Record That is Broken in World Cup 2018

The World Cup may already seem like a distant memory.

Attention in the UK has already turned back to Premier League transfer gossip or Champions League qualification (we're guessing in France they're still celebrating). But there are some players and nations who will have their names down in the history books for other reasons. Guinness World Records has released a list of the teams and players who broke records this summer in Russia.

Here are some of our favourites.

The oldest player to score a hat-trick

We were treated to one of the best games of the tournament very early on. Cast your mind back to day two, when Spain played Portugal. Spain were three minutes from winning their opening game when Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up with one of the goals of the tournament. Not only did his free kick earn Portugal a point, it gave him a hat-trick - making the 33-year-old the oldest player to score one in a World Cup.

The smallest country to play in the World Cup

Croatia were rightly praised for getting to the final against the odds. Many people commented on the fact that a nation of just 4.1 million people was so successful. But Croatia were by no means the smallest nation in the competition - that record goes to Iceland, with a population of just 330,000.  To put it another way, you could fit the entire population of Iceland into all of the host stadiums in Russia - and have about 250,000 seats to spare.

The most own goals scored

This record goes to the tournament itself.  Out of 169 goals scored, 12 were own goals - which is a record in the World Cup. Russia were unfortunate to score two own goals in the competition, while champions France were the lucky ones - they benefited from two own goals. One of those was scored by Croatia's Mario Mandzukic, who was the first player to score an own goal in a World Cup final.

The oldest player to score on their World Cup debut

Panama may not have had the best tournament. They ended it bottom of their group - with zero points and a goal difference of minus nine. But their player Felipe Baloy became the oldest player to score on their World Cup debut at the age of 37 years and 120 days. He scored in Panama's 6-1 defeat to England.

The oldest player in a World Cup

Panama's Felipe Baloy may be the oldest player to score on his World Cup debut, but he's got nothing on Egypt's 45-year-old goalkeeper. When Essam El Hadary started against Saudi Arabia in the final group game, he beat the previous record by two years. Egypt may have lost that match - and been knocked out - but El Hadary saved a penalty. It was his World Cup debut - and will most likely be his last match, too.

Source: BBC