How many of these did you already know?

This Sunday evening, the 2026 World Cup comes to an end with the final between Spain and Argentina.

For the occasion, we’re bringing back some juicy anecdotes about World Cup finals!

• The fastest goal in World Cup final history was scored by Johan Neeskens in the final between the Netherlands and West Germany, when the Germans hadn’t even touched the ball yet.

• It took 60 years to see a team keep a clean sheet in a World Cup final. West Germany achieved that feat in the 1990 final against Argentina.

• Luis Monti is the only player in history to have played in a World Cup final with two different countries: in 1930 with Argentina against Uruguay, and in 1934 with Italy against Czechoslovakia.

• Cafu played in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 World Cup finals. He is the only player in history to have appeared in three consecutive finals.

• Pelé is the youngest scorer in World Cup final history, netting a brace against Sweden at the age of 17 years and 249 days.

• Only Kylian Mbappé, Vavá, Pelé, Zinedine Zidane, and Paul Breitner have scored in two different World Cup finals.

• The 1950 World Cup final won by Uruguay was not actually a final. That edition consisted of a group stage, and the last match between Brazil and Uruguay turned out to be decisive, with Brazil on 4 points and Uruguay on only 3.

• West Germany is the only team in history to have won a World Cup final after trailing by two goals. Hungary had even gone 2–0 up after just eight minutes in the 1954 final.

• The 2022 World Cup final is the only one in history in which both teams scored at least three goals.

• In 1966, the World Cup trophy was stolen in England. It was found a few days later by a dog named Pickles at the foot of a car.

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