World Cup 2026 by the Numbers: xG, Shots & Records of Round 1

The first World Cup round is done — and beneath the scorelines sits a layer of numbers that tells a much bigger story. Expected goals (xG), shots, possession, saves, crosses: we've gathered the most interesting statistics of the opening round. And at the end, we show you what actually matters for your prediction round.

As of 18 June 2026

Expected goals (xG): who should have scored

xG measures the quality of chances — how many goals a team "deserved" based on the openings it created. The opening round produced some telling numbers:

• Spain lead the whole World Cup with around 2.19 xG per game — and still only managed 0-0 against Cape Verde. The classic "dominated but didn't finish."
• Germany generated a huge 4.22 xG in the 7-1 over Curaçao.
• Switzerland reached 3.24 xG against Qatar.
• Mexico conceded just 0.07 xG against South Africa — a near-perfect defensive display.
• The USA scored four from only 1.35 xG — ice-cold finishing (or a little luck, depending on your read).

The lesson: xG separates the unlucky (Spain) from the clinical (USA). That gap is gold for tippers (more below).

Every team's xG from round 1

The full xG ranking of the opening games (goals scored in brackets), source RealGM — Uzbekistan and Colombia are missing, their game wasn't logged at the time of writing:

• Germany 4.22 (7)
• Switzerland 3.24 (1)
• England 2.80 (4)
• Norway 2.53 (4)
• Spain 2.29 (0)
• South Korea 1.84 (2)
• France 1.79 (3)
• Côte d'Ivoire 1.68 (1)
• Austria 1.66 (3)
• Uruguay 1.54 (1)
• Morocco 1.53 (1)
• Iran 1.50 (2)
• Mexico 1.41 (2)
• Sweden 1.36 (5)
• USA 1.35 (4)
• Belgium 1.35 (1)
• Türkiye 1.33 (0)
• Ghana 1.31 (1)
• Canada 1.25 (1)
• New Zealand 1.24 (2)
• Brazil 1.23 (1)
• Argentina 1.23 (3)
• Haiti 1.21 (0)
• Scotland 1.05 (1)
• Ecuador 1.03 (0)
• Saudi Arabia 0.99 (1)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.98 (1)
• DR Congo 0.82 (1)
• Czechia 0.81 (1)
• Netherlands 0.78 (1)
• Australia 0.77 (2)
• Iraq 0.77 (1)
• Qatar 0.76 (1)
• Panama 0.75 (0)
• Croatia 0.71 (2)
• Portugal 0.64 (1)
• Japan 0.59 (1)
• Senegal 0.56 (1)
• Jordan 0.53 (1)
• Paraguay 0.47 (1)
• Curaçao 0.41 (1)
• Algeria 0.31 (1)
• Cape Verde 0.30 (0)
• Tunisia 0.28 (1)
• South Africa 0.07 (0)

RealGM's xG-differential ranking (own minus conceded xG) is led by Germany at +3.81; bottom is Curaçao at −3.81.

Shots & chances: 27 attempts, zero goals

• Spain: 27 shots — no goal. That's tied for the most shots without scoring in a World Cup game since 1966. Cape Verde's block withstood everything.
• Uruguay: 23 shots in the second half alone against Saudi Arabia — the second-most in a single half of a World Cup game since 1966. Still only 1-1.

Possession & passing: the 734-pass show

• Spain: 734 completed passes to Cape Verde's 205 — and 593-22 in the opposition half. It was the most touches, passes and passes completed in the final third in a single World Cup match since 1966. Total control — just no end product.
• Mathías Olivera (Uruguay): 106 touches, 89 completed passes — a Uruguayan record for a World Cup match since 1966.

Goalkeepers: the heroes of the round

• Vozinha (Cape Verde): 7 saves against Spain — the second-most by a goalkeeper aged 40 or older in a World Cup match since 1966. The viral hero of the round.
• Mohammed Al-Owais (Saudi Arabia): 9 saves — the most in any game of this World Cup so far.
• Mexico's defence conceded just 0.07 xG — the other way to dominate a game.

Style: cross barrages and patient football

• Uruguay attempted 47 crosses against Saudi Arabia — the most in a World Cup match since Argentina's 50 against Switzerland in 2014.
• Spain's 734 passes are the opposite: controlled short passing — that broke on a deep block.

Oddities & records

• Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) played the first 30 minutes without touching the ball once — per Opta, the first player since 1966 to do so in a World Cup match.
• Four draws on a single day (15 June) — the first time in 68 years, also on 15 June, back in 1958.
• Three own goals already in round one — one more than in the entire 2022 World Cup.
• Germany are now, with 239 World Cup goals, the most prolific scorers in World Cup history, passing Brazil (238).

Regional check: Asia shine, South America stall

• South America: 0 wins from 4 games — every South American side to play so far is still winless.
• Asia: 6 games, unbeaten in all 6 — the confederation's best-ever World Cup start.

"Which team runs the most?" — an honest answer

The most obvious running question has the thinnest public data: FIFA's Technical Study Group tracks distance and sprints across six camera angles and thousands of data points per game — but an official per-team "kilometres covered" leaderboard for round 1 isn't public (yet). Rather than invent a number, we read intensity from what's available: Uruguay's 23 shots in a half plus 47 crosses point to a relentless, high-tempo approach, and the unbeaten Asian record to fit, disciplined collectives. Once FIFA publishes the running data, we'll add the real kilometre table.

What it means for your round

xG is perhaps the most useful tipping tool of the round. Two patterns are worth watching:

• Underperformers like Spain (2.19 xG, 0 goals) tend to score sooner or later — backing a bounce-back is often right.
• Overperformers like the USA (4 goals from 1.35 xG) are a regression risk: almost nobody stays that clinical.

So: don't just look at the result — look at the numbers behind it. That's exactly what our AI gives you, match by match.

AI League: human vs. machine · World Cup today: all matches & AI picks

Which team has the best xG of round 1?

Spain lead with around 2.19 expected goals per game — despite only drawing 0-0 with Cape Verde. In a single game, Germany produced the highest figure with 4.22 xG in their 7-1.

What does xG (expected goals) mean?

xG rates the quality of each scoring chance and sums them up. A high xG means many and good chances. It's a performance metric — not a prediction and not an odds figure.

Which team runs the most at World Cup 2026?

FIFA hasn't published an official distance leaderboard for round 1 yet. Intensity numbers (such as Uruguay's 47 crosses and 23 shots in one half) point to especially high-running teams; we'll add the verified kilometre table once it's available.

Which statistical records fell in round 1?

Among them: Spain's 27 shots without scoring (a record since 1966), four draws on one day (first since 1958), three own goals (more than all of 2022), and Germany becoming the World Cup's all-time top scorers (239 goals).

Sources: ESPN — By The Numbers · Fox Sports — xG stats · FIFA.

Explore more: Team of the Week — Messi 10, Vozinha 9.7 · Spain embarrassed by Cape Verde · World Cup today: all matches & AI picks

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