Monterrey [Mexico], June 20 : The clash between Tunisia and Japan in the ongoing FIFA World Cup on Saturday will be one for the history books as it will mark the 1,000th game in the history of the tournament.
Right from the opening FIFA WC match in the inaugural tournament in 1930 to the ongoing edition, there have been plenty of memorable landmark FIFA World Cup matches, featuring some of the best teams and players in the world. Here is a look at all the landmark matches in the tournament's history.
-First-ever FIFA World Cup match: USA (3) vs Belgium (0) and France (4) vs Mexico (1) (1930 edition)
On 13 July 1930, two matches shared the honour of becoming the first-ever FIFA World Cup fixture as both the USA and Belgium match and France and Mexico clash started simultaneously to write a new chapter in the history of the sport. The USA overcame Belgium 3-0 at Parque Central, Montevideo, making it to the semifinals and achieving a third-place finish. France, however, delivered the first-ever FIFA World Cup goal on the other side, with Lucien Laurent finding the net in the 19th minute against Mexico at Estadio de los Pocitos, Montevideo. France went on to win against Mexico, but injuries caught up with the side, and losses to Argentina and Chile saw them exit in the group stage.
-100th FIFA World Cup match: Austria (3) vs Uruguay (1) (1954 edition, match for third place)
In the 1954 edition, the century of FIFA WC matches was completed just before the title clash as two beaten semifinalists, Austria and Uruguay, who had lost to eventual winners Germany and Hungary respectively, went head-to-head for the bronze medal at Hardturm, Zurich, as per FIFA World Cup's official website. Austria came out victorious in the match.
-200th FIFA World Cup match: England (4) vs Germany (2) (1966 edition, final)
The 200th FIFA World Cup match saw celebrations kicking off in England as they won the trophy for the first time ever at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, with Geoff Hurst becoming the first-ever player to register a FIFA WC hat-trick final, a record which he held till Kylian Mbappe of France secured a sensational hat-trick in his side's loss to Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
-300th FIFA World Cup match: Italy (1) vs Austria (0) and Germany (2) vs Netherlands (2) (1978 edition)
In the 1978 edition, two matches taking place simultaneously in the second round, Group A became the 300th FIFA World Cup match. Italy's match took place in Argentina, while Germany's clash took place in Spain. The Netherlands made it to the final, losing to Argentina 3-1, while Italy's win over Austria helped them contest Brazil for third place in a losing cause.
-400th FIFA World Cup match: Argentina (1) vs Uruguay (0) (1986 edition)
The 400th FIFA World Cup would see a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina lift their second title, with wins over England, Belgium and Germany after this success over their South American neighbours at Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla. A goal from Pedro Pasculli before half-time gave Argentina the win.
-500th FIFA World Cup match: Greece (0) vs Nigeria (2) and Argentina (0) vs Bulgaria (2) (1994 edition)
The group D fixtures taking place at Boston and Dallas, respectively at the same time saw FIFA WC complete 500 matches. Nigeria topped their group by beating bottom-placed Greece, while Bulgaria caused an upset by beating Argentina, who were missing Maradona following a failed drug test. Nigeria, Bulgaria and Argentina all progressed to the Round of 16, with Bulgaria making it to the third-place match, losing to Sweden 4-0.
-600th FIFA World Cup match: France (0) vs Uruguay (0) (2002 edition)
The Group A clash in the FIFA World Cup 2002 saw both players play a goalless draw at Busan, South Korea, the only milestone match that ended in a goalless draw. This match marked France's only point of a horrific title defence, exiting in the group stage after losses to Senegal and Denmark, without scoring a goal.
-700th FIFA World Cup match: Spain (1) vs France (3) (2006 edition, round of 16)
This match at Hanover, Germany, saw France outclass Spain. After David Villa put Spain in an early lead, Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane unleashed brutality on Spain later on. France would make it to the finals, where they would lose to Italy 5-3 on penalties.
-800th FIFA World Cup match: Germany (2) vs Ghana (2) (2014 edition)
This Group G clash between eventual champions Germany and Ghana was a four-goal feast at Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza, with all goals coming within a space of 20 minutes, starting with Germany's title clash hero Mario Gotze and then Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan putting Ghana in a lead. The current all-time WC scorer, Miroslav Klose, scored his 15th of his 16th World Cup goals to equalise. Ghana exited the tournament in the group stage, while Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final.
-900th FIFA World Cup match: France (4) vs Croatia (2) (2018 edition, final)
At Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow played out the star-studded final of the 2018 edition clash, which also marked the 900th World Cup clash. France lifted their second FIFA World Cup title, 20 years after their first back in 1998. An own goal from Mario Mandzukic added to Croatia's misery. Antoine Griezmann's penalty levelled the scores in the 38th minute after a Perisic strike in the 28th minute. Second-half strikes from Paul Pogba and Mbappe gave France the crown. For Croatia, Mandzukic also found the net.