World Cup 2018: 5 greatest aerial threats

The early stages of World Cup 2018 have been defined by tight games decided by fine margins. Often, it has been set pieces that have proved decisive in games, with penalties and crosses into the box yielding a high percentage of the goals scored so far in Russia.

As such, having players powerful in aerial duels could prove to be important as the tournament progresses, particularly in an offensive sense.

Uruguay are particularly well stocked in this season, as this list will show, and it was a telling attribute in their opening game against Egypt, in which Jose Maria Gimenez grabbed a late winning goal following a free kick. It proved to be a moment that set the tone for the tournament far more than Russia’s 5-0 opening-night victory over Saudi Arabia.

Here are the most prolific players in Russia 2018 who featured in Europe’s top-five leagues last season, taking into account headed goals only…

France v Republic of Ireland - International Friendly

Moussa Konate, Florian Thauvin, Olivier Giroud, Edinson Cavani (4)

There are four players present at the World Cup this summer who scored four headed goals in league play last season, with all holding a connection to France.

Three of the quartet of attackers play their club football in Ligue 1, with Senegal attacker Moussa Konate a star for an Amiens side who punched above their weight, Edinson Cavani at Paris Saint-Germain and Florian Thauvin at Marseille.

Thauvin’s inclusion in this list may come as a surprise to some as he is not considered a particularly brave player nor one associated with being physical. What the France man does possess, however, is a strong leap and excellent timing, allowing him to score four times with headers.

The other players to have scored four times are all associated with being good in the air. Senegal striker Konate is a strong No.9 in a traditional mode, a little like Giroud, who will offer a different type of threat in a France squad that is largely based around technical excellence.

Meanwhile, Uruguay international star Cavani has made a career out of being a prolific attacker in many different dimensions. He scored 28 in all in France’s top flight last season, including four headed efforts. He reserved these for important matches, scoring in such a style against both Nice and Monaco, though he was clearly more effective on the ground.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, Robert Lewandowksi, Rodrigo Moreno (5)

Portugal v Switzerland - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier

There is a talented quintet of players who scored five headed goals in the 2017-18 season, including Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Real Madrid striker has already made his presence felt in Russia as he scored a hat-trick in the opening match of the competition as he allowed his Portugal side to fight back and secure a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Spain.

He might have endured a difficult end to 2017, but since the turn of the year, his form has been close to perfect.

Twenty-two of his 26 goals in La Liga this season came in the second half of the campaign, with five of these headers. In this number is included his final goal of the season, which came against Villarreal.

Ronaldo keeps good company on five goals for the season. Argentina ace Sergio Aguero netted that number for Manchester City while Monaco’s Radamel Falcao, who turns out for Colombia, grabbed an identical number.

Bayern Munich No.9 Robert Lewandowski enjoyed another prolific season in the Bundesliga, grabbing a formidable total of 29 goals. His headers came against Mainz, Werder Bremen (2), Hamburg and Hannover.

Spain striker Rodrigo Moreno is the final member of this fab five, having scored five of his 16 Primera Division goals for Valencia by using his aerial prowess.

Harry Kane (6)

Harry Kane might have lost his title as top scorer in the Premier League to the red-hot Mohamed Salah, but the Tottenham striker can lay claim to having scored more headed goals than the Egypt ace.

Kane’s tally of 30 strikes this term was two fewer than the Liverpool man, but he has already shown his aerial qualities at World Cup 2018 by notching the winning goal against Tunisia in the last minute for England.

It was a continuation of the good form he showed throughout the campaign for Tottenham, during which he found the net with his head on four different occasions. Curiously, all four of these goals arrived in the middle part of the season, with four scored in a nine-game burst that started with a hat-trick against Southampton on Boxing Day.

He got another against the Saints less than a month later and in the weeks that followed he got the winners against Arsenal and Crystal Palace in 1-0 victories by using his strength in the air.

Given the volume of goals that Kane has scored over his relatively short career to date, he has been somewhat hit or miss in terms of scoring headers. Indeed, his tally of six this season represents his career best to date, and prior to this season in the league, he had found the net with only nine.

Maxi Gomez (9)

Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez is a player who has proven himself deadly in the air. In total, he bagged nine headed goals in La Liga last term.

It was an impressive campaign overall for the 21-year-old as he scored 18 times overall, though only two of these proved to be the winner for his side.

Celta, though, were thankful for his overall contribution, and particularly that he gave in the air for them. Indeed, in the middle of the season, he went on a particularly impressive run, during which time he scored five goals in six games, all of which came from his head.

This run started against Real Madrid as Celta hammered another nail in the defending champions’ coffin with an equaliser in a 2-2 draw at the beginning of 2018. His sharp start to the year continued with further tallies against Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Espanyol, against who he scored twice.

He is still a relative newcomer at international level and has yet to find the target for Uruguay, and his opportunities are unlikely to be extensive at the World Cup due to the presence of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Cristian Stuani ahead of him in the pecking order, but he is certainly a name to watch for the future.

Cristian Stuani (10)

Perhaps no player at the World Cup should be feared more than Uruguay striker Cristian Stuani when the ball is delivered aerially.

The 31-year-old attacker enjoyed an explosive debut season with Girona after moving to the Primera Division side from Middlesbrough in the summer. He made his presence felt in a spectacular first start against Atletico Madrid in which he scored twice, and barely stopped scoring thereafter. In total, he netted 21 times in 33 outings, finishing fifth in the race for the Pichichi.

His specialty, though, was scoring headers. La Liga was given warning within 25 minutes of his arrival, as he struck twice rapidly in this manner against a normally reliable Atleti defence, while he would later score twice in the air against Real Madrid later in the second during a thrilling 6-3 defeat.

Stuani’s campaign was completed with another double, this time against Las Palmas, and though his final goal of the season was a right-footed effort, his opening goal in that game came in the air.

He was a player who was notably strong early in matches, grabbing 14 of his goals in the first half of these games.

However, having the opportunity to strike early for Uruguay is something that he is unlikely to be given the luxury of having the opportunity of going as Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez appear to have the starting positions tied down. Nevertheless, he offers a huge threat off the bench.

Edited by Arvind Sriram