Late goals, comebacks and upsets – is record-breaking World Cup best ever?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Belgium’s Youri Tielemans (left), Argentina’s Lionel Messi (centre) and Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha have all been involved in dramatic matches at the World CupByMichael EmonsBBC Sport journalistPublished7 minutes agoGreat goals, thrilling comebacks, late drama, shock results – what a World Cup it has been.The quarter-finals start on Thursday, with eight games left in this summer’s football festival.Featuring 48 nations for the first time and held in three countries, there is no doubt the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States has been the biggest of the 23 staged.But has it been the best?Obviously, that is subjective and World Cups will mean different things to different people – some will regard their first competition as the best or maybe it depends on how far your nation has gone.However, the stats suggest this tournament, on the pitch at least, will compare favourably.Any World Cup needs plenty of excitement – and that is what we have had.From 96 of 104 matches, we have seen 280 goals. That is 2.92 goals per game, the best since 1970 in Mexico when 95 goals were scored in 32 games, an average of 2.97 per match.By comparison, 2.69 goals per game came at Qatar 2022, 2.64 in Russia in 2018, 2.67 in Brazil in 2014 and 2.27 in South Africa in 2010. The highest scoring game has been Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao, but there have been six goals in another seven matches and five in a further 13.Another sign of attacking football is that 74.6% of goals have come from open play, among the highest proportions recorded in World Cup history, with just 5% of goals coming from penalties – the lowest percentage on record.What information do we collect from this quiz?
