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.)
- This is a link to the players who have scored goals at the tournament.
- This a link to the FIFA web page for teams and their goals scored.
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:
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.
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
How does this compare with goals in the other World cups? Isn’t this the highest scoring world cup???
Tony
This is some information I found about goal scoring up to 2006 http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-301_01a_fwc-stats_new_8865.pdf.
Best wishes
Keith
Keith you might find these two infograhics intersting as a way of representing world cup data.
http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/fifa-world-cup-infographic/
http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/top-world-football-earners-infographic/
-matt
Thanks, Matt. They are!
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