Commentary Box: A slew of World Cup stats to savour

The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has truly lived up to the hype thus far with 44 exhilarating clashes which have taken place in 11 host cities.

It just feels like this World Cup has had it all with underdogs such as Sweden triumphant and World Cup holders Germany being ousted, to name but a few. Add to that the somewhat controversial Video Assistant Referee calls and the increased number of penalties and you truly have a Smorgasbord of stats to chew on.

Here are a few of the interesting stats of the World Cup thus far:  

• A total of 116 goals have been scored.
• England captain and top striker, Harry Kane is leading scorer with 5 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) are tied second with 4 goals.
• On average 2.6 goals have been scored per match (Only one match (France versus Denmark) has ended in a 0-0 draw.
• 147 yellow cards have been dished out as well as three red cards (that is an average of 3.3 yellow cards per match.)
• A total of 33 231 passes have been completed with Spain having the best passing record with 2089 passes completed.
• Belgium and England have scored the most goals in the tournament thus far with 8. Ironically Germany who was ousted after their 2-0 loss to the Korea Republic has the most attacking attempts with 252. Guess you need to use those chances if you want to progress!
• Korea Republic has made the most fouls with 63, whilst Japan has made the least fouls with a miserly 17.
• Brazil’s Neymar has had the most attempts at goal with 17, while Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico has made the most saves (17.)

Source: Fifa.com