Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Every shirt number on 2022 World Cup squad lists has scored in Qatar

Help was needed from an own goal by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Pa Sport Staff
Thursday 15 December 2022 10:01 GMT
Comments
Randal Kolo Muani strokes home against Morocco to complete a piece of World Cup trivia (Adam Davy/PA)
Randal Kolo Muani strokes home against Morocco to complete a piece of World Cup trivia (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

France substitute Randal Kolo Muani’s goal against Morocco on Wednesday means every number on the World Cup squad lists, from one to 26, has now featured on the scoresheet.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how each number in turn was chalked off, with the help of a goalkeeping own goal from Germany’s Manuel Neuer.

13 – Enner Valencia (Ecuador)

The former West Ham and Everton striker scored the first two goals of the tournament in the opening-night win over Qatar.

Also: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

22 – Jude Bellingham (England)

Also: Denzel Dumfries, Theo Hernandez

17 – Bukayo Saka (England)

Also: Ao Tanaka, Yeltsin Tejeda

10 – Raheem Sterling (England)

England’s 6-2 win over Iran ticked off six different numbers, with Sterling the first goalscorer wearing one of the traditional one to 11 set.

Also: Lionel Messi, Salem Al Dawsari, Kylian Mbappe, Marco Asensio, Andre Ayew, Vincent Aboubakar, Christian Pulisic, Wahbi Khazri, Serge Gnabry, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Neymar

9 – Mehdi Taremi (Iran)

Despite the democratic nature of the goalscoring, numbers nine and 10 retain their traditional places at the head of the rankings with the number nines currently edging it by 13 scorers to 12 and 28 goals to 23. Number 10s Messi and Mbappe, with five goals each, will battle with four-goal number nines Olivier Giroud and Julian Alvarez for Golden Boot honours in Sunday’s final.

Also: Olivier Giroud, Gavi, Richarlison, Boulaye Dia, Mohammed Muntari, Robert Lewandowski, Andrej Kramaric, Niclas Fullkrug, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Cho Gue-sung, Julian Alvarez, Harry Kane

11 – Marcus Rashford (England)

Also: Gareth Bale, Saleh Al Shehri, Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, Osman Bukari, Hwang Hee-chan

7 – Jack Grealish (England)

Also: Alvaro Morata, Breel Embolo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lovro Majer, Mathew Leckie, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Lucas Paqueta

8 – Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)

The PSV Eindhoven forward opened the scoring in all three of the Oranje’s group games.

Also: Ritsu Doan, Bruno Fernandes, Remo Freuler, Jordan Henderson, Paik Seung-ho, Aurelien Tchouameni

14 – Davy Klaassen (Netherlands)

Also: Adrien Rabiot, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Marko Livaja

21 – Tim Weah (United States)

Also: Ilkay Gundogan, Dani Olmo, Jean-Charles Castelletto, Frenkie de Jong, Ricardo Horta

23 – Craig Goodwin (Australia)

Also: Michy Batshuayi, Ramin Rezaeian, Moises Caicedo, Xherdan Shaqiri

18 – Takuma Asano (Japan)

Also: Ismaila Sarr, Dusan Vlahovic

19 – Carlos Soler (Spain)

Also: Famara Diedhiou, Alphonso Davies, Youssef En-Nesyri, Kim Young-gwon, Haji Wright, Wout Weghorst

15 – Rafael Leao (Portugal)

Also: Roozbeh Cheshmi, Mitch Duke

20 – Cheikh Dieng (Senegal)

A long way down the squad list, number 20s nonetheless rank behind only the prestigious numbers nine, 10 and seven, with eight different scorers.

Also: Piotr Zielinski, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Mohammed Kudus, Phil Foden, Alexis Mac Allister, Henry Martin, Vinicius Jr

6 – Andreas Christensen (Denmark)

Also: Romain Saiss

24 – Enzo Fernandez (Argentina)

Also: Luis Chavez, Fernandez (own goal)

4 – Keysher Fuller (Costa Rica)

Also: Mohammed Salisu, Ivan Perisic

2 – Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia)

One of only five numbers with just a solitary goalscorer so far, a list that includes number one.

5 – Casemiro (Brazil)

Also: Nayef Aguerd (own goal), Raphael Guerreiro, Manuel Akanji

3 – Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)

Also: Pepe

1 – Manuel Neuer (Germany, own goal)

The Bayern Munich stopper’s moment of misfortune against Costa Rica added the most unlikely of numbers to the scoresheet.

25 – Daizen Maeda (Japan)

26 – Goncalo Ramos (Portugal)

The Benfica youngster replaced Cristiano Ronaldo to dramatic effect in the last 16, firing a hat-trick against Switzerland.

Also: Nahuel Molina

16 – Bruno Petkovic (Croatia)

12 – Randal Kolo Muani (France)

Petkovic’s quarter-final strike left only the number 12 to be ticked off and Kolo Muani obliged with his first touch as a substitute against Morocco.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in