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The biggest unlucky guy of this World Cup has emerged

Who would have thought that in the World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico so far, the fiercest scorer is not Messi, not Mbappe, not Haaland, but the ubiquitous "Mr. Own Goal."

In the Round of 32 match between Australia and Egypt, in the 55th minute, Egyptian defender Mohamed Hani leaped high to head a clearance, and the ball drew a bizarre arc straight into his own net. The scoreboard froze at 1-1, and the crowd was stunned.

Egyptian defender's own goal

This is the 13th own goal of this World Cup, officially surpassing the 12 goals of the 2018 Russia World Cup and setting a new record for the most own goals in a single World Cup.

Even more dramatic is that Hani, who scored this milestone own goal, has already "scored twice." In the first group match against Belgium, he accidentally put the ball into his own net, and now in the knockout stage, he scored another, becoming the second player in World Cup history to score two own goals in a single tournament, after Bulgarian player Vutsov in 1966.

Actually, when I saw this record, I found it a bit amusing. None of the 13 own goals were match-fixing. The World Cup has just finished the first round of knockout matches, with many games still to play, and this number has already peaked. If this trend continues, by the time the final ends, the total number of own goals might reach 15? Or 20?

What's wrong with the defenders in this World Cup?

Take a look at this slightly absurd list. The 13 own goals are distributed among 12 players. Starting with Paraguay's Bobadilla scoring the first goal of the tournament, the defenses of Switzerland, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt have all "been hit," spanning four continents: South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. No major football continent has been spared.

Qatar and Egypt each contributed two own goals, tying as the "own goal giants" of this World Cup. Asian teams are particularly hard-hit: 6 out of 9 participating teams have scored own goals, accounting for nearly half of the total.

Jokes aside, behind this cluster of own goals lies a deep football logic.

The most direct reason is the increased gap in strength brought by the expanded tournament. With 48 teams gathered at the World Cup, many are on the finals stage for the first time, and players severely lack big-game experience. Under high-pressure pressing and fast crosses, defensive actions easily become flawed, leading to frequent miskicked clearances and headers going in the wrong direction. The weaker the team facing a stronger opponent, the more panicked the defense becomes, and the probability of errors naturally multiplies.

Second, modern football's attacking methods have changed. The quality of crosses from the wings is now higher, with faster ball speed and sharper curves. Defenders simply don't have time to accurately judge the landing point. Often, if you don't jump, you're in trouble; if you jump, you risk deflecting it. In the blink of an eye, instinctive actions often result in own goals. This isn't a matter of attitude, but a limit of human physiology.

Another factor that cannot be ignored: the existence of VAR. In the past, many goals that grazed a defender's head might have been directly awarded to the attacking side. Now, with video assistant referees, as long as the ball touches a defender's body—even a hair's-width deflection—it is accurately judged as an own goal. The stricter penalty standards naturally cause the statistics to rise.

But the core reason is the overall upgrade in match intensity. This World Cup has seen record average running distance and speed of attacking and defensive transitions. Defenders are making decisions at high speed throughout the entire game, and when physical exhaustion reaches its limit, mistakes are inevitable. Look at Hani's own goal—early in the second half, he was knocked down and took a while to get up. Just a few minutes later, he made a judgment error. It's hard to say it's unrelated to his physical condition.