The World Cup 2022 is scheduled to take place next year. Hence, it’s the right time to look back and check the top scorers and most appearances of the FIFA World Cup.
Who are the players who have played the most matches and scored the most goals in the history of the World Cup?
Let’s have a look at the stats together!
Most FIFA World Cup Final Tournament Appearances
Who has made the most World Cup appearances?
The most World Cup appearances has Lothar Matthäus.
German football manager and former player played 25 World Cup matches. He participated in five World Cup final tournaments: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998.
German striker Miroslav Klose is in the second place with 24 matches. He participated in four World Cup final tournaments: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2010.
In the 3rd place is Italian defender, Paolo Maldini with 23 appearances. Maldini represented Italy at four World Cup final tournaments: 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002.
Below, find the list of the players by most appearances in World Cups.
Lothar Matthäus (Germany) – 25
Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 24
Paolo Maldini (Italy) – 23
Diego Maradona (Argentina) – 21
Uwe Seeler (Germany) – 21
Władysław Żmuda (Poland) – 21
Cafu (Brazil) – 20
Philipp Lahm (Germany) – 20
Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 20
Javier Mascherano (Argentina) – 20
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) – 20
The FIFA World Cup Final Tournaments Top Scorers
Who is the World Cup top scorer?
Miroslav Klose!
German striker scored 16 goals in 24 matches of the 4 World Cup final tournaments.
Brazilian Ronaldo is in the 2nd place with 15 goals in 19 matches.
Next comes German Gerd Müller with 14 goals in just 13 matches.
Find the advanced list of the World Cup top scorers below.
| Rank | Player | Goals scored |
| 1 | Miroslav Klose | 16 |
| 2 | Ronaldo | 15 |
| 3 | Gerd Müller | 14 |
| 4 | Just Fontaine | 13 |
| 5 | Pelé | 12 |
| 6 | Sándor Kocsis | 11 |
| Jürgen Klinsmann | ||
| 8 | Helmut Rahn | 10 |
| Gary Lineker | ||
| Gabriel Batistuta | ||
| Teófilo Cubillas | ||
| Thomas Müller | ||
| Grzegorz Lato | ||
| 14 | Eusébio | 9 |
| Christian Vieri | ||
| Vavá | ||
| David Villa | ||
| Paolo Rossi | ||
| Jairzinho | ||
| Roberto Baggio | ||
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | ||
| Uwe Seeler | ||
| 23 | Guillermo Stábile | 8 |
| Leônidas | ||
| Ademir | ||
| Óscar Míguez | ||
| Rivaldo | ||
| Rudi Völler | ||
| Diego Maradona | ||
| 30 | Oldřich Nejedlý | 7 |
| Lajos Tichy | ||
| Careca | ||
| Johnny Rep | ||
| Andrzej Szarmach | ||
| Luis Suárez | ||
| Hans Schäfer | ||
| Cristiano Ronaldo | ||
| 38 | Josef Hügi | 6 |
| Oleg Salenko | ||
| György Sárosi | ||
| Max Morlock | ||
| Erich Probst | ||
| Harry Kane | ||
| Salvatore Schillaci | ||
| Davor Šuker | ||
| James Rodríguez | ||
| Helmut Haller | ||
| Hristo Stoichkov | ||
| Diego Forlán | ||
| Neymar | ||
| Asamoah Gyan | ||
| Dennis Bergkamp | ||
| Rob Rensenbrink | ||
| Rivellino | ||
| Bebeto | ||
| Arjen Robben | ||
| Zbigniew Boniek | ||
| Thierry Henry | ||
| Wesley Sneijder | ||
| Robin van Persie | ||
| Mario Kempes | ||
| Lionel Messi | ||
| Lothar Matthäus | ||
| 64 | Pedro Cea | 5 |
| Silvio Piola | ||
| Gyula Zsengellér | ||
| Peter McParland | ||
| Tomáš Skuhravý | ||
| Juan Alberto Schiaffino | ||
| Geoff Hurst | ||
| Jon Dahl Tomasson | ||
| Alessandro Altobelli | ||
| Kennet Andersson | ||
| Fernando Morientes | ||
| Romário | ||
| Marc Wilmots | ||
| Mario Mandžukić | ||
| Valentin Ivanov | ||
| Emilio Butragueño | ||
| Roger Milla | ||
| Tim Cahill | ||
| Hans Krankl | ||
| Romelu Lukaku | ||
| Ivan Perišić | ||
| Raúl | ||
| Garrincha | ||
| Johan Neeskens | ||
| Fernando Hierro | ||
| Zinedine Zidane | ||
| Landon Donovan | ||
| Henrik Larsson | ||
| Michel Platini | ||
| Zico | ||
| Gonzalo Higuaín | ||
| Edinson Cavani | ||
| Lukas Podolski | ||
| Franz Beckenbauer |
Top Scorers by Tournament
| World Cup | Player | Goals |
| Uruguay 1930 | Guillermo Stábile | 8 |
| Italy 1934 | Oldřich Nejedlý | 5 |
| France 1938 | Leônidas | 7 |
| Brazil 1950 | Ademir | 8 |
| Switzerland 1954 | Sándor Kocsis | 11 |
| Sweden 1958 | Just Fontaine | 13 |
| Chile 1962 | Garrincha | 4 |
| Vavá | ||
| Leonel Sánchez | ||
| Flórián Albert | ||
| Valentin Ivanov | ||
| Dražan Jerković | ||
| England 1966 | Eusébio | 9 |
| Mexico 1970 | Gerd Müller | 10 |
| West Germany 1974 | Grzegorz Lato | 7 |
| Argentina 1978 | Mario Kempes | 6 |
| Spain 1982 | Paolo Rossi | 6 |
| Mexico 1986 | Gary Lineker | 6 |
| Italy 1990 | Salvatore Schillaci | 6 |
| United States 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | 6 |
| Oleg Salenko | ||
| France 1998 | Davor Šuker | 6 |
| South Korea and Japan 2002 | Ronaldo | 8 |
| Germany 2006 | Miroslav Klose | 5 |
| South Africa 2010 | Thomas Müller | 5 |
| David Villa | ||
| Wesley Sneijder | ||
| Diego Forlán | ||
| Brazil 2014 | James Rodríguez | 6 |
| Russia 2018 | Harry Kane | 6 |
Find more regarding the top scorers here.
World Cup Teams Stats
The most World Cup final tournaments played Brazil: 21 from 21 World Cups so far.
The most World Cup final tournaments’ matches played Brazil and Germany: 109 matches each of them.
The most goals scored Brazil – 229. Brazil also set the most victories (73).
Below find the list of all the World Cup winners.
| Rank | Nation | Victories |
| 1 | Brazil | 5 |
| 2 | Germany | 4 |
| 3 | Italy | 4 |
| 4 | Argentina | 2 |
| 5 | France | 2 |
| 6 | Uruguay | 2 |
| 7 | England | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
Check out also:
FIFA World Cup 2022 Groups and Teams
World Cup 2022 Fixtures and Dates
