World Cup Day Twenty-Five

It was always going to be a low scoring match between NORWAY and BRAZIL, and all the drama came in the beginning of the first half. Norway had a goal disallowed for offside within the first 4 minutes. Brazil  got a penalty after 14 minutes of play. Bruno Guimaraes does a silly dance before taking the penalty and Orjan Nyland palms the ball wide. Why do player’s do this? Brazil seem to be just that better than Norway but the first half ends 0-0. In the Second half, it was end to end stuff but Brazil could have taken the lead by Endrck, but the shot was off target. Norway broke the deadlock with a goal in the 79th minute by that man again, Erling Haaland, heading in his 6th goal of the tournament. He scored again in the 90th minute, with a fantastic shot standing all alone out side the box, goal number 7. But more drama right at the end, as Brazil get another penalty in the 90+10 but this time Brazil score by Neymar. Norway win 2-1 and for the very first time they are in the quarter-finals. Norway are on a total of 12 goals and they have a total of 3 votes. Brazil go home with a total of 10 goals and they had a total of 23 votes.

Coming Soon Season 44

 

With the World Cup 2026 nearly finished, it is now time for me to start preparing for Season 44 and getting it up and running, and it will soon be time for you to start thinking about your three teams.

This unique competition has now been running for 43 consecutive seasons and with 44 just around the corner, Golden Goals has stood the test of time. The competition first started way back in 1983 and has built up a regular fan base of a round 90 players per season but we would like to add more, much more. We would like to beat our top season with 149 players from the 2017/18 Season.

It’s not an easy task to pick three teams that could make you our 44th Champion, but that’s how football goes. As always it’s first come, first served so it’s important to get your teams in as quickly as you can once the form comes out. 

How does the competition work? Well you have to do is pick three football teams here in the UK from any English or Scottish league’s or you can mix up your choice from the two countries. Once you have picked the three team’s and sent them in to me via your entry form with the entry fee, these teams will be unique to you, as no-one else will have your teams. These three teams could make you our 44th Champion by scoring as many goals as they can.  Where do these goals come from? They will come from any league games, and from the two English and Scottish domestic cup competitions.

We will have prize money throughout the season, and if you have been following last seasons blog entries then you will know what I mean.  Each week I will send you a News Sheet via email which will tell you where you are in our table and how your teams are doing. Once the deadline date has passed, you will not be able to join in.

Even if you just look at the simple rules and decide not to join in, there will be no pressure to join Golden Goals. We have had over 500,000 hits on our blog and it would be really great if some of you could get together and represent your family or even better your country. You can e-mail me (Steve) here at goldengoals1983@gmail.com to find out more about the competition. More updates coming soon.

Sheet Four

As you can see from the table above, Scott Thomson remains at the top, after the end of the Second Round as he picks up a total of 9 goals. Scott’s teams are Argentina, Brazil, France and Germany.

We had just one player who picked up the highest score after the second round, with a total of 12 goals. They were Richie Williams who still have all of his teams in action.

Here is how the table stands after all of our teams that were left after the Second Round games. Their scores have been added to your totals. You will see that I have printed a red BOLD number against your name. This number indicates the number of teams that you have left in the World Cup 2026 Round of 16. The good news is that all of us have still have one to four teams in the Round of 16 but just to re-cap on our rules, that extra time goals DO count, but penalty shoot out’s DON’T!

  GAME    GAME                 GOALS

            FOUR  THREE    NAME                           TOTAL 

                 1           -            S. THOMSON 3                44

                 2           -            B. BURROUGHS 3           43

                 3          6            I. SMITH 3                         43

                 4        10            P. REEVE 3                        42

                 5        13            A. STUBBS 4                     42

                 6          3            D. BARRETT 3                  41

                 7       17             M. GREGORY 4                41

                 8         4             T. KING (2) 3                     41

                 9         5             MANGO 3                         41

               10         8             S. REEVE 3                       41

              11          7             J. WOOD 3                        41

              12        25             RICHIE WILLIAMS 4      41

              13        15             R. WOOD 4                       41

              14        19             D. HARRINGTON 4        40

              15          9             A. NEWMAN 3                40

So who are the best teams that we have in the 2026 World Cup after the end of the Second Round games. They are

FRANCE (13) ARGENTINA (11) GERMANY (11) NETHERLANDS (11) total of 46 goals

All but two of our teams have scored in the Second Round games, and they have collected a total of 38 goals. That has beaten our best score in the Qatar 2022 Golden Goals World Cup, we reached a total of 25 goals at the end of the Second Round. The teams that did not score were GHANA and SWEDEN.

