The 2026 World Cup finally arrived on Thursday.
We are now four games in and what have you made of it so far?
From what you have seen do you think this 2026 World Cup can prove a success?
I suppose first of all you have to answer the question of what defines a successful World Cup.
I would say the key factor is goals, lots of them.
If you accept that and agree, then I reckon the signs are very positive so far, even if it is only a very small sample of the first four of 104 matches that will be played at this 2026 World Cup.
There are 72 group matches and then another 32 in the knockout stages that follow including the third place play-off.
In the past, I think the worst world cups have been flagged early, with group matches where teams aren’t keen to attack for fear of losing. This often leading to tedious goalless draws or a single goal and the team in the lead just digging in and looking to see out that narrow victory.
Only four games played but seven of the eight teams have scored at least one goal and the four matches have produced 12 goals, an average of three goals per game.
How does that compare to previous world cups when it comes to goals scored across a tournament?
Average Goals Per Match at the FIFA World Cup (2022–1930)
Historical scoring averages across every tournament in reverse chronological order. Best viewed in landscape mode on mobile.
* Red text indicates the highest-scoring tournament average in World Cup history (1954). Blue text indicates the lowest-scoring tournament average (1990).
As you can see, in modern day World Cups after 1958, there has never been one that averaged three goals per game or better.
I remember that 2010 World Cup in South Africa as a pretty tedious one and it had the second ever worst goals per game average of 2.27.
I think the above also shows that at times you wear rose-tinted glasses due to how say England get on. So Italia ’90 is looked back on with a lot of fondness by fans in England as it was so dramatic where England were concerned, the drama and getting so close to the final. Yet that World Cup had the very worst (2.21) goals per game of any.
Indeed, you look back at England’s group and only seven goals were scored in the six matches. England themselves drawing 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland, 0-0 with the Netherlands, then sneaking a 1-0 win over Egypt.
The England win over Belgium in the last 16 was dramatic but it was 1-0 in extra-time after goalless in the regulation 90+ minutes. The 3-2 over Cameroon also took extra-time but that was a classic in terms of entertainment and goals.
Before then of course the great game against Germany but still only 1-1 after extra-time, before the dreaded penalties.
Mexico in 1970 came closest to reaching the three goals a game average, just failing with 2.97.
Can the 2026 World Cup be the one to finally do it?