Why are there so many goals in this World Cup?

Is it coincidence, down to VAR or any other reason?

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MartinII · 70-79, M

Most teams, most of the time, have played aggressively and without fear. Those who haven’t, most obviously Germany, have not scored goals. The speed of modern football makes defending more difficult, even though defenders are also fit and fast. Nevertheless Russia and Denmark both managed to get to penalties with essentially defensive performances. VAR has nothing to do with it.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@MartinII I dunno. Euro 2016 was pretty defensive.

MartinII · 70-79, M

@Burnley123 Yes, that’s true, and it’s true, as you imply, that the one thing that’s obviously new is VAR. But logically, I can’t see why it should make any difference to a team’s style of play. Anyway, I think a World Cup is different - more teams are just glad to be there and give it their best shot, fewer are weighed down by expectation. And of course at least three of the latter have gone out.

Anyway, looking forward to today’s games.