GERMANY still holds the current record for the highest score with that 7-1 win over Curacao in Group E in their opening game.

SCOTLAND from Group C are our worst team as they have only picked up one goal in all of their first round games.

We still have 15 of our 28 teams that have made it through to the Last 16. The teams that have gone home are CAPE VERDE, CROATIA, GERMANY, GHANA, JAPAN, NETHERLANDS, SENEGAL and SWEDEN.

The fastest goal has been scored by Matías Galarza for Paraguay in Group C after they won 1-0 against Turkey in their second game in the first round. It took just 64 seconds (1 minute and 4 seconds)

World Cup Day Twenty-Four

In the final game of the Second Round, saw GHANA lose1-0 against Colombia with a early goal in the first half. Ghana from Group L finished third with 4 points, after they had won their opening game 1-0 against Panama and then they drew 0-0 with England. In their final group game, they lost 2-1 to Croatia. Ghana go home with a total of 2 goals and they had just 1 vote. 

The first games of the Last 16 have now been played. Co-hosts CANADA had beaten South Africa to be one of the last 16. They faced MOROCCO who had beaten the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out. Morocco won 3-0. I did not see much of the first half which ended 0-0, so I was lucky to see the Morocco goals. They dominated Canada in the second half with some nice flowing football. Their goals came in the 50 and 82nd minutes from Ounahi and their last goal from Rahiai in the 90+8 minute. They are now through to the quarter-finals. They finished in fourth place in Qatar 2022. Morocco are now on a total of 10 goals. Canada are the first co-host team to leave the tournament but this is the best that they have done at a World Cup. They have finished on a total of 9 goals and they had a total of 3 votes. 

It was all about FRANCE in their match against PARAGUAY, but although there was some lovely play, they were unable to get any shots on target. Paraguay had the odd flurry, but no danger to the French. Second half start’s, still with the temperature at 38c. France still took control of this game, and received a penalty in the 70th minute, which was taken by Mbappe and scored his 7th goal of the tounament. Then things took a turn, as Paraguay started to get a little bit of dirty play. So what started off as a nice looking game, it ended in a free for all. France win 1-0 with their lowest result of the tournament. They are on a total of 14 goals. They will play Morocco in the quarter-finals. They have a total of 22 votes. Paraguay go home with a total of 3 goals and 1 vote.

World Cup Day Twenty-Three Second Round

PORTUGAL have yet to get going in this tournament but they beat CROATIA 2-1. All the goals came in the second half after Croatia scored first in the 53rd minute by Perisic. Portugal scored from a penalty in the 58th minute by Ronaldo. Their winning goal came late in the 90+4 by Ramos. Portugal finished second in Group K after they had drawn two and won one, 5-0 against Uzbekistan in their second opening game. They finished with a total of 5 points. Portugal are on a total of 8 goals and they have a total of 9 votes. Croatia from Group L finished second to England in the Group with 6 points after they lost one game, against England, and won their last two games. Croatia go home with a total of 6 goals and they had just 1 vote. 

SWITZERLAND beat Algeria 2-0 with goals in both half’s. Switzerland finished top of Group B with 7 points. They had won two of their opening games including their biggest win 4-1 against Bosnia. Switzerland are on a total of 9 goals. They have a total of 2 votes. 

