Premier League dominates World Cup scoring with 46 goals; Haaland leads among the English
The World Cup group stage ended with a statistic that confirms what many already suspected: the most productive football on the planet is concentrated in England. The Premier League finished the first phase as the league with the most goals scored in the tournament, with 46 goals – a 20-goal advantage over the runner-up, Spain’s La Liga. At the individual top among players from the English championship, Norwegian Erling Haaland of Manchester City found the net four times.
A ranking that reflects European hegemony
The top 5 in scoring by leagues is European from end to end. After the Premier League (46 goals) and La Liga (26) come Germany’s Bundesliga with 18, France’s Ligue 1 with 16 and Italy’s Serie A with 14. The difference between the leader and the fifth-placed team is 32 goals – a number that clearly illustrates the quality gap between the leagues of the old continent and the rest of the world.
Outside Europe, the best performance went to the American MLS, driven exclusively by Lionel Messi. Argentina’s number 10 scored all 6 goals the North American league accumulated at the World Cup. Without him, the MLS would be practically at zero.
The Brazilian league, meanwhile, appears in a modest 13th position, with only 3 goals. The scorers were Maurício (Paraguay and Palmeiras), Gonzalo Plata (Ecuador and Flamengo) and Canobbio (Uruguay and Fluminense). A number that draws negative attention, considering that Brazil annually exports dozens of players to the world’s main leagues.
Messi rewrites history; Mbappé and Vinícius chase from behind
In the individual scoring race, Messi is in another galaxy. With 6 goals in three matches, he scored in seven consecutive games of the competition, combining the final stretch of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with the current edition.
Behind him, a quartet tied with 4 goals each: Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, both of France, Vinícius Júnior for Brazil, and Haaland himself for Norway. It is the City centre-forward’s World Cup debut – and he has already shown why he is considered one of the most lethal strikers of today.
Among the Premier League players who contributed most, besides Haaland, Brazilian Matheus Cunha of Manchester United appears with 3 goals scored for the Brazilian national team. The same number as Ismaila Sarr (Senegal and Crystal Palace), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo and Newcastle) and Brian Brobbey (Netherlands and Sunderland). The English league doesn’t have just one executioner – it has several.
