World Cup so far in numbers: Stats from the opening round

The 2023 World Cup has delivered plenty of action in its opening round. Across the first 24 matches, 75 goals have been scored, yielding a rate of 3.125 goals per game—the highest after the first set of group matches since 1958. Despite concerns about the tournament's extended format, the competitive balance has been strong: nine of the 24 matches ended in draws, a 37.5% draw ratio that equals the figure from 2010 and has only been higher once since 1954.

Sharp shooters and wasteful finishers

Six players took six or more shots in their opening game, but only two found the net: England's Harry Kane and Argentina's Lionel Messi. Kane's double drew him level with Gary Lineker as England's all-time top World Cup scorer with 10 goals, while Messi's hat-trick saw him equal Germany's Miroslav Klose as the all-time top scorer in tournament history with 16 goals.

Turkey's Arda Guler has taken the most shots so far—eight attempts—but they amounted to just 0.26 expected goals (xG), highlighting optimistic shooting against Australia. Historically, a player with such shot quality would score once every 31 attempts. South Korea's Son Heung-min was the worst finisher based on xG, failing to score from six chances totaling 1.0 xG—a surprising fact given his reputation as a ruthless finisher in the Premier League.

Twenty-four players have a 100% shot conversion rate, but only two have scored more than once: Sweden's Yasin Ayari and New Zealand's Elijah Just, both with two goals.

Creativity and dribbling

Seven players created five chances in their opening game, but only Germany's Joshua Kimmich saw his teammates convert, as he claimed two assists in the 7-1 win against Curaçao. Spain's Pedri was the most creative player in terms of expected assists (1.23) and also won possession in the final third six times, twice as often as any other player.

Ivory Coast's matchwinner Amad Diallo has been the best dribbler, despite playing only 34 minutes as a substitute. The Manchester United man completed the most dribbles and boasts the best success rate among the 32 players to attempt five or more. In contrast, Brazil's Vinícius Junior failed to dribble past an opponent with any of his nine attempts against Morocco—no other player has attempted more than four dribbles without success.

Winning battles

Panama's Jiovany Ramos and Senegal's Krépin Diatta were the kings of 50-50 duels in the first round. Among 158 players who contested 10 or more duels, those two had the highest win rates, though it wasn't enough to secure victories for their teams. Bosnia-Herzegovina's Jovo Lukic was flawless in the air against Canada, winning all nine of his aerial duels—no other player with more than four aerial contests remained undefeated.