World Cup 2026 opens with a goal surge

The first round of the 2026 World Cup produced an unusually high scoring rate, with 75 goals in the opening 24 matches. That works out to 3.125 goals per game, the highest average since the first group-stage round in 1958, one of the most attack-minded tournaments in World Cup history.

For comparison, the first round of the 2022 World Cup averaged 2.5 goals per game, and the average across the past 40 years of World Cups has also been 2.5. Since then, no tournament had reached an average of 3 goals or more per game after the opening round.

Only eight of the 48 national teams kept a clean sheet, reinforcing the sense that teams are attacking freely. The article asks whether the format is working and whether teams feel safer going forward, but says it is too early to answer definitively, while calling the trend positive.

Draws were also common, with nine matches ending level, or 37.5 percent of the games. That is the highest draw rate since 2010, and only one World Cup since 1954 has produced more draws overall.