The 32 World Cup picks were announced, and even before the ball was kicked, the first records had already been broken. Here we have collected the most surprising stats.
Belgium stats
First, the good news: none of their players together have scored more international goals than Belgium. The number of the 26 Red Devils who went to Qatar reached 246 times. Portugal, which is in second place, is a good distance away, with 192 goals (including 117 goals for Cristiano Ronaldo).
The fact that Belgium will participate in the World Cup with an old selection is also not entirely true. On average, Belgians have a lifespan of 28 years and 127 days. 5 teams submit an older roster, including favorites like Brazil and Argentina. The oldest pick is Iran (29 years, 153 days), the youngest pick is from Ghana (25 years, 108 days).
At the moment, the Belgian Enzo Scivo is considered the most involved in the World Cup: he participated 17 times, spread over 4 World Cups. Thibaut Courtois is the only Belgian to have played every match in two World Cups. He is currently participating in 12 World Cup matches and can therefore equal Sevo in the quarter-finals and beat Sevo in the semi-finals.
Will Thibaut Courtois expel Enzo Chevaux from the throne?
Belgian League stats
- 19 foreigners are active in Belgium
With Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Zino Debast, Simon Mignolet and Hans Vanaken, the Belgian squad includes 5 players from the Jupiler Pro League. In addition, 19 other foreign players from the Belgian league received a letter of invitation, which is a record.
If we leave out the top five leagues (English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Premier League, German Bundesliga, Ligue 1), Belgium is the leader with those 19 (along with the Turkish Super League).
| Belgian foreigners in the World Cup | ||
|---|---|---|
|
William Bacho |
Ecuador | Antwerp |
|
Angelo Preciado |
Ecuador | RC Genk |
|
Noah Lang |
Holland | Club Brugge |
|
Vincent Janssen |
Holland | Antwerp |
|
Ali Golizadeh |
Iran | Charleroi |
|
Gerardo Arteaga |
Mexico | RC Genk |
|
Andreas Skov Olsen |
Denmark | Club Brugge |
|
Ayase Ueda |
Japan | Circle Bruges |
|
Daniel Schmidt |
Japan | STVV |
|
Liam Fraser |
Canada | Dines |
|
Tajon Buchanan |
Canada | Club Brugge |
|
Kyle Larin |
Canada | Club Brugge |
|
Saleem Umm Allah |
Morocco | Basic |
|
Bilal Al-Khanous |
Morocco | RC Genk |
|
Samuel Joy |
Cameroon | KV Mechelen |
|
Dennis Odwick |
Ghana | Club Brugge |
|
Elisha Oso |
Ghana | AA Gent |
|
Abdel-Manaf Nour El-Din |
Ghana | yupin |
| Kamal Sawah | Ghana | Club Brugge |
- Brugge club supplier for the court
7 Jupiler Pro League clubs do not have a single World Cup player: OH Leuven, Seraing, KV Oostende, Zulte Waregem, Kortrijk, Union and Westerlo.
Kyle Larrain and Tajon Buchanan, Canadian Club Brugge.
More stats
So far, players who have participated in 5 World Cup tournaments can choose the colors as there were only 4: Lothar Matthaus, Antonio Carvajal, Rafael Marquez and Gianluigi Buffon.
There are now 4 more players. With Andres Guardado and Guillermo Ochoa, there are two Mexicans (who are now 4 years old) and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are also starting their fifth World Cup.
If Messi reaches the final (Consolation) and plays all the matches, he will also overtake Mateus with the most matches in the World Cup. That record now stands at 25.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi start the fifth World Cup
Six 18-year-olds will also travel to the World Cup, including Spain’s Jaffe and German striker Yusuf Mouko. The latter is still 17 years old, but celebrates his 18th birthday on the day of the opening match.
If you want to buy the entire Belgian group, you will have to pay €563.20 million for it, and the Red Devils are ninth in this ranking. At the bottom we find Qatar, with a choice barely worth 14.90 million euros.
However, the funder of the clubs does not come from the English Premier League. Bayern Munich beat Manchester City and Barcelona with 17 participants in the World Cup.
Remarkably: in 4 we find the Qatari dam. This is largely due to the fact that all the players of the Qatari national team play in their country. The national coach of Saudi Arabia was only looking for him in his country. Quite on the other side, we find Senegal, which does not attract any players from its league.
Bayern Munich is the financier of the World Cup
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