Goals Scored at 2010 FIFA World Cup Venues


145 goals were scored in the 64 games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 44 of these goals were scored in the sixteen Knockout Games and 101 goals were scored in the forty-eight Group Games.
(Not included in this total are goals scored from penalties in shoot outs: 8 penalty goals were scored in Game 55, 6 goals were scored in Game 58.)

32 nations participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After all 64 games of the tournament the goals scored by these nations were:

Team Goals Scored
Germany 16
Netherlands 12
Uruguay 11
Argentina 10
Brazil 9
Spain 8
Portugal 7
Korea 6
USA 5
Slovakia 5
Ghana 5
Mexico 4
Japan 4
Italy 4
Cote d’Ivoire 4
Nigeria 3
England 3
Slovenia 3
Chile 3
South Africa 3
Australia 3
Denmark 3
Paraguay 3
Greece 2
Serbia 2
Cameroon 2
New Zealand 2
France 1
Korea DPR 1
Switzerland 1
Algeria 0
Honduras 0

Where Were the Games Played?
There were ten venues that hosted games at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Knockout Games
44 goals were scored in 16 games played in the knockout phase of the tournament. Venues and goals scored there:

Venue Altitude (m)
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Total Goals
Johannesburg JSC 1753 4 2 1 7
Johannesburg JEP 1753 3 1 4
Rustenburg 1500 3 3
Mangaung/ Bloemfontein 1400 5 5
Tshwane/Pretoria 1214 0 0
Durban 0 3 1 4
Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth 0 3 3 5 11
Cape Town 0 1 4 5 10

The timings of goals scored in the Knockout Games (with links to FIFA video of each goal) were:

Minute in Game Goal
3 Germany v Argentina
5 Ghana v USA
8 Uruguay v Korea
10 Brazil v Netherlands
18 Netherlands v Slovakia
18 Netherlands v Uruguay
19 Germany v Uruguay
20 Germany v England
26 Argentina v Mexico
28 Uruguay v Germany
32 Germany v England
33 Argentina v Mexico
35 Brazil v Chile
37 England v Germany
38 Brazil v Chile
41 Uruguay v Netherlands
45 Ghana v Uruguay
51 Uruguay v Germany
52 Argentina v Mexico
53 Netherlands v Brazil
55 Uruguay v Ghana
56 Germany v Uruguay
59 Brazil v Chile
62 USA v Ghana
63 Spain v Portugal
67 Germany v England
68 Korea v Uruguay
68 Netherlands v Brazil
68 Germany v Argentina
70 Germany v England
70 Netherlands v Uruguay
71 Mexico v Argentina
73 Netherlands v Uruguay
73 Spain v Germany
74 Germany v Argentina
80 Uruguay v Korea
82 Germany v Uruguay
83 Spain v Paraguay
84 Netherlands v Slovakia
89 Germany v Argentina
90 Slovakia v Netherlands
90 Uruguay v Netherlands
93 Ghana v USA
116 Spain v Netherlands

Group Games
101 goals were scored in 48 games in the Group stage of the tournament. These are the goals scored at the ten venues in those games:

Venue Altitude
(metres)
Goals
Game 1
Goals
Game 2
Goals
Game 3
Goals
Game 4
Goals
Game 5
Total Goals
Johannesburg
JSC
1753 2 2 5 4 1 14
Johannesburg
JEP
1753 1 3 4 2 5 15
Rustenburg 1500 2 2 2 1 4 11
Mangaung/ Bloemfontein 1400 1 3 2 3 0 9
Polokwane 1310 1 2 2 0 5
Tshwane/Pretoria 1214 1 3 3 1 3 11
Nelspruit 660 1 2 3 3 9
Cape Town 0 0 2 0 7 3 12
Durban 0 4 1 1 4 0 10
Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth 0 2 0 1 1 1 5

