Memory master who can recall 1,000 World Cup results claims four impressive records

Memory master Fabian Saal (Germany) is the perfect guy to have on your team at a World Cup trivia night.

Thanks to his “memory palace” he can recall the results of almost 1,000 matches that have been played in the FIFA tournament over the years… even whilst doing keepy uppies or juggling.

To celebrate the 2026 competition kicking off, Fabian dropped by our office in London, UK, to demonstrate his impressive recall skills and walked away with four Guinness World Records titles.

Racing against the clock, Fabian was put to the test by Adjudicator Will Munford, who called out a year and two teams who’d faced off, tasking Fabian to recall the result off the top of his head.

With an impressive total of 19, he first claimed the record for most FIFA World Cup match results memorized in one minute.

Going for another two minutes, he then took the record for most FIFA World Cup match results memorized in three minutes with a total of 36.

Fabian, who shares his techniques on YouTube, added in some juggling skills to claim another two titles:

• The most FIFA World Cup match results memorized whilst controlling a football in 30 seconds - 5
• The most FIFA World Cup match results memorized whilst juggling three objects in one minute - 19

Sitting down afterwards, he told us: “At the beginning I was really, really nervous. I felt some pressure and it was hard to focus.”

Explaining how he remembers so many facts and figures, Fabian said: “There are two basic things. One is to translate stuff you want to learn into pictures – our brain loves pictures.

“The second I use is to create memory palaces, you’ll know it maybe from Sherlock Holmes, he used this technique.

“A combination of pictures and putting them into rooms in my memory palace, I walk through all my rooms during the recall and see all the pictures and transfer it to the numbers and matches.

“So, if you create pictures and stories – funny stories, brutal stories, extreme stories – we can remember much more than abstract numbers and names.”

Read about more sporting achievements in our dedicated Sports and Fitness section.

Before starting each record attempt, Fabian took a minute to get in the zone.

“I walk through my rooms in my brain and memory palaces and in those few seconds I take a deep breath and try to focus and to only see my pictures,” he said.

Ironically, Fabian says he actually doesn’t have a very good memory and that without his techniques, he would struggle to remember anything.

He told us: “I have a bad memory. Everybody who knows me knows I have a bad memory but with the correct memory techniques and a little bit of training, in my opinion, everybody can have a really good brain. Much more than you could ever imagine.

“I’m the best example of that. It’s amazing what you can do with the right memory techniques. It’s all about brain palaces.

“If I don’t use memory techniques I forget everything. I have to use it.”

After scanning copies of Guinness World Records as a child to look for records he could break, Fabian says he’s thrilled to have used his skills to claim four titles.

Now, he has lots of ideas to combine other sports, and even paragliding, with his memory skills.

Oh, and what does a man who can recall so many World Cup results think will happen in the 2026 tournament?

“I hope Germany will win,” he said. “Maybe England v Germany and 0-1 for Germany.”

Want some more World Cup content? Watch our episode of What’s The Record? dedicated to all the records that could be broken in the 2026 tournament…