Now that the 2010 World Cup is over, it is time to pore over the statistics of the tournament - some of them may surprise you.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is now at an end, with Spain lifting the trophy following their 1-0 victory against the Netherlands at Johannesburg. But which player scored the most goals in the tournament? Which team conceded the most fouls? And which nail-biting goal came the latest in a match? The answer to all of these questions lies in the statistics compiled by FIFA, a snapshot of which is provided below.
Top Scorers in the FIFA World Cup 2010
Germany's Thomas Mueller wins the Adidas Golden Shoe for five goals scored during the tournament. Also in the top five goal scorers list were David Villa (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Diego Forlan (Uruguay) and Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina).
Diego Forlan, Uruguay's striker, has now scored an all-time total of 29 goals for his country, ranking him Uruguay's second most prolific scorer. Hector Scarone continues to hold first place in this achievement.
Germany as a team scored the most goals during the tournament, with a total of 16 goals scored. Other teams in this top five were the Netherlands, in second place with 12, followed by Uruguay (11), Argentina (10) and Brazil (9). The latest deciding goal scored was Spain's Andres Iniesta scoring 116 minutes into the Final against the Netherlands.
The top five players that took the most shots at goal are Ghana's Asmoah Gyan, who took 33 shots at goal. David Villa and Diego Forlan both took 32, and Argentina's Lionel Messi took 30 shots. Wesley Sneijder took 27 shots during the competition. Lionel Messi is unluckiest in this group as he was unable to convert any of these shots to a goal during this World Cup.
Fouls Committed During the 2010 World Cup
The Netherlands stand out as the team that conceded the most fouls during the tournament, with 126 fouls committed. They also rank as the most handballs committed, with 10 Dutch handballs committed during the competition. Unsurprisingly therefore, they also received the most yellow cards - a total of 22.
As a comparison, Chile were second on the yellow-card list, and were given 13 yellow cards. Germany were third with 11 yellow cards given to them during the competition.
Awards Given During the 2010 World Cup
Here is a roundup of the awards achieved by individual players and teams during this World Cup:
- The Adidas Golden Shoe Award - Thomas Mueller (Germany)
- The FIFA Fair Play Award - Spain
- Last Man of the Match - Andres Iniesta (Spain)
- Best Young Player Award - Thomas Mueller (Germany)
- Adidas Golden Ball Award - Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
- Adidas Golden Glove Award - Iker Casillas (Spain)
The 2010 World Cup held in South Africa revealed a few surprises - it was argued by commentators that the big teams of previous World Cup tournaments had not played as well this time around, and some of the perceived "stars" of football made way for some newer players to make their mark. As it stands however, the FIFA All-Time Rankings are decided according to total games won during the World Cup tournaments. They show the top five teams as Brazil (with 66 games won), Germany (with 57), Italy (44), Argentina (36) and England (26 games won). There may be a different story at the end of the 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil.
For more information and more detailed statistics, visit the FIFA website.
