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3 The world’s youngest referee to officiate in a World Cup.
Juan Gardeazabal of Spain holds the record for the youngest referee to officiate in the FIFA World Cup.
Gardeazabal officiated in Paraguay’s 3-7 defeat to France in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He was only 24 years and 193 days old when he officiated, but he had already written his name in history.
He would also officiate the encounter between France and Northern Ireland in the quarter-finals. France, coincidentally, also won that game by a four-goal margin (4-0).
Can anyone, however, break Juan Gardeazabal’s record? We have our doubts.
2 A country with the fewest World Cup matches played
Indonesia now holds the record for the fewest FIFA World Cup matches played by a country.
Indonesia, then known as the Dutch East Indies, qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup automatically
Unfortunately, Hungary thrashed them 6-0 in their first game and sent them packing.
FIFA has since altered the World Cup format. To qualify for the knockout rounds, all countries must now compete in a group stage. That means that if a country qualifies for the World Cup, it must play at least three matches.
This record may never be broken unless FIFA changes their format again, which is exceedingly improbable. However, if Indonesia qualifies for a FIFA World Cup, they may be able to wipe their names from history.
1 The most cautions issued to a player in a single World Cup match
Josip Simunic of Croatia holds the record for the most cautions issued to a single player in a World Cup match.
In the 2006 World Cup encounter against Australia, referee Graham Poll showed him the yellow card three times (61′, 90′, 93′) before sending him out.
The original match report featured all three yellow cards before reducing it to two and removing the yellow card in the 90th minute.
It is unclear whether this was done to maintain consistency in the reports or if the caution was rescinded retroactively.
Nonetheless, Poll bears responsibility for Simunic’s dubious record. When is this record going to be broken? Never.
With technological developments, the video official or fourth official would immediately point it to the on-field referee if such a scenario arose. Simunic appears to be stuck with this record for the rest of his life.
10 FIFA World Cup records that might never be broken
