FIFA World Cup 2026 · Group Stage Data Story

Same Scoreboard,
Different Game

Two matches finished with the same six-goal margin. Twenty finished level. None of them were the same game — here's what 72 real results actually show about closeness and blowouts.

20 / 72
matches ended level — 28% of the group stage
53%
of matches were decided by one goal or less
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Act I

The Full Spread

Every one of the 72 group-stage matches, placed along one line — from a level scoreline on the left to the widest margin of the tournament on the right. Each dot is a match; its size shows how many goals were actually scored.

Color = group · Dot size = total goals scored
Germany 7–1 Curaçao
Group E, June 14 — margin of 6, but 8 goals total. A goal-fest blowout.
Canada 6–0 Qatar
Group B, June 18 — also a margin of 6, but a clean-sheet shutout. Same margin, opposite feel.
Senegal 5–0 Iraq · Portugal 5–0 Uzbekistan
The next tier down — both margin-5 shutouts, no reply from the losing side.
Act II

The Zero Club

By margin, all 20 draws are identically "close" — the scoreboard can't tell a 0–0 from a 3–3 apart on margin alone. Sorted by how many goals were actually scored, they split into two very different groups.

Color = group · positioned by total goals scored

One draw stands alone as a genuine thriller. Seven were true stalemates — three of them from a single group.

Takeaway

The Number Isn't the Whole Story

The scoreboard treats a 0–0 and a 3–3 as equally close, and Germany's 7–1 as equally lopsided as Canada's 6–0. Both readings are correct by the numbers. Whether either match actually felt that way is a question the margin alone can't answer — this is what happened, not how it felt.

Group-stage matches don't go to extra time or penalties — a draw is a final result, not an unresolved one.
Home/away order here follows the fixture listing at this neutral multi-host tournament (USA, Mexico, Canada), not home-field advantage.