10 Predictions For World Cup 2018

The 2014 World Cup matched the record set in 1998 for the number of goals scored throughout the tournament, with 171 strikes in total. In contrast, the 2010 World Cup featured just 143 goals overall. We can expect the total number of goals in 2018 to fall somewhere between those two numbers.

There are some amazing goalscorers set to star this summer, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Timo Werner, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Antoine Griezmann, and Kylian Mbappé, but it would be naive to expect all of these players to have great tournaments and score 5 or 6 goals each. Some will do well, but others will fall by the wayside, and it would take a huge goal-per-game average for 2018 to see more than 171 goals.

With a lot of exceptionally talented goalkeepers set to attend the tournament, like Brazil's Alisson (pictured), Belgium's Thibaut Courtois, Spain's David De Gea, and Germany's Manuel Neuer, along with several teams that tend to focus on solid, defensive football, it's likely that we won't be seeing too many games ending with huge scorelines like the 7-1 Germany/Brazil semi-final in 2014.