Top 5 number of goals scored during the group stage of a single FIFA World Cup edition

#2. 2002 FIFA World Cup- 130 goals

The 2002 World Cup saw 126 goals being scored during the group stages

The first ever World Cup held in Asia saw 161 goals being scored in the tournament. Out of these 161 goals, 130 (80.74%) were scored during the group stages. The highest scoring game of the tournament also took place during the group stages. This was Germany’s 8-0 drubbing of Saudi Arabia where Miroslav Klose headed a hat-trick of headers.

Other one-sided high scoring matches included Brazil’s 5-2 win over Costa Rica and 4-0 wins by Brazil and Portugal over China and Poland respectively. There were a number of exciting high scoring encounters. These included the memorable 3-3 draw between Senegal and Uruguay and 3-2 wins by Spain and Belgium against South Africa and Russia respectively.