51 days to go: A semi-final goal spree
FIFA counts down to the World Cup 2026 with a daily statistical story.
Fifty-one goals were scored in only 10 World Cup semi-finals from Switzerland 1954 to Mexico 1970. It made for an average of 5.1 goals per game – a preposterous total given the stage. The games were West Germany 6-1 Austria and Hungary 4-2 Uruguay in 1954, Brazil 5-2 France and Sweden 3-1 West Germany in 1958, Brazil 4-2 Chile and Czechoslovakia 3-1 Yugoslavia in 1962, West Germany 2-1 Soviet Union and England 2-1 Portugal in 1966, and Brazil 3-1 Uruguay and Italy 4-3 West Germany in 1970.
Those five World Cup semi-finals produced almost the same number of goals as the ones in the next 13 editions (51 to 53). The World Cup with the most semi-final goals was the first in Uruguay in 1930. Argentina and Uruguay registered respective 6-1 wins over USA and Yugoslavia. The highest-scoring semi-final of all time was Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of Brazil in Belo Horizonte in 2014.
Source: FIFA.com