The first day of the World Cup in Qatar is over. In addition to the political peculiarities, a lot of extraordinary things happened on the squares. What was special is shown by the Sportschau balance sheet for the first 16 games.
Two is Better
Eleven teams scored at least twice. So it’s surprising how often a single player succeeded. Six professionals lead the scorer list after the first games with two goals. The braces were: Ennar Valencia (Ecuador), Bukayo Saka (England), Mehdi Taremi (Iran), Olivier Giroud (France), Ferran Torres (Spain) and Richarlison (Brazil).
Many goalless games spoil the cut
With 41 goals and an average of 2.6 goals per game, the ball has landed slightly less often than at the World Cup in 2018 – at that time there were 2.64 goals per game at the end of the tournament.
And that despite the high-scoring matches between England and Iran (6-2), France and Australia (4-1), Spain and Costa Rica (7-0) and Portugal and Ghana (3-2). The reason for this is the four games that ended 0-0. Four years ago there was only one of the 64 games without a goal.
Not a tournament for snipers and standard specialists
Each of the 41 goals was scored inside the box. Especially for the Brazilians, it was also due to the fact that long-distance shots were simply lacking in luck. The Selecao hit aluminum twice from a distance.
The defenders were also unsuccessful, which is also a consequence of the fact that almost no goals are scored from dead balls. Only two goals came from corners or free kicks, in 2018 every fourth goal resulted from such set pieces.
But what is also striking: There was no own goal. In Russia, such mishaps were almost the order of the day, the ball went into their own goal twelve times.
Correct coaching decisions are becoming more and more important
It’s also the first World Cup where five substitutions are allowed – and it’s clearly showing. Nine of the 41 goals were scored by jokers (22 percent), four years ago it was only nine percent. In general, it is the highest value in World Cup history.
So the coaches not only have the opportunity to intervene even more during the game, they also do it really well in many cases. The German team suffered, both Japanese goals were scored by jokers.
Fairness comes first
Not a single player has been sent off by the referees. In principle, things are now much fairer at world championships (in 2018 there were only four dismissals in the entire tournament). But the first day of the game shows that red cards are really only drawn out in exceptional cases at this World Cup. Warnings, on the other hand, are quite common, the game Germany against Japan was the only one that did not get a yellow card.
Much FC Bayern with little success
No club is as present at this World Cup as FC Bayern Munich. 14 players from the German record champions were used on the first day of the game – more than any other club. However, the record of Bayern kickers is extremely manageable.
There was no goal, but two injuries. Lucas Hernandez (torn cruciate ligament) and Noussair Mazraoui had to be substituted early. And there were only victories for the Bavarian French and Dutch. The biggest Bayern block, in the German national team, suffered a 2-1 defeat by Japan.
The (self) honest knowledge
Kevin de Bruyne’s outstanding qualities are known worldwide. In the game against Canada (1-0), however, the midfield star from Manchester City was unable to show it. He only won 43 percent of his duels and managed 79 percent of his passes – de Bruyne repeatedly made wrong decisions, especially in promising situations.
Even he was surprised that he was named “Man of the Match” by FIFA anyway.”I have no idea why I became a player of the game. Maybe because of my name‘ said de Bruyne.
Almost endless games
“A game lasts 90 minutes – and in the end Germany always wins.” This famous sentence by Gary Lineker is not only obsolete because of the manageable results of the DFB team in major tournaments for years now, but also because the referees really put the fitness of the World Cup players to the test in Qatar.
The stoppage times are extremely long – but there is hope. The first eight games were extended by an average of 15.25 minutes, in the second half of the first day it was “only” 10.5 minutes per game.
Africa disappoints, Asia surprises
None of the five African teams could win at the start. Only Tunisia managed to win a point against Denmark (0:0), otherwise there were only defeats. This continues the trend from the 2018 tournament, when all participants from Africa were eliminated in the group stage.
The teams from Asia, on the other hand, were a positive surprise. Japan shocked the DFB team, Saudi Arabia the co-favorites Argentina (both 2:1). South Korea also managed a respectable win against Uruguay (0-0).
The zero stands thanks to Kim
Apropos, South Korea: The strong defense was mainly responsible for the point win against Uruguay. And so the players Kim, Kim, Kim, Kim and Kim. All four defenders in the starting XI carried the surname, as did the goalkeeper.