With Argentina, England, France and Spain just two games from glory, we compare how the four semi-finalists have performed so far to get an idea of who could lift the World Cup this weekend.
While all the teams have played six games, Argentina have played an hour of football more than France and Spain thanks to games going to extra time (and England half an hour more), so we’ve taken playing time into account to get the true picture of the statistics.
Although reigning champions Argentina have scored the most goals (17), two-time World Cup winners France have been the best side going forward overall as they’ve averaged the most goals, joint-most shots and highest Expected Goals per 90 minutes.
The South American side have been the most clinical, converting 18% of their chances, while the opposite is true of European champions Spain. Despite taking as many shots as their semi-final opponents France (110), they have scored just 11 goals to their 16 – almost a goal per game fewer.
When taking both the number and quality of shots into account, England have been less creative than the other three sides but have still scored more than two goals per game thanks to clinical finishing from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.
