The quirkiest facts about the teams heading to the World Cup | OneFootball

The group draw for next year's tournament will take place this Friday from 2 PM in Washington, United States.

In the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup draw, which will be held this Friday at 2 PM in Washington, United States, here is a look at some curious facts about different teams ahead of the tournament that will be held from June 11 to July 19 in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.

1. Ghana

Asamoah Gyan, a Ghanaian player, shares a record that no one wants: along with Lionel Messi, he has missed the most penalties in a World Cup (excluding shootouts), with two misses each. Gyan missed against the Czech Republic in 2006 and Uruguay in 2010. Meanwhile, Messi missed against Iceland in 2018 and Poland in 2022.

2. Germany

Miroslav Klose holds the absolute record for goals in World Cups: a total of 16. He scored five in 2002, five in 2006, four in 2010, and two in 2014. All were scored inside the area, a perfect display of his goal-scoring instinct.

3. Japan

Japan, along with South Korea, was a pioneer in co-hosting a World Cup in 2002. The 2026 edition will be only the second time the tournament is held in more than one country and the first in history with three hosts.

4. Brazil

The only team Brazil has faced and never beaten is Norway. They have met four times: they drew in friendlies in 1988 and 2006, the Norwegians won another in 1997 and in the group stage of the 1998 World Cup.

5. Portugal

Before the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal had only played in three World Cups (1966, 1986, and 2002). Since his debut in 2003, they have qualified for six consecutive editions (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026). A before and after marked by one figure.

6. Senegal

In 2018, the Senegalese team experienced an unprecedented elimination: they were knocked out due to fair play points. They were tied in everything with Japan but received more yellow cards and were eliminated in the group stage by that criterion.

7. Switzerland

In 2006, they became the only team in World Cup history to finish the tournament without conceding a single goal, although it didn't help them advance to the final stages: they fell in the round of 16 on penalties to Ukraine after a 0-0 draw. In the group stage, they had two wins against South Korea and Togo (2-0; 2-0) and a draw against France (0-0).

8. Curaçao

Curaçao is the smallest country, in population and area, to have qualified for a World Cup. It has about 185,000 inhabitants and just 444 km². To put it in perspective: the former Soviet Union, the largest country to have participated in the tournament, could fit into that territory over 50,000 times.

9. Ecuador

Ecuador was the last country from Conmebol to debut in a World Cup: it did so in 2002. Only Venezuela has yet to qualify. Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru (1930), and Colombia (1962) had already participated before.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.