Graph: Why Brazil 2014 is shaping up to be the most exciting World Cup ever

From Robin van Persie’s incredible header to a last gasp winner by Switzerland, the Brazil World Cup may be shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the history of the tournament, despite the controversy in Brazil over its massive $11 billion dollar price tag. It helps that even in the group stage almost every team has been playing at full steam with every game so far yielding a result.

And then there’s this graph which shows the average number of goals that have been scored in the history of the tournament:

The average number of goals scored in the tournament has dipped significantly from 1954 in Switzerland when the number of goals scored was a whopping 5.4 goals per match. However, since then the number dropped and was particularly low during the last three world cups when it dropped to a dismal 2.3 goals per match.

While Netherlands alone has raised the average thanks to its 5-1 drubbing of Spain, other games have also had goals being scored freely and six games seeing a team score three goals or more. While logically this number should fall as the tournament progresses and teams become more cautious in the later stages, fans will be hoping it won’t stop the goals from flowing right through the tournament.