This year's World Cup has turned the norm on its head, kicking off in November with a tight schedule and a particularly competitive group stage that has produced a number of breathtaking figures. As we take a break between the Round of 16 and the Round of 8, let's take a look back at the highlights of the group stage and tell the story by the numbers.
Competition heats up, no team wins it all
The competition in this World Cup has been exceptionally fierce, with some groups having four teams still in with a chance of advancing after two rounds of matches. More surprisingly, after three rounds of group matches, no team was able to win all nine points, the first time since the group stage was increased to 32 teams in 1998. The Netherlands, England and Morocco have the best record with seven points from two wins and a draw.
Weakest host ever, but Qatar has something to show for it
Qatar, dubbed by fans as the "weakest hosts ever", lost all three matches, recording the worst performance by a World Cup host, and were eliminated with zero points. Luckily, they scored a goal against the Netherlands to avoid becoming the "Three Zeros" (zero wins, zero points, zero goals), but also let China, who advanced to the final week in 2002, continue to carry the title of the only Asian "Three Zeros" in the history of the final week of the World Cup. The Chinese team continues to bear the title of the only Asian "three-zero team" in the history of the World Cup final week.
Japan advances in thriller after 1.88mm controversy
Japan turned back Spain 2-1 in the survival match, but the second goal scored by Bea Tanaka was full of controversy. The ball seemed to be 99% out of bounds before Kaoru Mitaka's cross from the baseline, but VAR ruled it valid. The Japanese media said the ball only touched the white line by 1.88 millimeters, which was called the "1.88mm miracle".
Each of the five dynasties had their own destiny.
Mexican goalkeeper Ozua, midfielder Guadaldo, Portugal Cron and Argentina Mez, are rare "five generations old". All four have played, but the first two because Mexico for the first time in 32 years failed to qualify for the knockout stage and stop Qatar. The two champions set records, with Cron's five consecutive goals being the first ever, and Mez's five consecutive assists being a record.
Argentina and Saudi Arabia, offside at half-time is the norm
In the match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia, Argentina was blown offside seven times in the first half, including three misjudgments, and as a result, Saudi Arabia shocked the soccer world by miraculously scoring two goals in a row in the second half to turn back Argentina after trailing by a goal at halftime.
Garvey's record-setting youngest starter and goal-scorer.
Spain's Xavi became the youngest player to be selected for the World Cup at the age of 18 years and 109 days after a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica. The Barcelona star also scored a goal to become the youngest "Segunda" of the tournament and the 3rd youngest player to score a goal in the World Cup.
Ballerinas have more concerns, less delivery at half time
This year's World Cup was unprecedentedly held in the middle of the European season, and the international players had to report back to their clubs immediately after the World Cup to prepare for the second half of the league season. Perhaps because of this, the internationals were hesitant to go all out in the group stage, resulting in fewer goals being scored in the early stages of the tournament. As a result, there were 24 0-0 half-time scores in the 48 group matches of this year's tournament.
Alphonso Davis, Lightning Breaks
Canada, which has been away from the World Cup for 36 years, also set a record this year, scoring the fastest goal of the group stage with a 68-second header from Alphonsus Davies against Croatia, but ultimately falling to a 1-4 defeat. The team, one of the next hosts of the World Cup, ended its campaign with two goals scored and seven conceded in three defeats.
Extra long extra time to increase the effective playing time
In Group B, Iran scored a goal against England in 13 minutes of extra time to make it 2-6, which was officially recorded as "90+13", i.e. 103 minutes of goals. In fact, this game due to multiple goals in the net, a number of substitutions and player injuries, the first half of the extra time up to 14 minutes, the second half of the extra 15 minutes, a record of extra time. The chairman of the FIFA Refereeing Committee, Mr. Korianna, said that the purpose of the extra time was to increase the effective playing time.
Crown's "Hair Injustice", High-Tech Speaks Out
In the second half of the match between Portugal and Uruguay, in the 54th minute of the second half, Bonifernandez's half pass and half shot was met by a diving header from Cron, who sparked controversy when he said that his hair had touched the ball and that the goal should have been awarded to him. After the match, soccer manufacturer adidas issued a special statement: "We have added the most advanced contact technology to Al Rihla (the official soccer ball), and we can be sure that Crown did not touch the ball at all in this goal. The 500Hz IMU sensor inside the ball is analyzed with a high degree of accuracy."
Fans flood in as Argentina plays for survival
Argentina faced Mexico in the second round of the group, a match that had Argentina's fate of qualification at stake. According to the official announcement, a total of 88,966 fans were in attendance at the Russell Field, the highest attendance record for a World Cup match in 28 years. The last time there were this many fans at a World Cup match was back in 1994, when there were 91,194 spectators at the Rose Bowl in the United States.
South Korean types kick ass, fans soar
In South Korea's group stage match against Ghana, the "Taejik Tigers" were down by two goals at one point, but Cho Kyu-sung scored twice in the second half to make it 2-2. Although South Korea eventually lost 2-3, Cho Kyu-sung's social media followers skyrocketed from 840,000 before the goal, to 1 million half an hour after the match ended. After South Korea's defeat to Brazil in the round of 16, the man's "followers" surpassed 2.52 million, which is quite an exaggeration.
