup match, breaking the record for most appearances in a World Cup, surpassing Lothar A Matheus.
◇16= Bentuho’s final ranking. Our national team, which reached the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years, lost to Brazil in the round of 16 and failed to advance to the quarterfinals. From the 2006 World Cup in Germany to the World Cup in Qatar, our rankings are 17th – 15th – 27th – 19th – 16th. There was no significant change in ranking from the last tournament, but a small difference led to elimination from the group stage and advancing to the round of 16.
◇17= Japan’s share against Spain in the final match of the group stage (17.7%). Japan showed its potential to advance to the round of 16 by defeating Spain with the lowest share in World Cup history. In other words, ‘Invincible Armada’ Spain lost with a high share of 82.3%.
◇18 = The number of yellow cards in the Round of 16 match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He surpassed the record of 16 in the 2006 World Cup match between the Netherlands and Portugal. It was never an easy road for Messi to hold the coronation ceremony.
◇36= The number of years waiting for Argentina to win the World Cup again. Argentina has risen to the top of the world for the first time in 36 years since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. It is the first time since Messi, born in 1987, was born. This tournament was the first World Cup held after the death of ‘legend’ Diego Maradona.
◇60 = The years following the ‘Curse of the Defending Champion’. Since Brazil won the World Cup in Switzerland in 1958 and World Cup in Chile in 1962, no team has won the tournament twice in a row for 60 years. Defending champion France also failed to escape the curse in the end.
◇73 = Penalty kick success rate in this tournament (73.91%). I tried 23 and succeeded 17 times. This record is about 2% lower than the previous competition (75.86%). Messi tried 5 times and succeeded 4 times.
◇88966 = The number of spectators in the Argentina-France final. For reference, Lusail Stadium has a capacity of 80,000 spectators.
◇44000000 = World Cup winning prize money (dollars) that Argentina took. It is about 57.4 billion won in Hanwha.