World Cup 2006 Stats & Trivia

The following information was derived from the spreadsheet released by FIFA after the 32 World Cup squads were finalised by their coaches on Monday the 15th of May 2006. It does not take into account any subsequent changes, which can be made in the event of player injuries up to 24 hours before each country's first match.

Individual Player Statistics

Tallest Players - all 202cm:
Zeljko KALAC (AUS, GK),
Jan KOLLER  (CZE, FW)
Nikola ZIGIC (SCG, FW)

Shortest Player - 162cm:
Christian LARA (ECU, MF)

Average Height: 181.44cm

Heaviest Player - 100kg:
Jan KOLLER  (CZE, FW)

Lightest Player - 59kg:
Mohammad AL SHLHOUB (KSA, MF)

Average Weight: 76.3kg

Highest Body Mass Index
Angelo PERUZZI (ITA, GK) - 26.86
Marcus HAHNEMANN (USA, GK) - 26.86
Christopher BIRCHALL (TRI, MF) - 26.78

Lowest Body Mass Index
Peter CROUCH (ENG, FW) - 17.60
Mabrouk ZAID (KSA, GK) - 18.12
Dennis LAWRENCE (TRI, DF) - 18.81

Average Body Mass Index: 23.15

A NOTE ON BODY MASS INDEX (BMI): it is calculated by taking the weight of the individual in kilograms and dividing by the square of the height in metres. According to the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, a score of below 18.5 means that you are underweight and a score of over 25 means you are overweight. Alarmingly, this means that 55 World Cup players are overweight; only 2 are underweight. Thankfully, none are obese and I guess the excess weight is probably muscle in most cases.

Oldest Players - Date of Birth & age at start of finals
Ali BOUMNIJEL (TUN, GK) - 13/04/1966 (40)
Russell LATAPY (TRI, FW) - 02/08/1968 (37)
Claudio SUAREZ (MEX, DF) - 17/12/1968 (37)

Youngest Players - Date of Birth & age at start of finals
Theo WALCOTT (ENG, FW) - 16/03/1989 (17)
Jose MONTIEL (PAR, MF) - 19/03/1988 (18)
Assimiou TOURE (TOG, DF) - 01/01/1988 (18)

Average Age = 27
Median Birth Date: 11th / 12th April 1979
(Omar AL GHAMDI (KSA) & Mateja KEZMAN (SCG))
Modal Year of Birth: 1979 - 87 players

Most Caps:
181 - Mohammed AL DEAYEA (KSA, GK)
176 - Claudio SUAREZ (MEX, DF)

25 uncapped players were included in World Cup squads and 16 players had more than 100 caps when the squads were finalised.

Most International Goals:
109 - Ali DAEI (IRN)
64 - Stern JOHN (TRI)
58 - RONALDO (BRA)
51 - MOHAMED KADER (TOG)

Goals Per Game:
1.24 - Archie THOMPSON (AUS) (21 in 17)
1.00 - MATEUS (ANG) (2 in 2)
0.8  - Saad AL HARTHI (KSA) (12 in 15)
0.75 - Ali DAEI (IRN) (109 in 145)
0.74 - Yaser AL KAHTANI (KSA) (32 in 43)
0.72 - Didier DROGBA (CIV) (21 in 29)
0.71 - ADRIANO (BRA) (22 in 31)
0.7  - Asamoah GYAN (GHA) (7 in 10)
0.7  - Stern JOHN (TRI) (64 in 92)
[All correct at deadline for naming squads]

Club & League Statistics

Clubs with Ten or more players in World Cup Squads:
Chelsea - 15 players (subsequently increased to 17)
Arsenal - 15 players (subsequently increased to 16)
AC Milan - 13 players (subsequently reduced to 12)
Barcelona - 12 players
Juventus - 12 players
Manchester United - 12 players
Bayern Munich - 11 players  (subsequently reduced to 10)
Dynamo Kyiv - 10 players
Real Madrid - 10 players

Leagues with most players in the World Cup:
England - 104
Germany - 73
Italy - 60
France - 57
Spain - 52

The full FIFA spreadsheet can be downloaded from their website via this link: FIFA Media Release: Team Lists

Battle of the Brands

Seven different sportswear companies will be providing kits to the teams competing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. German brands domainate, supplying shirts to over half the teams in the tournament:

12 - Puma
8 - Nike
6 - Adidas
2 - Lotto
2 - Umbro
1 - Joma
1 - Marathon