FE Sport Desk
The group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup officially got over on Thursday. The 48-game round provided some incredible action.
It all started with the lowest-ranked football side in the tournament. Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 on the opening day. Japan defeated Colombia to become the first Asian side to beat a South American opponent in a World Cup.
Marcos Rojo scored late to help Argentina beat Nigeria and qualify for the knockouts, after the two-time champions failed to win their first two group games.
Defending champions Germany were crashed out of the quadrennial event after losing to South Korea.
Apart from serving dramatic results, the ongoing tournament has also witnessed a high rise in own goals and penalties.
As 16 teams move on to play in the knockouts, here is a look at the most important scenarios from the World Cup group stage.
South America and Europe once again dominate
No team from outside of South America or Europe has ever won the World Cup and this dominance is again evident in Russia.
Only two sides from outside of these two continents have qualified for the knockout rounds with no African teams making the cut for the first time in 36 years.
Mexico are the only one of the three teams from the CONCACAF region to have qualified - topping their group ahead of Germany - while Japan are the only other nation from outside of South America or Europe to remain in the competition.
Total number of goals scored
A total of 122 goals were scored in the group stages with an average of 2.5 goals every match. All group games witnessed except one -- the goalless draw between France and Denmark. Belgium with nine goals emerged as the top scorers in the first round.
Most own goals
Nine own goals were conceded in the first round, the highest ever in a World Cup
Most penalties awarded
24 penalties were awarded during the group stage of Russia 2018, the most in a World Cup. 18 of them have been converted, one better than the previous record of 17 set at 1998 World Cup.
Fouls are down
There is a noticeable reduction in fouls per game in this World Cup.
With a total of 883 fouls over the first 36 matches, there is an average of 24.5 fouls per game.
There was an average of 30 fouls per game in the 2014 Brazil World Cup - the lowest level seen for at least 50 years, according to data from Opta.
Discipline record
158 yellow cards and three red cards were dished out by referees in the group stage.
Highest scoring match
The Belgium vs Tunisia match witnessed the most number goals (7) in a single match this edition. 31 goal attempts were made during the match, the most in a single match in this edition.
Top scorers
Tottenham striker Harry Kane with five goals for England top the list and Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku with four for Belgium. Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo with four goals for Portugal, Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa with three for Spain and Villarreal midfielder Denis Cheryshev with another three for Russia.
Qualification on Fair Play decision
Japan became on Thursday the first country in history to qualify via Fair Play decision after they finished level on point with Senegal in Group H with four points.
Germany were eliminated in the Group Stage of a World Cup for the first time, and were eliminated in the first round for the first time since 1938.
For the first time since 1982, no African nation will participate in the knockout rounds.
Yassine Meriah's goal for Panama against Tunisia was the second goal for the nation in the World Cup. Meriah's goal means the Russia 2018 is the first World Cup in which every team has scored at least twice. Tunisia's Fakhreddine Ben Youssef scored the 2500th goal of World Cup finals history, when he scored against Panama.
The fewest number of 0-0 draws since the 1950s
Aside from the joyless 0-0 draw played out between France and Denmark in their final group game, the group stage hasn't featured a single goalless match.
This is the fewest number of scoreless draws in the first round of any World Cup since 1954.
It marks a significant improvement on the past three tournaments when there were five, six and five 0-0s respectively, and given that the group stage features twice as many matches nowadays as in 1954 it is quite an achievement.
VAR has led to a record number of penalties
There have already been 18 penalties scored in the 2018 Russia World Cup, meaning 14.8 per cent of all goals scored have been from the spot.
This has already eclipsed the record number of spot-kick goals which was set in 1998.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has made its mark on the competition with this, with referees consulting the video assistant referees and hence punishing fouls that may have once gone missed.
Harry Kane has already scored two penalties himself, and if England can do that, anyone can take advantage of these penalties.
Own goals are winning Golden Boot for first time
There have already been nine own goals in the 2018 World Cup - eclipsing the total number seen at the Brazil 2014 World Cup and tying for the record, set in 1998.
These have been committed by Morocco's Aziz Bouhaddouz, Australia's Aziz Behich, Nigeria's Oghenekaro Etebo, Poland's Thiago Cionek, Egypt's Ahmed Fathy, Russia's Denis Cheryshev, Mexico's Edson Álvarez, Switzerland's Yann Sommer and Tunisia's Yassine Meriah.
With nine players ending up burying the ball in the back of their own net, own goals are easily surpassing the highest number of goals scored by one player, currently England's Harry Kane on five.
Spain unbeaten in 23 games
Going into the tournament, the longest unbeaten runs were for Spain (20), Morocco (18) and Belgium (18).
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