Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Lionel Messi tied the all-time World Cup scoring record with a hat-trick against Algeria in Kansas City.
- DR Congo held Portugal to a 1-1 draw while Cape Verde stunned Spain with a scoreless stalemate in Houston.
- This expanded 48-team World Cup is on pace for the highest-scoring group stage in modern tournament history.
It's taken seven days, but we have finally seen all 48 nations at this World Cup in action. Even at this early stage, there have been plenty of memorable moments and talking points. Lionel Messi's hat-trick against Algeria in Kansas City made him the joint-highest World Cup scorer of all-time, but he is not the only global superstar who has sent out an early statement.
Harry Kane, Erling Braut Håland and Kylian Mbappé have bagged braces, while the co-hosts all earned positive results, Mexico and United States kicked off their campaigns with victories, while Canada earned a first-ever World Cup point. On top of this, there has also been a fair few surprises.
On Wednesday, DR Congo scored their maiden World Cup goal, courtesy of Yoane Wissa, holding one of the tournament favorites, Portugal, to a 1-1 draw in Houston. This though was overshadowed by Cape Verde's heroic scoreless stalemate with Spain at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha's tally of seven saves will forever make him a World Cup hero.
With this being the first-ever World Cup featuring 48 teams, there remains plenty of unknowns. Those against the expansion claimed that there would be lots of lopsided games, as well as an increase in low-stakes, uneventful matches. So, has that been the case so far?
World Cups: Number of group stage matches won by 3+ goals
Tournament | Total matches | % of matches |
|---|---|---|
France '98 | 8 | 16.7% |
Korea Japan 2002 | 6 | 12.5% |
Germany 2006 | 7 | 14.6% |
South Africa 2010 | 5 | 10.4% |
Brazil 2014 | 10 | 20.8% |
Russia 2018 | 8 | 16.7% |
Qatar 2022 | 5 | 10.4% |
North America 2026 | 5 (after 1 round of games) | 20.8% |
So far, the United States, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Argentina have all enjoyed emphatic victories by, at least, a three-goal margin. However, of these, only die Nationalelf's 7-1 demolition of Curaçao really felt like a complete mismatch, Germany scoring with ease at NRG Stadium.
Thus, the numbers do not lie, almost one in five fixtures so far this summer have produced something of a blow-out victory. However, in percentage terms, this is no different to the World Cup in Brazil 12 years ago, albeit is marginally higher than other 32-team tournaments in the past. We have already matched the number of emphatic victories compared to four years ago in Qatar.
So, what about entertainment value. How does this edition compare to recent World Cups when it comes to goals?
World Cups: Number of group stage goals
Tournament | Total goals | Goals-per-game |
|---|---|---|
France '98 | 126 | 2.63 |
Korea Japan 2002 | 130 | 2.71 |
Germany 2006 | 117 | 2.44 |
South Africa 2010 | 101 | 2.10 |
Brazil 2014 | 136 | 2.83 |
Russia 2018 | 122 | 2.54 |
Qatar 2022 | 120 | 2.5 |
North America 2026 | 75 (after 1 round of fixtures) | 3.13 |
A third of the way through, we are on course for the highest-scoring World Cup group stages of the modern era, both in terms of goals but also goals-per-game. This record is held by Brazil 2014, which produced 136 goals across 48 fixtures, resulting in 2.83 per-game. Having played half that number of fixtures thus far this summer, there have already been 75 goals, currently the first time in modern times goals-per-game has been higher than three.
The highest-scoring World Cup of all-time, in goals per game terms, remains the 1954 edition. Back then, in just 26 games, a whopping 140 goals were scored, which is a ridiculous 5.38 per match. While that record will remain forevermore, this year's tournament in North American has been thoroughly entertaining, and has so far been enhanced by having more teams, not worse off for it.
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