Until Portugal’s 7-0 victory over Korea DPR found it relatively difficult to score at sea level. The first three 0-0 games in the tournament were at sea level. The fourth 0-0 draw (game 42) was played at Polokwane and the sixth (game 48) at Mangaung Bloemfontain .
More information about goal scoring at the World Cup can be found at this post. The timings of goals scored in the Group Stage (with links to FIFA video of each goal) were:

Minute in Game Goal
4 England v USA
6 Argentina v Nigeria
7 Korea v Greece
7 New Zealand v Italy
8 Germany v Australia
10 Cameroon v Denmark
11 Australia v Ghana
12 Nigeria v Korea
13 Slovenia v USA
14 Cote d’Ivoire v Korea DPR
16 Nigeria v Greece
17 Argentina v Korea
17 Spain v Honduras
17 Japan v Denmark
20 South Africa v France
20 Cote d’Ivoire v Korea DPR
23 England v Slovenia
24 Uruguay v South Africa
24 Spain v Chile
25 Ghana v Australia
25 Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire
25 Slovakia v Italy
26 Germany v Australia
27 Paraguay v Slovakia
29 Italy v New Zealand
29 Portugal v Korea DPR
30 Japan v Denmark
33 Argentina v Korea
33 Denmark v Cameroon
34 Chile v Honduras
36 Netherlands v Cameroon
37 South Africa v France
37 Spain v Chile
38 Serbia v Germany
38 Korea v Nigeria
39 Japan v Cameroon
39 Paraguay v Italy
40 USA v England
42 Slovenia v USA
43 Uruguay v Mexico
44 Greece v Nigeria
45 Korea v Argentina
46 Netherlands v Denmark
47 Chile v Spain
48 USA v Slovenia
49 Korea v Nigeria
50 Slovakia v New Zealand
50 Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire
51 Spain v Honduras
52 Korea v Greece
52 Switzerland v Spain
53 Netherlands v Japan
53 Portugal v Korea DPR
55 South Africa v Mexico
55 Brazil v Korea DPR
56 Portugal v Korea DPR
60 Portugal v Korea DPR
60 Germany v Ghana
61 Denmark v Cameroon
62 Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire
63 Italy v Paraguay
64 Mexico v France
65 Cameroon v Netherlands
68 Germany v Australia
69 Nigeria v Korea
69 Australia v Serbia
70 Germany v Australia
70 France v South Africa
71 Greece v Nigeria
72 Brazil v Korea DPR
73 Australia v Serbia
73 Slovakia v Italy
75 Chile v Switzerland
76 Argentina v Korea
77 Argentina v Greece
79 Mexico v South Africa
79 Slovenia v Algeria
79 Mexico v France
79 Cote d’Ivoire v Brazil
80 Uruguay v South Africa
80 Argentina v Korea
81 Portugal v Korea DPR
81 Italy v Slovakia
81 Denmark v Japan
82 USA v Slovenia
82 Cote d’Ivoire v Korea DPR
83 Netherlands v Cameroon
84 Serbia v Australia
85 Ghana v Serbia
85 Netherlands v Denmark
86 Paraguay v Slovakia
87 Portugal v Korea DPR
87 Japan v Denmark
89 Korea DPR v Brazil
89 Portugal v Korea DPR
89 Argentina v Greece
89 Slovakia v Italy
90 New Zealand v Slovakia
90 Uruguay v South Africa
90 USA v Algeria
90 Italy v Slovakia

Other analysis of World Cup performance can be found here.

Photo Credits
World Cup Grass
South Africa World Cup Stadium
About the Author
Keith Lyons is Professor of Sport Studies at the University of Canberra and is Director of the National Institute of Sport Studies.

7 COMMENTS

  1. I really like the concept of within-tournament analysis. And of course posting the results provides further possibility of reflection on the analysis during the event. Thanks.

    • Thanks for commenting on this post Hamish. It is fascinating doing cumulative observation and analysis of a tournament. It will be interesting to see the difference in performance when we get to the knock-out stages.
      Keith

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here