36
votes
Accepted
Why is the FIFA overtime period divided into two halves?
This is required so that teams are able to change sides of the field for the same technical reasons why they change sides at half-time, e.g, equal field/weather conditions, wind direction, fan seating,...
- 5,909
26
votes
Accepted
Why did Manuel Neuer leave the goal post and come to the midfield position in group qualifiers?
When Neuer left the German's penalty area, Germany were already losing 1-0 and going out of the World Cup. By effectively becoming an extra outfield player, he increased the chance of Germany scoring ...
- 24.8k
16
votes
Fifa World Cup 2018 Group F Qualification Scenarios
You can find list of tiebreakers in Wikipedia article on 2018 FIFA World Cup (link to the current revision). They are specified in Section 32.5 of 2018 FIFA World Cup Regulations (link to Internet ...
- 5,811
16
votes
Can a football team force its defeat, e.g. via own goals?
Sports governing bodies come down very, very heavily on teams deliberately losing - a very similar example to the England/Belgium World Cup situation is from badminton at the 2012 Olympics, when the ...
- 24.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Can a football team force its defeat, e.g. via own goals?
I doubt something like AS Adema 149–0 SO l'Emyrne will happen here.
FIFA has some fair play regulations giving them the possibility to act accordingly and they're warned. It will be possible to ...
- 5,342
13
votes
Why was Japan's second goal in the WC 2022 Japan-Spain match deemed to be valid?
According to Law 9.1 of The Laws of the Game (emphasis mine):
The ball is out of play when:
it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air
From the angle shown in ...
- 4,071
12
votes
Why FIFA didn't prevent the potential cheating that may arise when the lasts of group matches are not played simultaneously?
why FIFA not just decided to start all four matches simultaneously?
Because that reduces the television audience. Having two matches at the same time is bad enough, four matches just makes it worse.
...
- 24.8k
11
votes
Are FIFA World Cup balls chargeable?
Yes, the balls do need charging for an internal energy source (i.e. a battery).
This battery is what powers some of the electronics and sensor equipment inside the ball, and of course the radio ...
Nij♦
- 8,216
10
votes
Accepted
Quickest goal scored in each World Cup edition
This is a community wiki post with a partial answer. If you have can add some missing information or additional sources, go ahead and edit this post.
The statistics below should be taken with caution....
10
votes
Accepted
All European World Cup semifinal
This will be the fifth (5) time that we will have all European semi final in a world cup. Other 4 times are as follows:
1934 FIFA World Cup1: Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany
1966 FIFA World ...
- 6,524
9
votes
Accepted
Why did Japan stop to play just before the game ends on a match vs Poland?
I didn't watch the game, but from what I've heard, the result of the Colombia-Senegal game meant that Japan were still set to qualify from the group even though they were losing 1-0. However, as they ...
- 4,071
9
votes
Accepted
World cup winner as manager and captain
There are 3 footballers who won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach:
Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 as coach)
Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1974 as player, ...
- 5,909
8
votes
Accepted
Football teams qualifed for World Cup with no loss
1982
West Germany (8-0-0)
Soviet Union (6-2-0)
Poland (4-0-0)
Brazil (4-0-0)
Peru (2-2-0)
Chile (3-1-0)
Honduras (3-2-0)
1986
England (4-4-0)
Brazil (2-2-0)
Canada (5-3-0)
Algeria (5-1-0)
1990
...
- 5,909
8
votes
Fastest opening goal of a FIFA World Cup
Here is an answer listing times of first goals in FIFA World Cups. It is community wiki, feel free to edit it - correct mistakes, add more sources, etc.
2022: Valencia 16'
2018: Gazinsky 12'
2014: ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why FIFA didn't prevent the potential cheating that may arise when the lasts of group matches are not played simultaneously?
Why FIFA not just decided to start all four matches simultaneously?
This one is easy as already answered in the other answer. By forcing 3rd round matches of the same group to be played ...
- 5,909
7
votes
Is Franco Baresi a World Cup winner?
