International soccer stars have scored a record 10 own goals at the 2018 World Cup. Watch them all here.
July 4 (UPI) — International soccer stars have scored a record 10 goals at the 2018 World Cup.
Nine teams have scored an own goal at the tournament, led by host Russia, who is the only team with multiple own goals — two. Morocco, Australia, Nigeria, Poland, Egypt, Mexico, Switzerland and Tunisia have the other own goals.
Only the Russians have advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals out of the field of own goal-scoring teams.
The previous record for own goals at the tournament came at the 1998 World Cup, when teams scored against themselves six times.
Iran vs. Morocco
The first own goal of the 2018 World Cup also was the latest own goal scored in World Cup history. Moroccan forward Aziz Bouhaddouz supplied the score in the fifth minute of stoppage time of a 1-0 loss to Iran in the group stage on June 15 in St. Petersburg. Iran was taking a free kick on the play. Bouhaddouz was back defending. The Moroccan ran back and attempted to head a ball out of bounds, but headed it into his own goal instead, scoring for Iran.
France vs. Australia
Australia’s Aziz Behich scored a goal for France in a 2-1 loss in the group stage on June 16 in Kazan, Russia. That goal came in the 80th minute. France and Australia were tied at 1-1 when Behich deflected a Paul Pogba shot over goalkeeper Mathew Ryan and off of the crossbar for the decisive score.
Nigeria vs. Croatia
Oghenekaro Etebo was the only Nigerian to score in a group stage game against Croatia; unfortunately it was for the wrong team. Etebo netted the first goal of the game in the 2-0 loss on June 16 in Kaliningrad. He was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time for Nigeria during a corner kick during the sequence. Croatia sent in a bender, which deflected toward Etebo before hitting him and beating keeper Francis Uzoho. Luka Modric added another score in the 71st minute to secure the win for Croatia, who later advanced to the quarterfinals.
Poland vs. Senegal
Poland’s Thiago Cionek pocketed the first goal for Senegal in a 2-1 loss in the group stage on June 19 in Moscow. Idrissa Gueye took a shot on that play, which Cionek deflected past keeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 37th minute. M’Baye Niang later earned a 2-0 lead for Senegal. Grzegorz Krychowiak scored the only goal against Senegal in the loss.
Egypt vs. Russia
Egypt’s Ahmed Fathy scored the first goal of the match in a 3-1 loss to Russia in a group stage match on June 19 in St. Petersburg. Russia midfielder Roman Zobnin sent in a shot from outside the box on that play. Fathy came running in to clear the ball. Instead, the shot deflected off of the defender and rolled past Mohamed El-Shenawy.
Uruguay vs. Russia
The Russians were involved in another own goal game during a 3-0 loss to Uruguay during the group stage on June 25 in Samara. That score came in the 23rd minute off the boot of Denis Cheryshev. FC Barcelona star Luis Suarez gave Uruguay a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute before Uruguay got some help from the Russian midfielder. Uruguayan defender Diego Laxalt attempted a long distance shot on the play. Cheryshev deflected the attempt past goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in the 23rd minute. Edinson Cavani added the clincher in the 90th minute for Uruguay, who battles France in the quarterfinals.
Sweden vs. Mexico
Mexican defender Edson Alvarez contributed to his squad’s undoing in a 3-0 loss to Sweden in the group stage on June 27 in Yekaterinburg. Sweden led 2-0 after goals from Ludwig Augustinsson in the 50th minute and Andreas Granqvist in the 62nd minute.
Alvarez added a third goal for Sweden in the 74th minute. Sweden made a throw in on the play, which ended up in the box. Alvarez was standing just a few yards from the goal while trying to defend Ola Toivonen on the play. He got the ball caught up between his boots on the play, before accidentally deflecting it into the far post netting, past Guillermo Ochoa.
Switzerland vs. Costa Rica
Switzerland’s Yann Sommer prevented his team from beating Costa Rica, scoring the game-tying goal for the wrong side in a group stage match on June 27 in Nizhny Novgorod. Switzerland led the match 2-1 after getting scores from Blerim Dzemaili and Josip Drmic. Kendall Waston scored for Costa Rica in the 56th minute. It looked as though Switzerland had won its final match of the group stage, before the Swiss goalkeeper got very unlucky on a penalty kick. Bryan Ruiz stepped up for the try in extra time. His shot drilled the crossbar, before bouncing back and hitting Sommer in the back of the head and going back in the goal for a 2-2 draw.
Panama vs. Tunisia
Panama got its only goal from its opponent in a 2-1 group stage loss to Tunisia on June 28 in Saransk. Yassine Meriah had the miscue in the 33rd minute, giving Panama a 1-0 lead early on. The defender was standing in the middle of the box before being hit by a shot from Jose Luis Rodriguez. The ball the deflected past Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi. Tunisia made up for the miscue in the second half, getting goals from Fakhereedine Ben Youssef and Wahbi Khazri for the victory.
Russia vs. Spain
Russia added its tournament-leading second own goal during a penalty kick victory against Spain in the round of 16 on July 1 in Moscow. That miscue gave Spain a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Russian defender Sergei Ignashevich was marking Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos at the back post during a free kick during the sequence. The two players wrestled for position, before the kick hit Ignashevich’s leg and went past Akinfeev. Russia’s Artem Dzyuba tied the game in the 41st minute on a penalty kick. Russia earned the victory by beating Spain 4-3 on penalty kicks after two scoreless overtime periods.
