Champion in goals and games without them, Qatar Cup goes to the podium also in public

The World Cup that enshrined Argentina, three-time champion after defeating France on penalties, put Qatar at the top of the podium in terms of goals, as well as in games with no goals, and gave it the bronze medal in public, in absolute numbers.

In the history of the World Cups, which began in 1930, in Uruguay, none had as many balls in the net – not counting the penalty shootouts – as the 2022.

The Qatar World Cup registered 172 goals, surpassing the 1998 editions, in France, and 2014, in Brazil, which had 171 goals each.

Of these 172 goals, 170 were in favor and only two were against, by Moroccan defender Aguerd, in the first phase game against Canada, and by Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández (voted best young player of the Cup), against Australia in the round of 16 Final.

In average goals per game (2.69), however, the competition in the Middle East was far from the record holder, Switzerland-1954.

In a time of powerful attacks and permissive defenses, that World Cup averaged a goals per game of 5.38.

If Qatar achieved a positive mark in the absolute number of goals, reached only because the exciting decision had six (3 to 3), it equaled another, negative, the most matches without opening scoring, previously seen in the World Cups of 1982, 2006 , 2010 and 2014.

Of the 64 games in this World Cup, 7 (11%) ended 0-0: England v USA, Mexico v Poland, Denmark v Tunisia, Uruguay v South Korea, Croatia v Morocco, Croatia v Belgium and Spain v Morocco.

To celebrate, the host country of the 2022 World Cup has a high presence of fans in the eight arenas of the five cities that hosted matches from November 20 to December 18.

In all, according to the Qatar News Agency, 3.404 million cheered in the stadiums, a number second only to the World Cups in 1994, in the USA (3.569 million), and 2014, in Brazil (3.441 million).

The best attendance average is, by far, that of the North American Cup, 68,626, followed by Brazil-1950 (60,773). Qatar’s came in at 53,187, the fourth best of the 22 editions.