At the end of the group stage, according to FIFA statistics, there are up to 17 goalkeepers with double-digit saves for their team (10 or more) after 3 matches. The most is Eloy Room of the Curacao team, with 21 times - and he saved 15 times in the match against Ecuador alone. According to data from Opta since 1966, no goalkeeper has made more saves in 90 minutes of play at the World Cup like that (equaling the record Tim Howard of the US team still held in the match against Belgium in 2014).
Next are Mohammed Alowais (Saudi Arabia), Orlando Gill (Paraguay) - along with 17, Mahmoud Abunada of Qatar (16), Alireza Beiranvand of Iran (15), Johny Placide of Haiti (13). Among these, Beiranvand is a strong candidate for the saving title of the tournament and helped Iran keep 1 valuable point in the match against Belgium. The ball also enriched Beiranvand's collection of World Cup moments, who was famous at the 2018 World Cup in Russia when successfully saving Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty in the group stage.
Or Vozinha of Cabo Verde became a social media phenomenon after his miraculous saves in the goalless draw with Spain, a match where he faced 23 shots, including 8 shots on target.
And it's not just the goalkeepers of small and medium-sized teams who have to work hard. Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands), Zion Suzuki (Japan) with 15 saves, Dominik Livakovic of Croatia, Alisson Becker of Brazil with 11, or Thibaut Courtois of Belgium with 8 times, Unai Simon of Spain 6 times...
Those excellent performances are more than enough for Courtois to call the 2026 World Cup "the tournament of goalkeepers". However, their excellence cannot stop the "festival of strikers", when 72 group stage matches had a total of 215 goals (average 2.99 goals/match) - far exceeding the record of the 2022 World Cup (172 goals). The 2026 World Cup only needed 33 matches to reach the milestone of 100 goals - reaching the milestone of 100 goals fastest in the past 68 years.
According to experts, modern football no longer has too many one-sided matches, strikers are bolder and more determined, while the Trionda ball is also considered one of the reasons for the large number of goals scored from outside the penalty area...
