World Cup: European qualifications in figures
This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
21 / 100 Powered by Rank Math SEO .rank-math-seo-score{font-family:sans-serif;position:relative;display:inline-block;height:96px;width:96px;margin:20px 20px 30px;text-align:center;color:#fff;border:none;border-radius:50%;background:#eee;-webkit-box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #bbb;box-shadow:1px 1px 1px # bbb}.rank-math-seo-score.before-content{margin:0 0 30px 20px;float:right}.rank-math-seo-score.after-content{margin:20px 0 30px 20px}.rank-math-seo-score.as-shortcode{display:inline-block}.rank-math- seo-score .label{font-size:12px;position:absolute;top:100px;left:0;display:block;width:100%;color:#979ea5}.rank-math-seo-score .score{font-size: 42px;font-weight:bold;line-height:42px;display:block}.rank-math-seo-score .outof{font-size:12px;font-weight:normal;line-height:12px;display:block;color:rgba(255,255,255,0.7)}.rank-math-seo-score .backlink{font-size:12px;position:absolute;top:-94px;left:-12px;display:block;visibility:hidden;width:120px;padding:8px 10px;-webkit-transition:.25s all ease; transition:.25s all ease;-webkit-transition-delay:.25s;transition-delay:.25s;opacity:0;color:#a8a8a8;border:none;border-radius:8px;background:#fff;-webkit-box-shadow: 0 4px 14px rgba(60,60,90,0.2);box-shadow:0 4px 12px rgba(60,60,90,0.15)}.rank-math-seo-score .backlink:after{position:absolute;bottom:-8px;left:calc(50% – 7px);width:0;height:0 ;content:”;border-width:8px 7.5px 0 7.5px;border-style:solid;border-color:#fff transparent transparent transparent}.rank-math-seo-score:hover .backlink{top:-74px;visibility:visible;opacity:1}.rank-math- seo-score .poweredby{font-size:13px;color:#a8a8a8}.rank-math-seo-score .poweredby a{display:block;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;color:#6372b6;border:none}.rank-math-seo-score.unknown-seo{background:#eee;background:linear-gradient (135deg, #b9b9b9 0%, #989898 100%);-webkit-box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #bbb;box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #bbb}.rank-math-seo-score.bad-seo{background:#f8b0a2;background:linear-gradient(135deg, #f8b0a2 0%, #f1938c 100%) ;-webkit-box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #e48982;box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #e48982;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr=”#f8b0a2″, endColorstr=”#f1938c”,GradientType=1 )}.rank-math-seo-score.good-seo{background:#fdd07a;background:linear-gradient(135deg, #fdd07a 0%, #fcbe6c 100%);-webkit-box-shadow:1px 1px 1px # efb463;box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #efb463;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr=”#fdd07a”, endColorstr=”#fcbe6c”,GradientType=1 )}.rank-math-seo-score.great-seo{background:#99d484; background:linear-gradient(135deg, #99d484 0%, #83c97f 100%);-webkit-box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #5ba857;box-shadow:1px 1px 1px #5ba857;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr=”#99d484″, endColorstr=”#83c97f” ,GradientType=1 )}.rank-math-seo-score.template-circle .score{margin-top:22px !important}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square{height:80px;width:110px;border-radius: 12px}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square .score{margin:10px 12px;text-align:left}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square .outof{display:inline-block;margin-left:-8px}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square .label{font-size:13px;top:52px;left:14px;text-align:left;color:rgba(255,255,255,0.8)}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square .backlink{left:-5px}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square.before-content{margin-bottom:20px}.rank-math-seo-score.template-square.after-content{margin- bottom:0}.theme-twentytwenty .rank-math-seo-score{width:96px !important}.theme-twentytwenty .rank-math-seo-score.template-square{width:110px !important}.theme-twentytwenty .rank-math-seo-score.before-content{margin:0 auto 30px auto;display:inherit;float:none }.theme-twentytwenty .rank-math-seo-score.template-circle .score,.theme-twentytwenty .rank-math-seo-score.template-square .score{transform:translateY(22px)}
HIBAPRESS-RABAT-FIFA
Before the UEFA qualifying draw for the 2026 World Cup, FIFA looks back at the figures for European qualifying campaigns.
334,000
During qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, Iceland, with a population of around 334,000 at the time, became the least populated country in history to qualify for the World Cup. Heimir Hallgrímsson’s players achieved this feat by winning seven matches out of ten in their group (for one draw and two defeats), even finishing ahead of Croatia, the future finalist of the tournament.
315
It is the Netherlands who have the best attack in history in European qualifying, with 315 goals scored. Their most prolific campaign was that leading up to Brazil 2014. With Louis van Gaal as coach, the Oranje scored 34 goals in the space of ten games. Memphis Depay, the youngest Dutch player during the Brazilian finals, is now the team’s top scorer in qualifying with 15 goals.
