What’s the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup final of all time?

Getting to a FIFA World Cup final is a feat that very few teams have ever managed to do. A game that is reserved for the elite of the elite of the soccer world, the fact is that the matchup can go a thousand different ways, but there’s been quite a lot of high-scoring affairs to determine the world champions.

While some finals are played in a very intense, closed up moods, others are just pure soccer shootouts where goals are flying around. It depends on team’s styles, but also, how careless or rebellious they are in comparison to what they’re playing for.

In recent times, the FIFA World Cup final has provided high-scoring affairs, some going to extra time as well. So, this could imply a change of the times, where teams go all out on the attack instead of being defensively prolific trying to secure the win.

What is the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup final ever?

To find the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup final ever, one must go back to the 1958 edition in Sweden. Then, a young Brazilian named Pele guided the ‘Scratch du Oro‘ to a 5-2 win over hosts Sweden. Never before and never again has a World Cup final had seven goals scored.

That was the first of Pele’s three World Cup finals and the Brazilian delivered. Pele, who is the youngest player to score in a World Cup final, scored twice, while Vava scored another two and Mario Zagallo another one, while for Sweden, Nils Liedholm and Agne Simonsson made their presence known on the scoreboard.

See also

All the World Cup champions in history: List of winners by year since 1930

Other high-scoring FIFA World Cup finals

While 1958 stands alone at the top, five other epic World Cup finals sit right behind it with a total of 6 goals scored across regulation and extra time:

• 1930: Uruguay 4–2 Argentina
• 1938: Italy 4–2 Hungary
• 1966: England 4–2 West Germany (after extra time)
• 2018: France 4–2 Croatia
• 2022: Argentina 3–3 France (after extra time, excluding penalty shootout goals)