World Cup Stat Leaders - Gameweek 1: England duo impress
After an eventful opening round of fixtures at the World Cup in Russia, we run through the stat leaders from the games gone by.
After a hat-trick in the Iberian rivalry between Spain and Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo has certainly made his mark in the tournament already. It was the game billed as the biggest in the group stages and the six-goal thriller unquestionably lived up to that billing.
Ronaldo’s fantastic free-kick equaliser will go down as one of the big moments at the tournament and was not only enough to earn his side a crucial point but also the highest WhoScored.com man of the match rating from game week 1 (9.83).
The man the Real Madrid star leapfrogged in that regard was Aleksandr Golovin, who secured a rating of 9.80 courtesy of a free-kick goal of his own, as well as two assists - the only player to set up more than one goal in the first round of matches.
While his adversary Ronaldo flourished, Lionel Messi foundered at times against Iceland, firing off 11 shots without finding the net, seeing an effort from the spot saved on an afternoon to forget.
In terms of chances created, England’s Kieran Trippier led the way with six key passes, not including the corner from which Harry Kane eventually bagged an injury time winner.
Elsewhere it was a a performance of highs and lows for new Stoke signing Oghenekaro Etebo, who was unfortunate to deflect an effort into his own goal but impressed in possession, completing a gameweek high of nine dribbles.
From a defensive perspective, Hector Herrera was pivotal to Mexico’s shock victory over Germany, registering eight tackles, while Jose Gimenez was not only the late match winner against Egypt but also produced nine interceptions.
Of starting outfielders it was John Stones that boasted the best pass accuracy (98.6%), misplacing just one of 74 pass attempts, while the busiest goalkeeper was Guillermo Ochoa, producing World Cup heroics once more with nine saves to keep the Germans at bay for Mexico.
