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Every four years, the kickoff of the World Cup is greeted with a mixture of exorbitant enthusiasm and some quiet trepidation. The tournament is undoubtedly fun but, if we’re honest, sometimes the quality of matches is found wanting. That’s what you get when you assemble a group of players every few month to train and, on occasion compete. Qatar 2022 pretty much stayed true to form. Some pretty terrible matches sprinkled with moments of brilliance. Look no further than CR7 replacement Goncalo Ramos yesterday. There has also been fantastic theater. Look no further than Morocco’s inspiring victory of football behemoth, Spain.
While there have been matches where goals have been at a premium — again, look at Morocco v Spain — there have been enough of them. We gathered a handful of stats that pretty much tells you the who, what, where, and when’s of the World Cup’s goals.
Some standout takeaways (for those of you who don’t want to parse charts):
- The highest percentage of goals have been scored during the last 15 minutes. Hello drama!
- England have averaged the most goals in the penalty area. Penetration.
- England has scored the most goals from open play.
- Germany took a whole lotta shots and had tons on target. Too bad they didn’t score as often.
- Germany also took the most shots from inside the penalty area. Wasteful.
- Germany’s xG was 10.1, of which they led all teams, handily topping Brazil and France. Underperform.
- Kylian Mbappe has been a goal scoring machine. Unrelenting.
- Mbappe has scored all of his goals during the second half. Clutch.
GOALS BY 15-MIN. SEGMENT
| Min. | Goals | % goals |
| 0-15 | 12 | 8.5% |
| 16-30 | 13 | 9.2% |
| 31-45 | 29 | 20.6% |
| 46-60 | 24 | 17.0% |
| 61-75 | 28 | 19.9% |
| 76-90 | 35 | 24.8% |
GOALS PER GAME
| Team | Total | SixYardBox | PenaltyArea | OutOfBox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Portugal | 3 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.3 |
| 2. England | 3 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.3 |
| 3. Spain | 2.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 4. France | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 5. Netherlands | 2 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| 6. Germany | 2 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 7. Argentina | 1.8 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| 8. Brazil | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 9. Serbia | 1.7 | 0 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| 10. Ghana | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1 | 0 |
SITUATIONAL GOALS SCORED
| R | Team | Open Play | Counter Attack | Set Piece | Penalty | Own Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Spain | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Portugal | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | France | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Brazil | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Germany | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Croatia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Argentina | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
SHOTS ON TARGET
| Team | Shots pg | Shots OT pg | Dribbles pg | Fouled pg | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Germany | 23 | 8 | 10.3 | 9 | 6.70 |
| 2. Brazil | 18.8 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 13 | 6.78 |
| 3. France | 17.5 | 6.3 | 9.3 | 10.5 | 6.89 |
| 4. Argentina | 14.3 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 14.8 | 6.71 |
| 5. Portugal | 13.5 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 12.8 | 6.76 |
| 6. Cameroon | 9.3 | 5.3 | 8 | 12.7 | 6.67 |
| 7. Mexico | 13.7 | 5.3 | 6.3 | 16 | 6.52 |
| 8. England | 11.8 | 5.3 | 8 | 12.8 | 6.98 |
| 9. Croatia | 11.5 | 5 | 4 | 10.5 | 6.75 |
| 10. South Korea | 12.5 | 4.8 | 3.3 | 8.5 | 6.50 |
LOCATION OF SHOTS
| Team | Total | OutOfBox | SixYardBox | PenaltyArea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Germany | 23 | 7 | 2.7 | 13.3 |
| 2. Brazil | 18.8 | 6 | 1.5 | 11.3 |
| 3. France | 17.5 | 5 | 2 | 10.5 |
| 4. Argentina | 14.3 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 10.5 |
| 5. Mexico | 13.7 | 7.7 | 1 | 5 |
| 6. Portugal | 13.5 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 6 |
| 7. Senegal | 13 | 5 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| 8. South Korea | 12.5 | 5.3 | 1 | 6.3 |
| 9. England | 11.8 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 8.5 |
| 10. Belgium | 11.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 6.3 |
EXPECTED GOALS
| Squad | # Pl | 90s | Gls | Sh | SoT | SoT% | Sh/90 | SoT/90 | G/Sh | G/SoT | Dist | FK | PK | PKatt | xG ▼ | npxG | npxG/Sh | G-xG | np:G-xG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 20 | 3.0 | 6 | 68 | 23 | 33.8 | 22.67 | 7.67 | 0.07 | 0.22 | 16.6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 0.14 | -4.1 | -4.3 |
| Brazil | 26 | 4.0 | 7 | 74 | 29 | 39.2 | 18.50 | 7.25 | 0.08 | 0.21 | 17.7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 0.12 | -2.4 | -2.7 |
| France | 24 | 4.0 | 9 | 70 | 23 | 32.9 | 17.50 | 5.75 | 0.13 | 0.39 | 15.4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 0.13 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| Argentina | 21 | 4.0 | 7 | 55 | 22 | 40.0 | 13.75 | 5.50 | 0.11 | 0.27 | 17.1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 0.12 | -0.6 | -0.2 |
| England | 20 | 4.0 | 12 | 47 | 21 | 44.7 | 11.75 | 5.25 | 0.26 | 0.57 | 14.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 0.14 | +5.7 | +5.7 |
| Croatia | 18 | 4.3 | 5 | 46 | 19 | 41.3 | 10.62 | 4.38 | 0.11 | 0.26 | 16.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 0.12 | -0.2 | -0.2 |
| Spain | 19 | 3.0 | 9 | 35 | 15 | 42.9 | 11.67 | 5.00 | 0.23 | 0.53 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 0.13 | +3.8 | +3.6 |
| Japan | 22 | 4.3 | 5 | 44 | 14 | 31.8 | 10.15 | 3.23 | 0.11 | 0.36 | 16.8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.12 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Korea Republic | 21 | 4.0 | 5 | 50 | 18 | 36.0 | 12.50 | 4.50 | 0.10 | 0.28 | 18.3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 0.09 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| Portugal | 24 | 3.0 | 6 | 37 | 12 | 32.4 | 12.33 | 4.00 | 0.11 | 0.33 | 22.1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 0.08 | +1.4 | +1.0 |
Provided by FBref.com: View Original Table
TOP SCORERS
| Player | Team | Goals | 1 15 | 16 30 | 31 45 | 46 60 | 61 75 | 76 90 | % team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K. Mbappe |  France | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 56% |
| Richarlison |  Brazil | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43% |
| A. Morata |  Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33% |
| O. Giroud | France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33% |
| L. Messi |  Argentina | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43% |
| C. Gakpo |  Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38% |
| M. Rashford |  England | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25% |
| B. Saka | England | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25% |
| E. Valencia |  Ecuador | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75% |
| G. de Arrascaeta |  Uruguay | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| A. Mitrovic |  Serbia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40% |
| B. Fernandes |  Portugal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33% |
| M. Kudus |  Ghana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40% |
| Cho Gue-Sung |  Korea Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40% |
| V. Aboubakar |  Cameroon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50% |
| B. Embolo |  Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50% |
| F. Torres | Spain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22% |
| N. Fullkrug |  Germany | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33% |
| K. Havertz | Germany | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33% |
| R. Doan |  Japan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40% |
SOURCES: soccerstats.com; whoscored.com; fb-ref.com
