The 2026 FIFA World Cup is barely a week old, and it’s already producing the kind of scorelines that make neutral fans cancel their afternoon plans. Five of the first 24 matches have featured at least one team putting four or more goals past their opponents.
Germany’s 7-1 demolition job stands as the headline act so far.
The numbers behind the early goal rush
Through 24 matches, the tournament has produced 75 goals. That works out to roughly 3.13 goals per game.
For context, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar averaged 2.68 goals per match across its group stage. The 2018 tournament in Russia came in at 2.64 for the entire competition. So the current pace represents a meaningful uptick in attacking output.