EGYPT went a goal down early in the first half against Australia but they equalised with an own goal in the second half. Into extra time and the scored remained 1-1. Egypt then won 4-2 on penalties. Egypt finished in second place in Group G with 5 points. They had drawn two of their games but won 3-1 against New Zealand. Egypt are on a total of 6 goals and they have a total of 2 votes. 

ARGENTINA found CAPE VERDE a tough nut to crack in this round, after they went a goal up in 29th minute by Messi, his seventh goal in the tournament. Cape Verde came back with a goal in the second half through Deroy Duarte and that is how the score remained at the end of 90 minutes. In extra time, Argentina won 3-2 with goals from Martinez in the 92nd minute and Borges in 111th minute via own goal. Cape Verde goal came in the 103rd minute by Sidny Cabral. A very exciting game and worth staying up late for. Argentina finished top with maximum points in Group J. They are now on a total of 11 goals and they have a total of 24 votes. Cape Verde from Group H finished second in the group, and played in their very first World Cup, and they might be a nation to watch in 2030. They go home with their heads held high with a total of 4 goals. They had drawn all of their three opening games. They had just 1 vote.

Top goal scorer for the Golden Boot at the moment are Argentina’s Lionel Messi top with 7 goals. In second place we have France’s Kylian Mbappe on 6 goals, In third place we have Norway’s Erling Haaland and Harry Kane with 5 goals each. In fourth place with 4 goals each we have France’s O. Dembélé, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior, Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr and Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal. 

The fastest goal has still been scored by Matías Galarza for the Paraguay in Group C after they won 1-0 against Turkey in their second game in the first round. It took just 64 seconds (1 minute and 4 seconds) 

World Cup Day Twenty-Two Second Round

USA are in the last 16 after they won 2-0 against Bosnia-Herzegovina, even though they had a player sent off in the 64th minute. The goals came from Bologun in the 45th minute and Tillman in the 82nd minute. Co-hosts USA won their Group D with a total of 6 points after they had two wins but lost their third game 3-2 to Turkey. USA are on a total of 10 goals with 2 votes. 

SPAIN won 3-0 against Austria and looked really good. They could of got more but for the Austrian goalkeeper. It was an excellent game to watch. Spain finished top of Group H, after they had won two of their games but drew 0-0 against Cape Verde in their opening game. They finished with a total of 7 points. Spain are now on a total of 8 goals. They have a total of 30 votes. 

World Cup Day Twenty-One Second Round

MEXICO won 2-0 against Ecuador with both goals coming in the first half. Mexico finished top from Group A after winning all three games with maximum points of 9. Mexico are on a total of 8 goals and have 5 votes. 

ENGLAND are through to the last 16 after they won 2-1 against Congo DR. It took Congo just 7 minutes to score their goal in the first half, which turned into a tough game for England. With just 15 minutes left on the clock, Harry Kane scored twice in the 75th and 86th minute to win the game. England came top in Group L after they had won two of their games and drew the other collecting a total of 7 points. England are on a total of 8 goals with 18 votes. 

BELGIUM made a fantastic come back to beat SENEGAL 3-2 after extra time. Belgium went a goal down in the first half and in the start of the second half, Senegal scored again in the 51st minute. It took Belgium right up to the 86th minute to start their come back through a goal by Lukaku and within minute another goal by Tielemans 89th minute. That is how the score ended in the 90 minute period. In extra time Belgium got a penalty right at the end of extra time. This was scored once again by Tielemans in the 120+5. Belgium finished top of their Group G with 5 points after they had drawn two games and won their final game 5-1 against New Zealand. Belgium are on a total of 9 goals. They have a total of 8 votes. Senegal’s goals came in the 24th minute by Diarra and Sarr in the 51st minute. Senegal finished in third place in  Group I with 3 points after they lost two and won their last game 5-0 against Iraq. Senegal go home with a total of 10 goals. They had a total of 3 votes.

Top goal scorer for the Golden Boot at the moment are Argentina’s Lionel Messi with France’s Kylian Mbappe both on 6 goals, Norway’s Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are in second place with 5 goals each. In third place with 4 goals each we have France’s O. Dembélé, and Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior and Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr.