The FIFA World Cup has reached the quarterfinal stage and already the competition has rivalled past records, broken others, and set new ones.
It is indeed one of the most unpredictable competitions so far as some giants of association football have been shown the exit by relatively smaller teams.
These are the top 5 records registered in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Two African Nations Qualified To The Knock Out Round
Since 1998’s edition in France, Africa has had five slots in the World Cup. It has been the trend that only one African team, from 1998 to 2010, makes it from the group stages to the next round. Brazil 2014 is the first World Cup to see two African teams, Nigeria and Algeria, qualify to the round 16 stage of the competition.
However, both teams couldn’t make it out of the quarterfinals as Nigeria crashed out after a loss to France while Algeria got shown the exit after losing to Germany.
Asamoah Gyan, Africa’s Top Scorer
Brazil 2014 may have been Ghana’s worst World Cup experience. The team’s campaign was fraught with player indiscipline and agitations for bonuses, which may have culminated in their early exit. But in the midst of the drama and misfortune, something positive came up.
Captain of the side, Asamoah Gyan, broke and set a new record as the highest African goal scorer in the World Cup.
He equalised Roger Milla’s five World Cup goals when he (Gyan) scored against Germany in Ghana’s second group G game and set a new African record for the highest World Cup goals (by and African player) with his sixth goal in Black Stars’ last game against Portugal.
He also set another record by becoming the only African player to score in three successive World Cups–2006, 2010 and 2014.
Three Million Dollars Flown To Brazil
The history of the 2014 World Cup cannot be written without the famous airlifting of 3 million dollars to Brazil to pay the winning bonuses of players of Ghana’s senior national team, the Black Stars.
The government of Ghana was forced to ferry the cash to Brazil to pay agitating players who threatened to quit the competition if their appearance fee of 100,000 dollars per player wasn’t paid to them in cash.
This move got international media attention and the arrival of the cash was telecast live by a Brazilian TV station, TV Globo. This is the first of its kind in the history of the World Cup.
Brazil Records The Oldest Player To Play In The World Cup
Until this competition, the oldest player to have played in the World Cup was Cameroonian legend Roger Milla, who played in the 1994 mundial at the age of 42.
That record has been broken by 43-year-old Colombian goal keeper Faryd Mondragon, who played in the game that saw his country win 4-1 against Japan. He has become the oldest player to play in the World Cup and once again, this milestone has been recorded in Brazil.
Klose Equals Ronaldo’s All Time World Cup Goals
German striker Miroslav Klose equalled Brazilian legend Ronaldo’s World Cup goal record in Germany’s 2-2 group match against Ghana.
He netted his 15th goal in the World Cup to tally that of Ronaldo’s, who until 2006, was the holder of that enviable position as the highest World Cup goal scorer.
With Germany still in contention in the mundial, Klose may break Ronaldo’s record if given the chance to play.