<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;S\u00C3O PAULO \u2014 It\u2019s still early enough in the World Cup that the sample size is small, but a few intriguing early trends have emerged on the field in the first 20 games of the tournament. For starters, if you think the games are featuring more goals and more comebacks than in previous tournaments, you\u2019re right.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In fact, scoring is up 58 percent over World Cup 2010 through the first 20 games:\r\n\r\n&lt;h3 class=\"p1\"&gt;GOALS SCORED IN FIRST 20 GAMES&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t2014\r\n\t\t\t60\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t2002\r\n\t\t\t51\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t2006\r\n\t\t\t46\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t1998\r\n\t\t\t39\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t2010\r\n\t\t\t38\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another spike has come in terms of comebacks: No fewer than six of the first 20 World Cup 2014 games saw a team concede the first goal and come back to win the game. That\u2019s three times as many occasions as any World Cup\u2019s first 20 games going back to 1998. Why would this be happening? Perhaps it has something to do with the overall quality of this tournament field. Very few surprise teams qualified for Brazil 2014, and other than Cameroon (and perhaps Honduras) no team appears to be completely overmatched at this point.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3 class=\"p1\"&gt;GAMES IN WHICH TEAM THAT SCORES FIRST LOSES (IN FIRST 20 GAMES)&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;Brazil 2014&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tBrazil beats Croatia\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tNetherlands beats Spain\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCosta Rica beats Uruguay\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tIvory Coast beats Japan\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tSwitzerland beats Ecuador\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tBelgium beats Algeria&amp;nbsp;\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong &gt;Germany 2006&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAustralia beats Japan\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tSouth Korea beats Togo\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong &gt;France 1998&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tMexico beats South Korea\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tNigeria beats Spain\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong &gt;South Africa 2010&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tGreece beats Nigeria\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong &gt;Japan/South Korea 2002&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tBrazil beats Turkey\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another early trend so far in World Cup 2014 is the success of CONCACAF. No confederation in the tournament has won a higher percentage of possible points in games against other confederations. Opening-game wins by the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica are a carbon copy of what happened early on in World Cup 2002\u2014a tournament that saw the U.S. go all the way to the quarterfinals.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The best way to measure World Cup performance is by only including games against other confederations. That means not considering the results of any UEFA vs. UEFA games, since UEFA is the only confederation that has more than one team per group.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If we look back at previous World Cups, the trend emerges that CONCACAF teams are always more successful early on than teams from CAF and the AFC\u2014and occasionally on par with or slightly ahead of powerhouses UEFA and CONMEBOL:\r\n\r\n&lt;h3 class=\"p1\"&gt;PERCENTAGE OF POSSIBLE POINTS WON VS OTHER CONFEDERATIONS (FIRST 20 GAMES)&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;2014&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONCACAF\r\n\t\t\t67%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONMEBOL\r\n\t\t\t67%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tUEFA\r\n\t\t\t53%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCAF\r\n\t\t\t22%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAFC\r\n\t\t\t13%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;2010&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONMEBOL\r\n\t\t\t81%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tUEFA\r\n\t\t\t42%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONCACAF\r\n\t\t\t42%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAFC\r\n\t\t\t40%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tOFC\r\n\t\t\t33%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCAF\r\n\t\t\t21%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;2006&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tOFC\r\n\t\t\t100%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tUEFA\r\n\t\t\t73%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONMEBOL\r\n\t\t\t67%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONCACAF\r\n\t\t\t33%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAFC\r\n\t\t\t33%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCAF\r\n\t\t\t7%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;2002&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONCACAF\r\n\t\t\t100%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONMEBOL\r\n\t\t\t44%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCAF\r\n\t\t\t43%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tUEFA\r\n\t\t\t41%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAFC\r\n\t\t\t27%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;1998&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tUEFA\r\n\t\t\t62%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONMEBOL\r\n\t\t\t50%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCONCACAF\r\n\t\t\t50%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tCAF\r\n\t\t\t24%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\tAFC\r\n\t\t\t0%\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Additional research by Zach Dixon&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/soccer/planet-futbol/2014/06/19/world-cup-trends-brazil-2014-comebacks-goals>