46. Edinson Cavani was the top scorer in CONMEBOL qualifying with 10 goals for Uruguay.
47. James Rodriguez was the top scorer for Colombia in the 2014 World Cup and the 2018 qualifiers, being involved in eight of his country’s last 10 games in World Cup competitions, scoring six and assisting two.
48. Teofilo Cubillas has scored 10 and assisted two of Peru’s 19 World Cup goals (63%).
49. Mexico have been knocked out in the last-16 of the last six World Cups. They have only lost two of their last 17 group games (eight wins, seven draws).
50. Excluding penalties, Costa Rica were one of three unbeaten teams in the 2014 World Cup (alongside Germany and Holland).
51. Panama have qualified for their first World Cup. Slovakia were the last debutant to go beyond the group stages (2010).
52. No African country has qualified as often as Nigeria since their debut in 1994. 2018 will be their sixth World Cup.
53. Tunisia won their first World Cup game (3-1 vs Mexico June 2 1978) and has not won in any of their 11 games since (four draws, seven defeats). Bulgaria hold the record of 17 games without a win between 1962 and 1994.
54. Morocco wree the only country not to concede in the third round of CAF qualifiers for Russia 2018 (6 games).
55. Mohamed Salah was the top scorer in the third round of CAF qualifiers, scoring five of Egypt’s eight goals.
56. It will be the second major tournament for Aliou Cisse as a coach, after he reached the quarter final of the African Cup of Nations in 2017. As a player, he captained Senegal in their only World Cup (2002).
57. Five of the last eight goals scored by South Korea in the World Cup have come from outside the area. 12 of the last 13 have come in the second half.
58. Japan have only topped their group once: as hosts in 2002.
59. Tim Cahill has scored five of Australia’s 11 World Cup goals (45%). He’s one of nine players to have scored in the last three World Cups.
60. Iran have qualified for back to back World Cups for the first time in their history. They’ve never got beyond the group stage, winning just one of their 12 games, drawing three and losing eight. Their win was a 2-1 victory against USA in 1998.
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