Numbers game: stats that tell stories from the first 24 World Cup matches

All 48 teams have played their first matches. From xG to assists to transfer value, here’s some of the more revealing bits of data

The first round of fixtures at the World Cup is in the bank so we’ve finally seen all 48 teams. But what have we learned? Who was good, bad, lucky or fired after just one game? A dig into the Opta data has revealed some facts that may not have been immediately apparent from the scorelines.

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