The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now heating up, the 48 nations have played two games each at the time of writing and the sample of data to pour over has doubled since our last analytical view of the tournament took place.
That means another 24 matches have generated statistical output, more games equal more numbers to crunch and with a total of 48 now in the history books, this is what has been uncovered as we move into the final round of group stage matches.
Goals Per Game
Across the opening 48 games of the tournament, a total of 141 goals have been scored. This equates to an average of 2.93 per game – a decrease from 3.13 per game after their first wave of group stage matches were contested.
Germany’s seven at the expense of Curacao still serves as the high point of attacking output in the tournament so far. Julian Nagelsmann’s men went one better than Canada’s recent demolition of Qatar, as the 2026 hosts got the better of the 2022 hosts by six goals to nil.
Sweden has scored then conceded five in successive matches, completely wiping out the positive goal difference that was built up after thrashing Tunisia in their opening outing. European counterparts, Portugal also turning in a five-star performance against Uzbekistan.
The flurry of goals in North America also means that the current tournament average is higher than the overall figure recorded in 2022. 2.93 this summer goes up against 2.69 four years ago, but with more group games to be contested, that is not necessarily a surprise either.
Both Teams To Score %
When looking at the scorelines of the 48 games in our data sample, the picture has now become more one-sided than in the first week or so of the tournament. Whereas 14 of the opening 24 encounters recorded both teams getting on the scoresheet, only 11 further instances occurred.
This means the total now stands at 25 matches out of 48 where both teams have scored. This suggests that winning sides have now become more dominant in the second cycle of group stage matches.
Great if you are on the winning side of proceedings and can boost your goal difference tally accordingly, not so good if you have been handed defeat and failed to at least bag a consolation strike for yourself.
Over 2.5 Goals %
A statistic that will be of interest to those who are viewing the World Cup through a betting lens and that is the number of games that have finished with over 2.5 goals. Of the 48 sampled, it is almost an even split.
This means that 25 matches have tipped into three or more territory. Not a figure to be unexpected when you consider some of the mismatches that have taken place early on, it will be interesting to see how this percentage figure evolves over the next few weeks.
That percentage is 52.08%, the same figure of matches where both teams have scored. A correlation that would make sense as a 2-1 scoreline would then become a positive result for both criteria being measured.
Team Wins When Scoring First %
While it is also good news for those nations that have managed to score first because if you can draw first blood during the 2026 tournament, your chances of going on to win the game are boosted considerably.
Of the 48 games, there have been 34 wins. 30 of those have seen the nation that opens the scoring then pick up three group stage points. A 62.5% hit rate when looking at all fixtures, 88.2% when taking draws out of the equation.
The Czech Republic fell foul of this in the first wave of group games, it also heartbreakingly happened to the Ivory Coast on Saturday as Germany came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to a Denis Undav double. While New Zealand and Jordan were also scuppered by comeback wins.
Clean Sheet %
If attacking football has largely been the winner during the opening week of the tournament, then it does not make good reading for those trying to keep the ball out of the net. Clean sheets have largely been at a premium, although the 0-0 count has now increased to four matches.
After 48 tournament matches, the clean sheet count now stands at 27. Not necessarily an indication of defensive football being on show – especially when you look at the average number of goals per game but once again, reinforcing the fact that teams are now managing to win without conceding.
Average cards per game
In terms of discipline, a total of 121 cards were shown across the opening 48 games. That equates to an average of 2.52 cards per game. This figure has increased from 2.29 after the first 24 tournament matches, as more teams have now been pulled up by a match referee.
Paraguay are the current tournament bad boys with six yellow cards and one red. Miguel Almiron being caught out by the covering speech law in their win against Turkey. The South American’s tally sees them one yellow worse off than Bosnia in second (five yellows, one red).
As for those who are still managing to keep their noses clean, the group of 17 after the first 24 games has now dwindled to five. The tournament's good boys are currently: Norway, Germany, France, Senegal and Japan. All yet to receive any disciplinary action.
One-goal winning margin
Another interesting angle to look at is the margin of winning goals and it should be noted that when teams win, they seem to win by a comfortable distance. Of the 48 games played, there have been 34 wins and of those, just 12 have been by a single goal margin.
That is just 25% of all games played or 35.2% of all wins registered (12 from 34), which suggests that when matches do generate a result, they tend to open up rather than stay tight or cagey right to the end.
The remaining 22 wins (65% of all victories) therefore, come by two goals or more. This pattern typically points to either a noticeable quality gap between winning and losing sides in those fixtures or a game more open once the first attacking breakthrough occurs.
