Through the first 32 matches of this World Cup, there have been 85 goals scored, an average of 2.7 per game, matching the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
But it’s not so much the number of goals that have been scored as it is how and when some of them happened that’s surprising, with 12 coming in stoppage time, either at the end of the first half or at the end of the game, and 13 coming on penalty kicks, one more than were scored from the spot in all 64 games of the 2014 World Cup.
Belgian coach Roberto Martinez, whose team is tied for the tournament lead with eight goals in two games, credits the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol for the rise in penalty-kick goals.