Milestone matches at the FIFA World Cup
A month out from the 1000th World Cup game at the 2026 tournament, FIFA highlights the landmark fixtures which have taken place in the event's history.
Tunisia and Japan will etch their names into FIFA World Cup™ history when they take to the field in Monterrey on Saturday, 20 June as the Group F encounter marks the global showpiece's 1000th game.
From the opening of the 1930 FIFA World Cup Uruguay™ on 13 July, through to this FIFA World Cup 2026™ meeting in North America between two teams from Africa and Asia, there have been numerous landmark fixtures featuring a host of nations.
Remarkably, there are two FIFA World Cup Finals - in 1966 and 2018 - which have fallen on a centenary, along with three occasions where simultaneous kick-off times mean two matches share the spotlight.
Two matches share the honour of being the first-ever World Cup fixture, with the group encounters that saw USA tackle Belgium, and France face Mexico kicking off simultaneously at the inaugural event. After starting in style against Belgium, USA went on to reach the semi-finals before falling to Argentina, with their official tournament classification of third still their best-ever finish. France, meanwhile, hold the distinction of scoring the very first World Cup goal, as Lucien Laurent netted after 19 minutes against Mexico. Despite losing goalkeeper Alex Thepot to injury soon after, with outfield player Augustin Chantrel taking over as the last line of defence in the days before substitutions, Les Bleus belied their man disadvantage to triumph. However, subsequent defeats to Argentina and Chile saw them eliminated at the group stage.
The World Cup’s centenary match fell just before the 1954 final, as beaten semi-finalists Austria and Uruguay, who had been defeated by eventual winners Germany FR and Hungary, respectively, went head-to-head. The duo had emerged as the top two teams from Group 3, but had not yet faced each other, due to the way the event was organised.
Twelve years later, the bi-centennial fixture coincided with the global showpiece as hosts England lifted the trophy for the first, and only, time in front of an enraptured Wembley. Geoff Hurst became the first man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup Final, a record which he held alone until Kylian Mbappe’s heroic effort in France’s defeat by Argentina at Qatar 2022.
With simultaneous kick-off times to conclude the Second Round of the 1978 event, two matches again feature at this milestone. A place in the World Cup Final was up for grabs, with Netherlands progressing to the showpiece on the back of their draw with Germany FR, while Italy’s win over Austria saw them reach the match for third place. However, both would be defeated, suffering defeats at the hands of Argentina and Brazil, respectively.
A Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina side would go on to lift the World Cup in 1986, with victories over England, Belgium and Germany FR following this success against their South American neighbours. Pedro Pasculli was the hero of this fixture, bagging the only goal shortly before half-time.
A thrilling final round of Group D fixtures saw the World Cup celebrate 500 games. Nigeria overcame bottom side Greece to top the section, while Bulgaria defeated an Argentina side now missing Maradona following his failed doping test. Nigeria, Bulgaria and Argentina all progressed to the Round of 16, but only the European side would go deeper into the tournament, overcoming Mexico and famously Germany before falling to Italy in the semi-finals.
The only centennial milestone match without a goal saw 1998 winners France secure their solitary point of a hugely disappointing title defence. Les Bleus would exit the tournament without finding the net, while Uruguay also failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Fast-forward four years, and France had regained their tournament mojo, with this victory over Spain the first knockout step on the road to a final where they would be edged out by Italy on penalties. David Villa had put La Roja in front from the spot, before Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane responded.
Eventual winners Germany and Ghana enjoyed a four-goal feast in Fortaleza, with all of the quartet scored in the space of 20 second-half minutes. Mario Gotze – who would be Germany’s final hero against Argentina – struck first, with Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan then putting the Black Stars in front. All-time leading World Cup scorer Miroslav Klose restored parity, with the 15th of his 16 finals goals. It was the only point of Ghana’s campaign, as they exited at the group stage.
A fitting fixture for the most recent milestone, and the second final to fall on a centenary, as France lifted their second World Cup, 20 years after the first. Les Bleus proved too strong for debutant finalists Croatia, easing to glory thanks to Mario Mandzukic’s own goal, Antoine Griezmann’s penalty and second-half strikes from Paul Pogba and Mbappe. Ivan Perisic was on target for Croatia, while Mandzukic also found the net at the right end of the field.