IFFHS WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS STATS
Picture : Scott Mc Tominay (what a goal !) and Scotland qualified !
Statistics on WC 2026 qualifiers (17-18 November)
*Austria, Norway and Scotland have qualified directly for the 2026 World Cup. They will appear at the World Cup for the first time in the XXI century. The last time all three competed there was in 1998.
Germany vs Slovakia 6-0
*Germany have qualified for the World Cup for the 21st time, surpassed only by Brazil (23).
*Assan Ouédraogo became the youngest player (at 19 years 192 days) to score on his debut for Germany since Klaus Stürmer, who did so in October 1954 at the age of 19 years 68 days.
Netherlands vs Lithuania 4-0
*For the first time ever, 4 players from English Premier League clubs have scored in same game for the Netherlands.
Wales vs North Macedonia 7-1
*Wales have scored so many goals in a game only once over last 137(!) years, on 25 October 1978 (7-0 vs Malta).
The only 2 more prolific games for Wales in their history: 11-0 vs Ireland on 3 March 1888 and 8-2 vs same opposition on 11 April 1885.
Spain vs Turkey 2-2
*Spain haven't missed a major tournament (World Cup and Euro) since 1992. They are present at all of the last 17 of them (since 1992).
*Mikel Oyarzábal became the first player in the 105-year history of the Spanish national team to score or assist in 9 consecutive matches.
*Oyarzábal finishes 2025 as the Spain’s top scorer of the year (9 goals).
Only Raúl in 1999 (10) and David Villa in 2008 (12) and in 2009 (11) have produced more in a calendar year for La Roja.
Gaspar Rubio in 1929, Isidro Lángara in 1934 and again Villa in 2010 have also scored 9.
*Oyarzábal equaled Julio Salinas' record as top Basque goal-scorers for Spain (22 goals each). The next are Telmo Zarra (20) and Lángara (17).
*Dani Olmo, who also scored vs Turkey, is now Spain’s joint-third top scorer among Catalan players, along with Xavi (12 goals each). Only Cesc (15) and Basora (13) are ahead.
*Spain have conceded their first goals in the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. Unai Simón's clean sheet streak lasted 550 minutes.
*Fabián Ruiz remains unbeaten with Spain, extending his run to 41 games (world’s longest ever since debut in national team and 4th longest in football history overall).
*Spain maintain all their great streaks:
49 matches scoring in World Cup Qualifiers (world record).
13 matches scoring 2+ goals in all games.
31 competitive matches unbeaten (25 wins and 6 draws): level with European record of Italy 31 Italy (31 game between 2018 and 2021) and 2 games shy of the world record of Brazil (33 games between 1993 and 1998).
*Spain also remain the only team in the world to never have lost a World Cup qualifier at home (54 wins and 10 draws in 64 matches).
This streak will last until at least 2033 as they will not play another World Cup qualifier until that term.