The Club World Cup ended the round of 16 on Tuesday (2) with Borussia Dortmund’s classification at the next phase, after a 2-1 win over Monterrey. The confrontation left the tournament, ongoing in the United States, with a considerable average of 3.1 goals per match.
In all, there were 173 goals in 56 games played between the first phase and the opening of the knockout. In the round of 16, five clashes had three goals or more, highlighting Bayern Munich’s victories over Flamengo (4-2), Chelsea against Benfica (4-1) and Al Hilal over Manchester City (4 to 3).
Considering only the group stage, there were 144 balls in the network in 48 games. For comparison, the brand has overcome all editions of the World Cup of teams since 1998, when the tournament has 32 teams divided into eight groups – format now adopted to the Club World Cup.
The 2014 World Cup, played in Brazil, was the one that had the most goals in the first phase, with 136, average 2.8 per game. In the most recent edition, in 2022, at Qatar, there were 120 goals in the first phase, with an average of 2.5 per match in the first 48 games.
Bayern Munich and Manchester City attacks are primarily responsible for raising average in the United States. Each team scored 16 goals in four games. The English formation, however, eventually said goodbye to the tournament in the round of 16, surprised by Al Hilal.
It should also be noted that the German team boasts the best attack of the competition driven by their 10-0 win in the first round against Auckland City, a New Zealand amateur team.
Despite his amateurism, the New Zealand club was able to draw with Boca Juniors in the last round of the group stage, 1-1. With the result, all 32 teams that played the competition scored at least one goal.
This also happened in the last three World Cups of Selections (2022, 2018 and 2014). The last teams that passed blank in the tournament were Algeria and Honduras in 2010.
In the scenario of clubs, Brazilian players play an important role to maintain the good average of goals. No country has more athletes who have swivered nets in the United States than Brazil.
So far, there have been 24 goals with the Brazilian signature, scored by 19 different players, of which eight are still alive in the competition: Marcos Leonardo and Malcom (Al Hilal), Paulinho and Mauricio (Palmeiras), Keno, Nonato and Hercules (Fluminense) and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid).
With their three goals – of them in their victory over City – Marcos Leonardo is the Brazilian with the most balls on the net so far. He is in the fight for the artillery of the competition and only needs another goal to draw with Di María. Eliminated with Benfica, the Argentine can now only cheer.
Argentina is the second nation with more goals in the World Cup, with 22, scored by 16 players.
Despite the highlight of their athletes, the current world champions between teams did not have any club representative in the club knockout. With weak campaigns, Boca Juniors and River Plate fell in the first phase.
Boca said goodbye without any victory, with a defeat and two draws. The River won only one duel against Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan.
The South American highlight of the competition was due to the participation of Brazilians. The four clubs in the country that went to the United States advanced to the round of 16. Two of them, Palmeiras and Fluminense, remain alive, which makes Brazil the country with the most representatives following the knockout, alongside Germany, who advanced with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
The classification of the Aurinegra team ensured the presence of at least one European in the World Cup final. The German team will face Real Madrid. The winner of this confrontation will face those who pass the duel between Bayern and PSG.
It is possible to have an exclusively European decision. For this, Chelsea will need to beat Palmeiras in the quarterfinals and then overcome the winner of Fluminense x Al Hilal.
With five representatives, Europe dominates the quarterfinals, which still have two teams from South America and one from Asia.
Al Hilal’s victory over Manchester City, 4-3, helped reinforce the ambition of FIFA (International Football Federation) to make the competition the most inclusive global club tournament in history.
The mission of the Saudi team, however, is to break an even harder writing: to this day, no team outside Europe and South America has won a World Cup in any of its different formats.
