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10 days to the World Cup: When the own goals kept coming in 2018

The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

There was something in the air in Russia in 2018. As the 32 teams made their way through an otherwise competitive tournament, the own goals kept coming.

Across nearly 170 goals scored in the 2018 World Cup, there were a whopping 12 own goals in 2018, in games from the group stage all the way to the final. The number destroyed the previous World Cup record of five, set in 1998. In total, those 12 own goals mark more than a fifth of World Cup own goals all time.

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The baffling trend kicked off with Moroccan forward Aziz Bouhaddouz’s header ending up in the net of an Iran set piece. That goal, which came in stoppage time, ended up being the game-winner for Iran. It also kicked off a group stage with nine own goals across the first 48 matches.

Bouhaddouz wasn’t alone in his anguish, either: Of the 12 own goals in the tournament, five ended up being game-winners or otherwise deciding goals in a loss or draw.

That also included the quarterfinals, when Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho had a bad hit of his own off a header that gave Belgium an early lead. Belgium would go on to win 2-1 to advance, with Fernandinho’s blunder as the decider.

All of the own-goal nonsense led to the final, where France defeated Croatia 4-2, thanks in part to a Mario Mandžukić own goal early in the game. Mandžukić hit an ill-timed header off an Antoine Griezmann set piece in the 18th minute to open the scoring.

With the unlucky hit, Mandžukić became the first and only player to score an own goal in a World Cup final. In some ways, it was the only fitting end to the 2018 World Cup.

Things returned back to normal in 2022, where there were only two own goals scored. And while it’s likely that this summer won’t see the same kind of action, well, you never know.

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