Why long-range goals are a rarity in Qatar World Cup?

The Qatar World Cup has had the lowest number of long-range shots and smallest percentage of goals scored from outside the penalty area in the last five tournaments, continuing a constant theme since 2006.

Through the group stage and the round of 16, only 7.6% of goals have come from outside the box, compared to 18.6% in 2006, according to data company Nielsen Gracenote, which began tracking the statistics at the World Cup in Germany 16

years ago.

After the round of 16 in 2010, there were 102 goals from inside the box (84.3% of all goals), compared to 118 in 2018 (86.8%) and 134 (92.4%) in Qatar.

The figures are similar for attempts, with a gradual decline in shots outside the box from 765 in 2006, well over half of all attempts, to 620 in Russia and only 470 in Qatar.

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