With the group stage of the 2026 World Cup over, it’s time to analyze the performance of each team to plan the duels for the ’32 stage.
O FolhaStats brought together the best and worst teams in each statistic with the World Cup Top 10 tool. See the results:
Goals scored
Three European teams share the top ranking of goals scored: Germany, France and the Netherlands, with 10 each.
The Germans boosted their performance in this metric with a 7-1 victory over Curaçao in the first round. But, in the following two games, they only managed to score 3 more goals, 2 against Ivory Coast and the third in the defeat to Ecuador, opening questions about the real efficiency of their attack against teams more competitive than the Caribbean.
The Dutch and French had more consistent performances throughout the group stage. Both teams scored at least 2 goals in competitive teams: in the case of France, 3 in Senegal, and in the case of the Netherlands, 4 in Sweden and 2 in Japan. Brazil appears in 9th place, with 7 goals scored.
Goals conceded
In the top 10 goals scored, teams eliminated in the group stage predominate. Iraq and Tunisia top the list, with 12 goals conceded each. Both played in strong groups (Tunisia in F, from the Netherlands, and Iraq in I, from France) and suffered from the best attacks in the competition.
Interestingly, some teams classified for the 32nd stage are among the worst defenses. This is the case of Algeria, which suffered a hat-trick from Messi in the first round and conceded another 3 goals from Austria, in addition to Norway, whose reserve team conceded 4 goals from France’s starters in the last round.
Shots that resulted in a goal
In this regard, Norway is in first place, with 31% of shots resulting in a goal, almost 1 in every 3 shots. The Nordics have in their favor the strong center forward Haaland, with 4 goals scored so far, as their trump card in attack. Next come the Netherlands and Japan, both with a 30% goal conversion rate.
Submissions
Belgium is the team that has finished the most so far in the World Cup, with 71 shots. Right behind is Turkey, with 71. Both teams had difficulty scoring in the tournament.
Belgium only managed to disappoint once and for all in the last round, with a 5-1 victory over New Zealand, after two truncated draws with few goals (1-1, against Egypt, and 0-0, against Iran).
The Turks lost to Australia and Paraguay without scoring a goal, which resulted in their early elimination in the first phase. It was one of the biggest embarrassments of the World Cup so far, given that Turkey was considered by many to be the best team in Group D and had a promising squad. In the last game, they finally scored 3 goals against the United States, but it was too late.
Games without conceding a goal
Only Spain and Mexico have not conceded goals in the World Cup so far. The Spanish have their attack questioned due to poor performances against Cape Verde and Uruguay, they maintain a good defensive record, despite the fact that their opponents in the group are also fragile offensively.
The Mexicans can continue with their goal intact in the first match of the ’32 phase: they will face Ecuador, who have only scored 2 goals so far and had difficulty breaking Curaçao’s defense in the group stage.
Fouls committed
Here, the podium is dominated by teams that are among the weakest in this World Cup. Haiti is first, with 55 fouls committed, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina (47) and Ghana (46).
Bosnia and Ghana are among the most defensive teams in the tournament: in most games, they offered strong defenses to their opponents and heavy use of counterattacks, a style of play that makes teams more likely to commit infractions, as they spend less time with the ball.
