The set-piece shareLoading goals…
.png){kind=link}
vs previous World CupsSame definition for every tournament: goal within 15 seconds of a corner, free-kick or throw-in delivery (direct free kicks count), plus penalties and own goals by default. Untoggle above for the purist's number.
Goal logEvery 2026 goal — minute, scoreline, and the commentary line behind each classification
Method & sourcesDefinitions, data and citations
2026 (live): goals come from ESPN's public World Cup API, whose Opta-sourced commentary attributes goals with fixed phrases (“following a corner”, “following a set piece”, “direct free kick”, “converts the penalty”). Each goal above shows that verbatim line. The page re-checks the feed every minute while a match is live; goals without a dead-ball phrase count as open play.
The throw-in exception: Opta commentary never attributes throw-ins (Krejčí's goal vs South Korea just says “Assisted by Vladimír Coufal”), so long-throw goals are tagged by hand in set-piece-overrides.json — every override must cite a published match report, shown inline next to the ESPN line (marked ✎).
2018 & 2022 baselines: computed from StatsBomb open data (full event data, 64 matches each). Headline = goal scored within 15s of the corner / free-kick / throw-in delivery, penalties separate, shootouts excluded. Sensitivity of the window choice:
Context elsewhere: FIFA's analysis put 2018's dead-ball share at a record ~43% including penalties (SI, 2018; CBS Sports, 2026) — our 41.4% with the toggle on agrees. Peer-reviewed comparisons report 39–42% for 2018 and a drop in 2022 (Front. Sports Act. Living, 2024; Int. J. Perform. Anal. Sport, 2021). StatsBomb's own 2018 deep-dive: “The World Cup of Set Pieces”. Ranges differ because definitions differ — which is exactly why every number on this page states its definition and shows its receipts.