Of course he is an official World Cup winner as he was in the official 22-man call up of Italian national football team for 1982 World Cup. You can also see that he holds the World Cup award from his ...
- 5,909
7
votes
Accepted
Why does the Australian soccer team compete in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup?
Australia used to play under the Oceania Confederation. The confederation only gets half a berth per World Cup. This means that after the preliminary rounds, the top team gets to play a two-legged tie ...
- 11.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Are there any languages where people use a different word for goal?
The list:
Arabic (Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt): هدف [pronounced as "hadaf"], Gol
Catalan (Spain, France): Gol
Croatian (Croatia): Gol, Cilj
Danish (Denmark): Mål
Darija (Morocco): Bite
Dutch (...
7
votes
Can a football team force its defeat, e.g. via own goals?
TLDR:
The answer is more or less "FIFA takes the action it feels like taking". We can look at examples and speculate, but that's about it.
..with that said:
This has already happened, in a lower ...
- 171
7
votes
Accepted
What are the lowest points scored by the top 2 seeds of a World Cup team in the group stage?
Restricting to the current 3 points win/1 point draw format, the minimum possible is 3, if all 6 games are tied. 4 is possible if all four teams are 1-1-1. Otherwise, 5 is the minimum; if one game ...
- 12.9k
7
votes
Why did Manuel Neuer leave the goal post and come to the midfield position in group qualifiers?
Jens Lehmann did it before (National keeper before Neuer) when he scored for Schalke 04 against Dortmund. And here are a few more international ones and this is from my team's league.
It is a common ...
- 5,342
7
votes
Accepted
Earliest the previous World Cup finalists have been eliminated
Since the introduction of 32-team group stage format in 1998, the worst result by the finalists of the previous edition was achieved by Italy and France during the World Cup 2010.
Both of the ...
- 5,909
6
votes
Accepted
Teams in the same group in consecutive World Cups
Brazil 1950 and Switzerland 1954: Brazil, Yugoslavia and Mexico
Switzerland 1954 and Sweden 1958: France and Yugoslavia
Chile 1962 and England 1966: Switzerland and West-Germany
Chile 1962 and England ...
- 257
6
votes
Accepted
What if goal happens whilst a penalty VAR review is in process?
Nij's answer sums up the general principles and the correct outcome. I will attempt to answers based strictly on the Laws.
Law 10 - Determining the Outcome of a Match, Section 1 - Goal Scored:
A ...
- 7,454
6
votes
Accepted
FIFA World Cup 2018: Is the group stage goal ratio lowest?
Since the introduction of 32-team group stage (GS) system in 1998:
year | number of goals during GS | average number of goals during GS
...
- 5,909
6
votes
Hasn't Kasper Schmeichel broke the rules when saving Modrić's penalty during the World Cup 2018, Round of 16 match between Croatia and Denmark?
He leaves the goal line right when the shot is taken. This is quite normal behavior and accepted by the referees. It is very hard to see and the referee also has to watch the other players when they ...
- 5,342
6
votes
Accepted
Hasn't Kasper Schmeichel broke the rules when saving Modrić's penalty during the World Cup 2018, Round of 16 match between Croatia and Denmark?
There are likely two possible reasons this technical breach of the Laws was not penalised.
The offence was so minor that the referee was unable to detect it.
The referee applied his discretion under ...
- 7,454
6
votes
Accepted
Most extra time games played in a World Cup
Before the start of FIFA World Cup 2018, 63 previous matches have gone to extra-times. And after manually checking this FIFA document (contains record for matches up-to 2006 world cup), 2010 FIFA ...
- 6,524
6
votes
Accepted
Why is the Croatian football team so successful despite having a population of only 4 million people?
The following article about Why are Croatia so good at football with only a population of 4 million? sums up some of the key reasons why Croatia achieved so much with a smaller player pool:
Hardship ...
- 5,909
6
votes
Accepted
Players to score a goal and an own goal in a single World Cup game
Only 2 times a player has scored a goal and an own goal in a single World Cup game.
Ernie Brandts in a second-round match against Italy, scored goals for both teams in the same match. 1
Source
...
- 6,524
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible