What is the record number of 0-0 draws at the World Cup, and how does Qatar 2022 compare?
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 08/12/2022 at 16:29 GMT
Morocco and Spain played out the seventh goalless draw of the 2022 World Cup in the last 16, equalling the all-time tournament record. The record number of 0-0 draws at the World Cup currently stands at seven, which has happened at four different editions of the tournament. But Qatar 2022 was more than halfway to that tally before the first round of group games was over.
'Kane is fine & back in training' England's captain fit for USA
The 2022 Qatar World Cup has provided its fair share of thrills, with a number of major shocks landing early on including group stage exits for Belgium and Germany as well as Saudi Arabia's unlikely win over Argentina.
However, fans have also had to sit through a higher number of goalless draws than usual.
Four years ago in Russia, it took until the third round of group games for a game to finish without a goal; France’s 0-0 draw with Denmark. That was the only bore draw of the entire tournament.
In Qatar, there were four goalless games before even the first round of group games were over.
The 2022 edition has already set one record; eight teams have drawn their opening game 0-0 in the same World Cup for the first time ever.
Then England played out a rather dull goalless draw against the USA on the first day of the second round of group games and Belgium crashed out of the tournament in the final round of matches as they were involved in a stalemate with Croatia.
Only one last 16 match ended goalless with Spain and Morocco unable to be separated even after extra time until the African side stunned the 2010 World Champions on penalties.
So, is the 2022 tournament on course to break the overall record for bore draws?
What is the current record?
The record number of 0-0 draws at a World Cup is seven, now shared by five different editions of the tournament.
That tally was reached in 1982, 2006, 2010, 2014 and now 2022.
The seven goalless draws in Qatar so far have been: Mexico 0-0 Poland, Denmark 0-0 Tunisia, Croatia 0-0 Morocco, South Korea 0-0 Uruguay, England 0-0 USA, Croatia 0-0 Belgium and Morroco 0-0 Spain (AET).
With the quarter-finals, semis and final still to come, there’s every likelihood that the Qatar World Cup will break the record.
When the goal fests have arrived, though, they’ve arrived in style.
We’ve already seen Spain thrash Costa Rica 7-0, England hammer Iran 6-2, France earning a big 4-1 victory over Australia and Portugal destroying Switzerland 6-1.
Croatia, who have been involved in two of the 0-0s, racked up a huge 4-1 over Canada while Cameroon and Serbia played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in one of the games of the tournament so far.
Tally of goalless draws at the World Cup
- Seven: 1982, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022*
- Six: 1978
- Five: 1974, 1990
- Four: 1986, 1998
- Three: 1966, 1970, 1994, 2002
- Two: 1958, 1962
- One: 2018
- None: 1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954
*World Cup 2022 is ongoing
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement