The FIFA World Cup began in 1930 but substitutions didn’t exist until 1970. Soviet Union manager Gavril Kachalin made the first substitution in World Cup history against Mexico at the 1970 World Cup. Anatoliy Puznach was the first substitute player in the history of the World Cup.
The first goal by a substitute in the World Cup was scored by Mexico’s Juan Ignacio Basaguren, against El Salvador. So far, there have been a total of 175 goals scored in the FIFA World Cup by a substitute. Cameroon legend Roger Milla scored all of his 5 World Cup goals whilst coming off the bench. There have been five World Cup matches where all goals were scored by substitutes; two in 1990 and three in 2014.
The most number of substitute goals in a World Cup was 33 in 2014, bettering 2006’s record of 23. The 2006 World Cup match between Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro is the only instance when all substitutes from a single team went on to score goals in the match. Hungary’s Laszlo Kiss is the only substitute who has scored a hat-trick, doing so against El Salvador in 1982.