Own goals, free kicks and PKs, oh my! Records broken at this World Cup

The World Cup isn’t even a week old and all kinds of records are being shattered. Here’s a look at what’s going on in Russia.

The World Cup has seen a ridiculous number of free-kick goals, own goals and penalty kicks. The reason for each vary, but it’s a sign that this will be a tournament where records will be broken.

The game has changed over the past few years. The introduction of VAR has allowed referees to review plays. This has allowed for errors to go rectified within seconds, which directly impacts, for example, whether or not a referee ultimately whistles a penalty kick.

It’s more mysterious why there have been so many own goals so far at this World Cup. It could be that teams are playing a more offensive brand of soccer. More shots on goal, especially from distance and set pieces, often means inadvertent deflections into the net.

Here’s a look at the growing number of own goals, free-kicks and penalties at this World Cup.

Own goals

Senegal’s opening goal to give them a 1-0 lead over Poland was the fourth own goal recorded at this tournament. Given that the record for a single World Cup is six (recorded at France ’98) and there were just five Brazil four years ago, it’s very likely this record will be smashed by the time the tournament comes to an end.

Counting Senegal’s strike as an own goals means there have been 45 in total since the first World Cup in 1930.

Free-kicks

Teams really have been spot-on, so to speak, at this tournament. Alexsandar Kolorov’s amazing 25-yard goal for Serbia this past Sunday, for example, to defeat Costa Rica wasn’t just a sensational free-kick, but also one for the record books.

The goal was important because it was the third direct free-kick scored at this World Cup, following Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin in the tournament opener against Saudi Arabia and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo against Spain.

It’s already as many as there were in the entire 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The stat is ironic given that Adidas went out of its way to ensure the Telstar 18, the ball used at this tournament, was scientifically designed to cut down on the amount of dip and swerve players can put on it.

Penalties

There’s no doubt VAR has led to more PKs. So far at this World Cup, there have been 10 penalty kicks awarded through the first 16 matches. The record-breaking pace included a crazy third day, where there were five penalties awarded in just four matches.

By comparison, the total number of penalty kicks awarded four years ago at the World Cup was 13. Again, this tournament is on pace to shatter that number.

It’s worth noting VAR is only used in cases involving goals scored, a penalty kick, red cards and cases of mistaken identity.