| Top goal-scoring qualifier |
|---|
| Saudi Arabia -with 47 goals in 14 games, Saudi Arabia scored more goals than any other team that made it through to the finals. Bringing up the rear, the USA managed only 11 goals in 10 games. |
| Leakiest defence |
|---|
| Paraguay may have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Jose Luis Chilavert, but even he could not prevent his team from conceding 23 goals in qualification. After letting in an average of more than one goal per game, the South Americans emerged with the worst record among the 32 teams that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan |
| Top scorer in the qualifiers |
|---|
| Talal Al Meshal scored more goals than any other player from the teams that qualified for the finals. With 11 goals to his name, the Saudi Arabian put famous names like Michael Owen, Romario and Raul in the shade. |
| Lowest number of goals conceded |
|---|
| Croatia concede just two goals. With a staggering ratio of 0.25 goals conceded per game, Croatia proved to have the strongest defence of the 32 qualifying teams. They let in just two goals in eight games en route to Asia.
|
| Number of participants |
|---|
| Almost 200 federations took part: 97% of FIFA's federation members (198 out of a possible 204) entered the preliminary competition and 192 teams eventually took part. There were three withdrawals, and three nations - France, Japan and South Korea - qualified automatically.
|
| Qualification - the first major hurdle |
|---|
| In the past 70 years, more than three-quarters of the national federations have either failed to qualify on any occasion or only qualified once for the finals.
|
| Crowds turnout |
|---|
| In total, 17 million fans watched games live - an average of more than 22,000 per game (and almost 40,000 in South America). |
| Highest crowd turnout |
|---|
| 120,000 fans watched the game between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Teheran. |
| Lowest crowd turnout |
|---|
| Only 20 people turned up to see Turkmenistan take on Chinese Taipei in Jordan.
|
| The generation gap - new blood and old hands |
|---|
| Souleymane Mamam from Togo, born in 1987, was the youngest player in the qualifying tournament at just 13 years and 10 months. Stephen Sales from the Turks and Caicos Islands was the oldest player to compete at the ripe old age of 43 years and 9 months. Paraguayan Gabriel Gonzalez was the oldest goal scorer (39 years and 6 months), while Valasine Dalaphone Manikham from Laos was the youngest player to score at 16 years and 9 months. |
| Goal-ace |
|---|
| Australia's Archie Thompson scored 13 goals in the game against American Samoa on April 11, 2001. |
| Fastest hat trick |
|---|
| Abdel Hamid of Egypt achieved a remarkable feat in his team's home game against Namibia on July 13, 2001. In less than three minutes - 177 seconds to be precise- he netted three goals. |
| Four teams make FIFA World Cup debut |
|---|
| The People's Republic of China, Slovenia, Ecuador and Senegal are making their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup finals.
|
|
