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While Costa Rica might have crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in the first round having finished bottom of their group, they were able to claim the title of the oldest average team. Their squad had an average age of 29.6 years, almost four years older than the squad of Nigeria, who had the youngest squad at the tournament.

France’s stars bring home the trophy

France’s squad was full of superstars such as Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, and Antoine Griezmann, making it the most expensive squad assembled at the 2018 World Cup. The stars did not fail to deliver, winning the World Cup final 4-2 against Croatia. This marked France’s second World Cup title, following the title they won at their home World Cup in 1998. Interestingly, the captain of the 1998 squad, Didier Deschamps, tasted success again in 2018 as he was the coach of the title-winning French team. With an annual salary of 3.5 million U.S. dollars, Deschamps was one of the best-paid managers at the 2018 World Cup, beaten only by Germany’s Joachim Löw, who boasted annual pay of 3.85 million U.S. dollars.

Getting through the group stages a tall order?

With the World Cup being one of the highlights of the sporting calendar, it is no surprise that the players and squads are scrutinized to the finest detail. One of the more curious statistics is the average height of the players at the 2018 World Cup. Serbia’s squad towered over the rest with an average player height of 185.6 centimeters. By contrast, the smallest squad belonged to Saudi Arabia at an average of a comparatively diminutive 176.2 centimeters. As both teams failed to make it past the group stages, it seems that being of an average height was the recipe for success - France’s title winning squad measured up at a distinctly average 180.5 centimeters.