2022 FIFA World Cup Final
· Argentina and France will contest the final of the 22nd World Cup. This will be the 21st final of the World Cup as there was no final in 1950 (the final round was a four-team group).
· Argentina will play their sixth World Cup final (1930, 1978, 1986, 1990, 2014, 2022). For France, it will be their fourth World Cup final (1998, 2006 2018, 2022).
· This is the first World Cup final between Argentina and France.
· There have been 10 World Cup finals between a European team and a South American team. The European team lifted the trophy in only three of those 10 finals: West Germany versus Argentina in 1990, France versus Brazil in 1998 and Germany versus Argentina in 2014.
· Eight nations have won the World Cup: Brazil (5), (West) Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (2), France (2), Uruguay (2), England (1) and Spain (1).
· Seven of the previous 20 World Cup finals (excluding 1950) went to extra time: in 1934, 1966, 1978, 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
· Two World Cup finals were decided by a penalty shootout: Brazil defeated Italy in 1994 (3-2 on penalties after a 0-0 score) and Italy beat France in 2006 (5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 score).
· The most goals scored in a World Cup final was Brazil's 5-2 win against hosts Sweden in 1958. That game featured the youngest and oldest players to net in a World Cup final: Pelé (17y-249d) and Nils Liedholm (35y-264d) respectively.
· The fastest goal in a World Cup final was netted by Johan Neeskens (01:27) in Netherlands' 2-1 defeat against West Germany in 1974. The latest goal in a final was scored by Geoff Hurst (119') in England's 4-2 win over West Germany in 1966.
· England's Geoff Hurst (3 goals versus West Germany in 1966) is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
· The 2022 finalists are responsible for four of the five red cards in World Cup finals: Pedro Monzón (1990 for Argentina), Gustavo Abel Dezotti (1990 for Argentina), Marcel Desailly (1998 for France), Zinédine Zidane (2006 for France) and John Heitinga (2010 for Netherlands).
· The only player to score an own goal in a World Cup final is Mario Mandzukic in Croatia's 4-2 defeat against France in 2018. Mandzukic netted the first (own goal) and last (goal) goal of that final.
· Since 1982, all 10 World Cup finals have featured players from both FC Bayern München and Internazionale. Argentina's Lautaro Martínez (Inter), and France's Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman (all FC Bayern) could continue this streak.
· Players attached to Internazionale have scored eight goals in World Cup finals, more than any other club (Juventus follow on six, excluding the own goal by Mario Mandzukic in 2018).
· Argentina have played four matches at Lusail Stadium this tournament, twice as many as any other team. This includes the quarter-final and semi-final. France have not played at Lusail Stadium at the 2022 World Cup.
Courtesy of Gracenote