Goals are relatively hard to come by in World Cup matches, but after every 4 years, we’ve seen few matches end in dramatic scores. In historical, recent and current Qatar events, we have witnessed nations get thrash or rather matches ending in high scoring draws.
This article will analyze some of the highest-scoring World Cup games using historical and recent data.
Recent World Cup High-scoring Matches
England 6-2 Iran: Qatar 2024
The 2024 World Cup in Qatar has given some of the best matches and upsets in the tournament’s history. The experience has included some of the highest-scoring games.
Players who staked on the goals variety received their winnings. You can also utilize the betway app to bet on the outcome of a match regarding goals to be scored.
The Three Lions began their Qatar campaign with an impressive 6 goals against Iran. Gary Southgate’s men scored 3 goals in each half, while Iran scored two in the second half, where the last goal came in the additional time. Here are other matches to produce 7 goals or more in the tournament.
- Portugal vs Switzerland: 6-1
- Spain vs Costa Rica: 7-0
Argentina 3 vs 4 France: Russia 2018
There were several 7 goal matches in the 2018 Russian tournament, but the clash between France and Argentina is the most notable match. Interestingly, the match was in the round of 16 where Messi and co were eliminated by a team that proceeded to win the trophy. The rest of the 7 goal thrillers involved:
- England Vs Panama: 6-1
- Belgium Vs Tunisia: 5-2
Germany 7 vs 1 Brazil: Brazil 2014
The 2014 World Cup semis between Germany and Brazil went down as Brazil’s worst defeat, especially on home turf. German ran riot in the first half, leaving nothing to chance for the tournament’s hosts, who got their consolation goal via Oscar.
It was another winning day for users who risked on the German side as the European’s odds were quite favourable. Another high-scoring tournament game that benefitted bettors was France’s win against Switzerland, 5-2.
World Cup Games With the Most Goals Ever
Matches with the most number of goals are traced back to the 1900s. Some might surprise you.
12 goals- Austria vs Switzerland 7-5: Lausanne 1954
Austria and the Swiss had finished 2nd in their preliminary groups, under Uruguay and England, respectively, thus being matched up. Interestingly, Switzerland had only found the net twice, while Austria had not conceded a goal in the group stage.
Each team had a hat trick scorer at the half in their matchup, Theodor Wagner (Austria) and Josef Hügi (Swiss). They are the only players to score a hat trick in the same match. Austria’s last goal would come in the 76th minute through Erich Probst.
11 goals – Various Matches
- Hungary Vs El Salvador: 10-1 (Spain 1982)
- Hungary Vs Germany: 8-3 (Switzerland 1954)
- Brazil Vs Poland: 6-5 (1938)
Hungary vs El Salvador
Hungary became the first squad to score 10 goals against El Salvador. This group match involved a hat trick from Laszlo Kiss while the other two players scored a brace to push the score to double digits. El Salvador’s sole goal would come from Luis Ramirez.
Hungary vs Germany
While featuring earlier in 1954, Hungary thrashed West Germany 8-3 in Switzerland. They were regarded as the team to beat coming into the tournament, as they were fresh from their Olympics gold medal win in 1952.
They proved their point in the match where Sandor Kocsis bagged 4 goals, tying as the 2nd most in a World Cup game. However, the 12-goal match between Switzerland and Austria surpassed this record later.
The Germans would get revenge in the finals in a comeback win to beat Hungary 3-2.
Brazil vs Poland
1938 marked the 3rd edition of the global tournament when Brazil and Poland gave us a showpiece to celebrate the event’s progress. The South Americans would edge the European side 6 goals to 5, where Ernst Willimowski scored an impressive 4 goals despite their loss. He was the first to score 4 goals in a World Cup match.
The game would end in a draw in normal time via Ernst’s equalizer, but the Polish side would fall after Leonidas finished his hat trick in extra time.
10 goals – France vs Paraguay: 7-3 (Sweden 1958)
France’s 1958 World Cup is mainly remembered because Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the tournament. The striker’s performance would be handy in their victory against the South American side Paraguay.
He scored three of his thirteen when France found the net 5 times in the second half of the group stage match.
On top of the top-scoring match and the top scorer in the team, the team would finish an excellent third place. This was after a defeat from Brazil in the Semifinals.
9 Goals – Various Teams
- France Vs Germany: 6-3 (Sweden 1958)
- Germany Vs Turkey: 7-2 (Switzerland 1954)
France vs Germany
For a consecutive tournament, the German side was on the receiving end in one of the highest-scoring matches ever. This time it was under the hands of a high-scoring French side with the prolific striker Fontaine.
The striker would score 4 goals in the match, 2 in each half, while Yvon Douis and Raymond Kopa added a goal each. Germany would score to equalize the game at 1-1 while both of the remaining goals came in between a large score deficit.
Germany vs Turkey
Germany gets their bragging rights in our write-up through the 9-goal showpiece in the 1954 World Cup.
Max Morlock scored a hat trick in the 7 goals showdown, while Han Schafer got a brace. The team controlled the game even when they conceded the consolation goals.
Other Matches With 9 Goals
- Hungary VS South Korea: 9-0 (Switzerland 1954)
- Yugoslavia Vs Congo: 9-0 (Germany 1974)
Conclusion
The scoring in the old days is relatively higher than what we have observed in recent tournaments. However, it is clear that we can expect any possibility regarding goals in a World Cup. With one match currently remaining in the 2024 World Cup, Argentina vs France, we might witness another high-scoring game.
