Interesting Facts About Football Players Heading to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

World’s biggest sport event, FIFA World Cup on earth is about to kick off in Doha, Qatar on the 20th of November. With all the thrilling clashes of different nations bound to happen, here are a few interesting facts of players that we will be seeing over the course of the tournament:

Youssoufa Moukoko (Germany) – Youngest Player (17 years old)

Apart from the emergence of the breakthrough talent of Jamal Musiala, Youssoufa Moukoko is the youngest player at the World Cup this year. He plays for the club Borussia Dortmund and has an impressive stats of scoring six goals while providing three assists. A late injury to Timo Werner paved way for Youssoufa to get a call up from his manager Hansi Flick.

Alfredo Talavera (Mexico) – Oldest player (40 years old)

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will contain a-lot of veterans of the game such as Thiago Silva, 38, Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, Lionel Messi, 35. However, the oldest player to tie his football shoe laces will be Alfredo Talavera of FC Juarez. He partners up with his teammate Guillermo Ochoa, 37 representing Mexico. Mexico’s manager Tata Martino left out Carlos Acevedo for a more experienced goalkeeper.

Ilias Chair (Morocco) – Shortest Player (5ft 2in)

Morocco is in the group of teams containing very technically gifted players. It will be a test for Ilias Chair with his modest physical stature on how he uses his creativity against the giants. He plays for QPR in the English Championship. For QPR he has provided 3 goals and 6 assists for the ongoing season.

Andries Noppert (Netherlands) – Tallest Player (6ft 6in)

Louis Van Gaal has selected the 6ft 6in giant to be his first choice goalkeeper for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 squad. He is currently employed at Heerenveen where he made 14 appearances and kept a clean sheet in 6 of those games. His team will be looking at him because of his reach complementary to his height to make the crucial saves he is known for at football world cup 2022.

Lionel Messi (Argentina) – Most Appearances (19)

Arguably the best footballer of this generation and of all time and a beloved icon of Argentina, will be tying his boots for the last time in this World Cup for his country as he has said in interviews before the tournament. Messi has 165 caps and has scored 91 goals for his country – 3rd most international goals in history. He will be looking forward to adding the coveted World Cup trophy to further cement his legacy as the greatest football who has lived.

Thomas Muller (Germany) – Most goals & assists (10 goals, 6 assists)

One of the best midfielders of his generation, Thomas Mueller is a perfect blend of having fun when needed but being a true professional footballer when the opportunity calls for it. He is a beloved member of the German national team as well as crucial piece to Bayern Munich’s success. He was in the squad that won the FIFA World Cup in 2014 winning the silver ball. His playing style is different to most midfielders. The position he best describes himself is Space Investigator or “Raumdeuter” in German. Its a position that Thomas Muller has invented and nobody finds narrow spaces between the opponents midfield and defence better than him. FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to be the perfect stage where we see the Space Investigator in action.