With 100 days to go until the FIFA World Cup begins, we take a look at some of the competition's long-standing statistics and the records that could be broken by Australia's all-time top goalscorer Tim Cahill.
World Cup bolters: Australia's history
If Cahill scores in Russia….
He will become only the fourth player to score in four straight World Cups. He will join Pele (1958, 1962, 1966, 1970), West Germany’s Uwe Seeler (1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970), and Germany’s Miroslav Klose (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014).
Cahill could become the World Cup 15th oldest player
If Cahill takes the field in Russia he will become the 15th oldest player to ever play a World Cup match and oldest Australian. Mark Schwarzer is currently Australia’s oldest representative at 37 years, eight months and 17 days. Cahill will be 38 years, six months and nine days old when the competition begins.
In 2014, Columbian Faryd Mondragon become the oldest player to play a World Cup match at 43 years and three days. Northern Irishman Norman Whiteside is the youngest player to play at World Cup match at 17 years, one month and ten days.
Most World Cup matches
Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus played 25 World Cup matches, followed by fellow German Miroslav Klose with 24. Mark Bresciano leads Australia in appearances with nine, followed by Tim Cahill with eight.
Most World Cup goals
Germany’s Miroslav Klose leads World Cup goals scores with 16 goals from his 24 games
Fastest goal
The fastest goal in World Cup history is Turkey’s Hukan Sükür’s 11 second goal against South Korea in 2002.
Most goals in a match
Russia’s Oleg Salenko scored five goals in a 6-1 win over Cameroon in 1994.
Most goals in a single World Cup
Frenchman Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup, in just six games.
Highest scoring match
Austria and Switzerland’s 1954 quarterfinal still remains the World Cup’s highest scoring match with 12 goals scored. Austria won the match 7-5.
Biggest winning margins
Hungary have twice won by 9 goals. In 1954 they beat South Korea 9-0 before beating El Salvador 10-1 in 1982.
Most cards in a match
Senegal v Uruguay (2002), Portugal v Netherlands (2006) and the Netherlands v Spain final (2010) each saw 12 cards handed out by the referee.
Highest attendance at a World Cup match
The highest attendance at a World Cup match was the 1950 Brazil v Uruguay final in Rio De Janeiro with an attendance of 173,850. Brazil also featured in the second, third and fourth highest attended matched, also at the 1950 World Cup.