Is this a ‘tournament of goalkeepers’ or a goal fest? And enter… Lamine Yamal — Day 11 Recap

Day 11 of the World Cup was another eventful one, with goalkeeping heroics and errors at the centre of the action.

Spain returned to form, Belgium continued their post-‘Golden Generation’ struggles (with a performance that only added to the feel-good factor around the United States’ chances in this competition) and Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand produced a contender for save of the tournament.

Cape Verde inspired again, drawing 2-2 with Uruguay in Miami, and Mohamed Salah all but secured Egypt’s place in the knockout stage as three goals in 24 minutes gave his side a 3-1 win over New Zealand.

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Lamine Yamal joins the party

He had to wait, but Lamine Yamal made his first start at this World Cup and became the latest superstar to get on the scoresheet.

His opener 10 minutes into Spain’s 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia meant the 18-year-old followed Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Vinicius Junior and Erling Haaland in finding the net, while Mohamed Salah also got in on the act in Egypt’s 3-1 win over New Zealand. Cristiano Ronaldo remains the outlier.

Yamal was only 16 years and 338 days old when he made his major tournament debut at Euro 2024, becoming the youngest player to play at a men’s European Championship. Over the past two years, his development has cemented him as Spain’s star.

Their surprise 0-0 draw with Cape Verde — with Yamal only coming on in the 71st minute as he has been recovering from a hamstring injury — highlighted the Barcelona forward’s importance to Spain in breaking down stubborn defences. It only took him 30 seconds against Saudi Arabia to display his wizardry, and to show how much he has physically matured since the Euros.

Faced with three defenders, he feigned to cut inside before performing a Cruyff turn to go down the line and throwing one defender to the ground with the use of his body.
He was taken off at half-time with Spain 3-0 and cruising in Atlanta but his Instagram post after the game still started with a simple message: “I’m here.”

Yamal has ambitions to define this World Cup as other greats have done in the past. He is already the player to whom Spain look for inspiration.

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Has it been a ‘tournament of goalkeepers’ or a goal rush?

It looked like a certain goal for Belgium. Kevin De Bruyne’s ball across the face of goal had been cleared straight into the path of Maxim De Cuyper, who was a few yards out with Iran’s goalkeeper stranded on the ground.

But as he struck his shot, Alireza Beiranvand somehow managed to extend a palm and block the ball to safety.

It was an early contender for the save of the tournament and earned Iran a crucial point. It also adds to the World Cup catalogue for Beiranvand, who made his name in 2018 after saving a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo’s during the group stage in Russia.

But Beiranvand is just one of several goalkeepers to have thrived for underdog nations.

Cape Verde’s Vozinha became an internet sensation after his heroics in the 0-0 draw against Spain, which saw him face 23 shots and eight on target. Curacao’s Eloy Room was inspired as they survived 15 shots on target against Ecuador to earn a point — no goalkeeper has made more saves in 90 minutes of World Cup action (level with Tim Howard against Belgium in 2014, according to Opta data going back to 1966). Beiranvand emerged with a clean sheet despite being exposed to 23 shots, seven of them on target, against Belgium.

It was enough for Belgium and Real Madrid No1 Thibaut Courtois to coin it the “tournament of goalkeepers”.

But while there have been exceptional displays, we only needed 33 games to reach 100 goals — the quickest tournament to hit a century in 68 years

The Adidas Trionda ball has been cited as a potential reason for the high number of goals from outside the box, too.

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Is this World Cup wide open?

Upsetting the odds again by holding Uruguay to a 2-2 draw, Cape Verde have helped capture how many groups lack a runaway leader heading into the final group game.

Cape Verde’s second draw means a point from their final game against Saudi Arabia should be enough to make history and qualify for the knockout stage. But with Uruguay also on two points and Saudi Arabia on one point, Group H remains wide open.

This is not an outlier, though, as only three teams — Haiti, Turkey and Tunisia — are without a point after two games, while only the U.S., Mexico and Germany have collected maximum points and secured their places in the next round as group winners.

Four years ago was the first time in the World Cup’s 32-team format that no country took nine points from nine. Even with an extra four groups, the surprise results mean there remains a chance it will happen again this year.

Perhaps it is a reflection of how competitive the game has become across the world.

Draws have been one of the trends of the tournament, with 13 from 40 matches (32.5 per cent), above the average of 25 per cent over the last seven tournaments.

It has left many teams in a positive but precarious position on one or two points, requiring a win or a draw to be in contention as one of the eight best third-placed finishers. You can find out your team’s chances of progression using The Athletic’s interactive tracker tool.

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What’s happening on Day 12?

It’s the day of the big stars, with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in action for Argentina, France and Norway.

Before his 39th birthday on Wednesday, Messi will look to mark it with another statement performance against Austria in Dallas. With both teams on three points, the winner will likely top the group and one goal for Messi would put him clear as the top goalscorer in the competition’s history, with 17.

Day 12 schedule:

Group J: Argentina vs Austria, 1pm ET (6pm BST)
Group I: France vs Iraq, 5pm ET (10pm BST)
Group I: Norway vs Senegal, 8pm ET (1am Tuesday BST)
Group J: Jordan v Algeria, 11pm ET (4am Tuesday BST)