36
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese legend, is the top scorer in European qualifying, with 36 goals scored in 47 appearances. He even has the record for hat-tricks scored in a qualifying campaign for the World Cup (5). The Pole Robert Lewandowski is second in the ranking (30 goals) ahead of the Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko (26 goals), the Bosnian Edin Džeko (25 goals) and another Portuguese, Pedro Miguel Pauleta (19 goals).
31
The European play-offs were contested by 31 different nations. Ukraine has played the most, with five participations, but it has never emerged victorious. Belgium, Croatia and Portugal have, for their part, the best record at this stage since they have passed the play-offs towards the World Cup three times in as many attempts.
30
Thirty different nations have already finished in first place in a qualifying group. It is Spain who have most often reached the top, finishing first in their group in 12 of the 16 campaigns they have played. Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Germany, Greece, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Ukraine have all finished top of their groups once each.
22
Among the 54 UEFA nations participating in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, 22 are still waiting to play their first final tournament. Albania, Finland, Georgia, Latvia and North Macedonia have all participated in at least one edition of the UEFA EURO, but they have never participated in the World Cup.
Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro and St. Marin have never taken part in the final phase of a major tournament.
16
The most goals scored by a player in a single European campaign is 16. This record was set by Robert Lewandowski during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. During these memorable qualifiers, the former Bayern Munich player has only failed to score once in ten matches, against Denmark (4-0 loss). During other matches, the striker was remarkably precise, notably scoring three hat-tricks against Denmark (3-2), Romania (3-1) and Armenia (6-1).
14
England and Poland have met 14 times in UEFA qualifying, making it the most hotly contested fixture in European qualifying history. The two teams first met on the road to the 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany™, and although the Poles won that first encounter 2-0, it remains their only victory in that match to date. confrontation, with England winning eight of the 13 duels that followed.
12
The biggest victory in UEFA qualifying for the World Cup dates back to May 1969 and was won by West Germany. The latter did not in fact give any detail in defeating Cyprus with a clear score of 12-0. In Essen, Gerd Müller scored four of his team’s twelve goals, while Wolfgang Overath scored a hat-trick and Helmut Müller a brace. Max Lorenz, Siegfried Held and Horst-Dieter Höttges were the other three German scorers in this record match.
8.1
The fastest goal ever scored in European qualifying was scored after just 8.1 seconds by Belgian Christian Benteke. During qualifying for Russia 2018, the striker stole the ball from Gibraltar from the kick-off and immediately scored the first of his team’s six goals that day (6-0).
Previously, the record belonged to San Marino player Davide Gualtieri, who famously scored after 8.3 seconds against England in qualifying for USA 1994. The English ended up winning impose 7-1, but ultimately missed the American meeting.
7
Only seven teams have finished a qualifying phase with a perfect record. West Germany and the Soviet Union both won their four matches before the 1962 World Cup in Chile. The Germans repeated the feat in their campaign before Spain 1982, winning eight in eight matches. Future third in the tournament, Poland also signed a perfect record before the Iberian meeting, but in a group of three (four wins in four matches).
As a symbol, before they found themselves in the final of the 2010 World Cup, Spain and the Netherlands validated their ticket to South Africa by achieving a flawless performance (ten out of ten for the Roja, eight out of eight for the Oranje). Germany, then the reigning world champion, once again achieved the feat of winning all of its matches during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
4.15
An average of 4.15 goals per match were scored in the qualifying campaign preceding the 1958 World Cup, a record. France and Belgium both scored eight goals against Iceland in Group 2 (8-0 and 8-3 respectively), while Bulgaria’s 7-0 victory over Norway also helped boost the lead. average.
3
Only three teams have completed a qualifying campaign without conceding a single goal. Belgium and Italy both managed six clean sheets in qualifying for the 1974 World Cup, and while the Azzurri finished first in their group, the Red Devils were edged out in the race for the German World Cup by the Netherlands, on goal difference.
England also managed to keep their goals clean in six out of six matches in qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, but this did not allow them to beat Sweden in Group 2 (both nations qualified, however).
1
The very first qualifying match for a FIFA World Cup took place between two European teams, in the lead-up to Italy 1934. Sweden then faced Estonia on June 11, 1933, in Stockholm. The hosts quickly broke away, leading 3-0 after a quarter of an hour of play. Although Estonia reduced the gap twice, it was still the Swedes who ended up winning 6-2 and who therefore qualified.
The figures and statistics which appear above do not take into account the qualifying campaigns which took place before Sweden 1958, the latter being until then global and not organized by confederation.
