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It's Already The Best World Cup Ever And The Stats Prove It

It's Already The Best World Cup Ever And The Stats Prove It

We've crunched the numbers and decided that this is already the best World Cup that there's ever been

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

The World Cup has been amazing. From the surprising success of the England team (It's coming home, right?) to the hilarious capitulation from the Germans, there's been shocks, late drama, great goals, bizarre refereeing and basically non-stop drama.

There's been just one nil-nil draw out of 48 games, for Christ's sake. What more do you want?

Goal-nado - Harry Kane has been scoring goals for fun.
PA


If you were the sort of punter who believed that this World Cup would live up to expectations, then you're all across the superb bet that has proved just how brilliant Russia 2018 has been.

Before the start two weeks ago - and for those of us who have watched every game (or at least every game that didn't clash with another game), that feels like decades ago - you could get odds of 250/1 that each team in the World Cup would score at least two goals.

SkyBet


After the first game - in which Saudi Arabia looked like they'd never seen a football before - that would have seemed particularly far-fetched, but thanks to late goals from the Saudis on Monday and Costa Rica on Tuesday, the bet was successful.

On a purely statistical level, this World Cup has produced some amazing stories. We've had the least goalless draws of any tournament of this size ever, with the longest start before there was a nil-nil - 37 games.

Granted, there wasn't a single nothing-nothing result at the 1954 World Cup, but there were also only 16 teams taking part in 26 games back then, so we're calling this as the longest run ever.

We've had the most penalties of any tournament in total - 22 thus far, even though the groups are only just finished. Ok, that's probably a result of VAR, which has resulted in plenty of pens that previously might have been missed.

Ditto the huge number of set piece goals, which might well be attributed to defenders acting in a less physical manner with attackers, due to the tendency for tussling to be caught by VAR and then punished.

On an individual level, the oldest player ever to play in the World Cup, Essam El-Hardary, took to the field for Egypt at the age of 45 years and 161 days, and saved a penalty while he was at it. Inspiring stuff.

via GIPHY

And the best part is that, even though 75 percent of matches have been played, the best 25 percent are still to come.

So treat today as a rest day to watch highlights of all the action to date and get ready for even more football.

I can't bloody wait.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: SPORT, World News, Russia 2018, Football, FIFA World Cup, World Cup