Teams are leaving it late at the 2018 World Cup – in fact there have been more goals in the final five minutes of matches in Russia than there were in the entirety of Brazil 2014.
Marcos Rojo was the unlikely match-winner for Argentina on Tuesday night, thumping in an 86th-minute volley to send his country into the knockout stage, while Ivan Perisic’s injury-time strike for Croatia against Iceland means there have now been 21 goals scored after the 85th minute.
Remarkably, 17 of those have come after the clock has ticked into the 90th minute – and with 24 out of 64 games still to come, there could yet be plenty more dramatic, last-gasp goals on the way.
Four years ago, there were 20 goals scored in the last five minutes of the 64 games played at the Brazil World Cup. Interestingly, the majority of the 21 late goals scored in Russia have swung the result of the match.