… plus the top stats from World Cup 2022?

AS we look ahead to the upcoming semi-finals of the World Cup, now is the perfect time to take stock and review the events of the past three weeks.

Who’s found the back of the net most, who has been Mr Unselfish and set up the most goals, and who’s on the naughty step for the most red and yellow cards?

Thirty-two teams started out on the path to hopeful World Cup glory, but that has been whittled down to the four left in the semi-finals: Argentina, who face Croatia in the first of the two semi-finals, and Morocco, who meet France in the second.

That’s the most important stat but there are plenty of others and here they are – the Qatar World Cup in numbers (so far).

MOST TEAM GOALS SCORED
England lead the way with the most goals scored with a total of 13, although after bowing out in the quarter-finals, they are likely to be overtaken by France or Argentina who are on 11 and nine respectively. Six of those England goals came in the impressive opening win over Iran.

THE RACE FOR THE GOLDEN BOOT
France’s Kylian Mbappé currently tops the table on five goals, with team-mate Olivier Giroud, who became France’s record goalscorer, with his strike against Poland, and Argentina talisman Lionel Messi both on four behind him. There is a pack of seven players on three goals, but none of them is still in the tournament after the quarter-finals so they won’t have a chance to add to their tally.

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE GOLDEN BOOT
Germany and Brazil have produced the most number of players who have won the Golden Boot award. Other countries like Argentina, England and France have also had winners.

Harry Kane became only the second Englishman to finish with the Golden Boot, scoring six goals in 2018 putting him two clear of Antonie Griezmann.

History-maker Gary Lineker was the first English player to ever win the accolade in 1986, with a hat-trick against Poland, a brace against Uruguay and his sixth in the quarter-final defeat to Argentina. A match which saw Maradona score the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal.

Other notable winners include French player Just Fontaine, who remains the only player in the history of the World Cup with the highest number of goals in a single tournament at thirteen.

Gerd Müller became the first German to win the Golden Boot in 1970 with ten goals and Ronaldo who won the award in 2002 for Brazil, scored eight.

He scored the two goals against Germany, which handed Brazil their fifth FIFA World Cup trophy.

FASTEST GOAL
Alphonso Davies has been the most alert after the ref’s whistle, scoring after just one minute and eight seconds in Canada’s 4-1 defeat to Croatia.

The next fastest goal comes over two minutes later, a Hakim Ziyech 35-yard chip for Morocco against Canada on three minutes 31 seconds. We’ve only got three matches to go so it will take some doing to knock the Canadian off the top of the rankings.

MOST ASSISTS
England’s Harry Kane, Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes and France’s Antoine Griezmann all share top-spot with three assists apiece, but with France the only team out of the three left in the tournament, Griezmann is likely to surpass them. Messi is on two assists, his second a jaw-dropping pass that set up Argentina’s opening goal against the Netherlands in their quarter-final win.

MOST CLEAN SHEETS
Morocco lead the way here with four clean sheets after five matches played, an own goal against Canada their only one conceded. England are behind them on three, but are now out, and Argentina and Croatia are both on two.

MOST YELLOW AND RED CARDS
South Korea’s Paulo Bento became the first coach ever shown a red card at a World Cup match, during his team’s clash with Uruguay.

Wales’ Wayne Hennessey became the first player to be sent off in Qatar, during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Iran, while Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar scored the winner in their shock victory over Brazil, but was sent off after picking up a second yellow card for his celebration.

Morocco’s Walid Cheddira got two yellow cards in a matter of minutes in their 1-0 quarter-final victory over Portugal, leaving the north African side defending for their lives in the closing moments of the match.

Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz brandished 15 yellow cards (one short of the record) and a red for Denzel Dumfries in Argentina’s win over the Netherlands.

MOST PENALTIES CONCEDED
France conceded two penalties in their quarter-final win over England – Kane scored the first, but skied the second.

MOST PENALTIES WON
Portugal and Argentina top this table with two. Ronaldo scored the first but had to see team-mate Bruno Fernandes slot home the other after the club-less player was substituted. Lionel Messi missed his first against Poland but buried his second against Netherlands in the quarter-final.