Russia's 2018 FIFA World Cup may be the best one yet, and here's the proof

More than half the games in the 2018 FIFA World Cup have already been played, and this year’s tournament is shaping up to be one of the best (maybe the best) in history. The excitement this summer isn’t that the World Cup is happening in Russia, but that it’s been a thrilling sporting event that makes for a captivating show.

More surprises than past tournaments

Spain barely squeaks out a tie with Morocco, which can’t advance in the brackets no matter the score. Portugal ends up one step away from elimination at the last minute of its game against Iran. Argentina scores just a single goal in its first two games. Poland — a group favorite — has no chance of qualifying for the playoffs, even before the group stage ends. Brazil can't score a goal against Costa Rica for 90 minutes. It all seems incredible (especially if you’re watching the betting odds), but this is exactly how the first half of the 2018 FIFA World Cup unfolded.

Any World Cup has its share of surprises: favorites don't advance to the playoffs, while underdogs do. The Brazilians are routed, and so on. But the amount of unexpected scores this summer is unprecedented, and we can only guess what’s in store for the playoffs!

There have been 44 games already, and just one has ended in a 0-0 tie!

A 0-0 tie is perhaps the worst thing that can happen in soccer, from a spectator’s point of view. The first 37 games in this year’s tournament, however, all avoided this scorelessness, and the only game to end so far without any goals was the match between Denmark and France (where neither team had any incentive to play aggressively).

Admittedly, there were no 0:0 ties at all in the 1954 World Cup, but there were also fewer games back then: just twenty-six. For a more modern comparison, seven out of the 64 games ended in 0-0 ties in the last World Cup tournaments (not to mention the fact that both finals were only decided in overtime, after scoreless regulation play).

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has made everything even more exciting

This is the first time the FIFA World Cup has employed the video replay system, and it’s only made the games even more thrilling. Referees still haven't completely figured out when VAR should or should not be used. This, of course, results in more play stoppages, but they don't spoil the show. On the contrary, everyone watching the game feels like a ref, ruling on critical plays alongside the pros.

A lot more extra time is given at the end of matches. And that's exactly when a lot of goals are scored!

Three or four minutes' worth of overtime used to be added to the clock at the end of a match, but now it’s closer to five or even six minutes (not least thanks to VAR). Now the 90-minute mark is but the beginning: 13 goals across 11 games have been scored in overtime so far. Seven of them determined the outcomes of their corresponding matches; moreover, the Spain vs. Morocco and Portugal vs. Iran games, the results of which decided which teams would advance to the playoffs, were only settled during extra time.

Iran (which is already out of the tournament) became the absolute leader in taking advantage of overtime: both of the team's goals at the World Cup — scored against Morocco and Portugal — were scored after the first 90 minutes of play.

A bonus for the home team: Russia’s early success

Before the start of the tournament many analysts — both in Russia and around the world — thought the Russian team would not be able to advance to the playoffs, thus repeating South Africa’s dubious feat in 2010 when, for the first time in history, the country hosting the World Cup was eliminated from the tournament at the group stage. Not only, however, did Russia manage to reach the playoffs (after playing just two games, no less!), but the team’s performance in those games was a marvel to behold: once again, as during the memorable Euro 2008, Russia’s players managed to win over the crowd, giving thousands of happy fans a reason to celebrate in the streets.

Russia will face Spain in 1/8 finals, and the odds of Stanislav Cherchesov's team winning the match are as low as 25 percent. Not too low, perhaps, for this tournament has been full of surprises!

Text by Grigory Levchenko, translation by Ivan Kh