SIDEBAR: Ill-tempered World Cup final caps low-scoring tournament

Jul 11, 2010, 23:31 GMT

Johannesburg - The 2010 World Cup reached a bruising finale Sunday when 14 players were booked and Dutchman John Heitinga was sent off in a bad-tempered final between the Netherlands and Spain.

The unheralded number of cards set an unwanted record for a World Cup final but the game, which was decided in Spain's favour by an extra-time goal from Andres Iniesta, also continued a trend of low scoring matches in South Africa.

The dour end to the tournament in South Africa matched the situation at Germany 2006, where there was also a low number of goals scored per match.

In Germany, the average number of goals per match was just 2.3, the second lowest after the 1990 World Cup in Italy, in which an average of just 2.2 were scored per game and Argentina reached the final after amassing just five goals.

After Sunday's final in Johannesburg the average number of goals scored in the World Cup 2010 equalled the low tally seen in Germany and continued a trend that has been occurring at World Cups over the last two decades.

While the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland recorded the highest goal average with 5.4 a game, the figure has dropped consistently since then.

At the 1962 tournament in Chile, the rate dropped to 2.8, a figure replicated four years later in England.

Brazil's high-scoring march to a third title in 1970 saw the average rise to 3.0, a figure that hasn't been reached since. The low average score per game at the 2010 tournament means that the three most recent world cups are the three of the four lowest scoring world cups in history, indicating an increased reliance on defensive tactics that snuff out attacking options.

List of World Cups by average goals per game

5.4: Switzerland 1954

4.7: France 1938

4.1: Italy 1934

4.0: Brazil 1950

3.9: Uruguay 1930

3.6: Sweden 1958

3.0: Mexico 1970

2.8: Spain 1982

2.8: Chile 1962

2.8: England 1966

2.7: United States 1994

2.7: Argentina 1978

2.7: France 1998

2.6: West Germany 1974

2.5: Mexico 1986

2.5: Korea/Japan 2002

2.3: Germany 2006

2.3: South Africa 2010

2.2: Italy 1990