Goals galore on manic Monday! Armchair fans are treated to 11 goals in two THRILLING matches

Fans hailed the World Cup’s ‘Manic Monday’, as the opening two fixtures of the day contained a total of eleven goals.

In the opening game, scandal-hit Cameroon came from behind to draw 3-3 with Group G rivals Serbia. 

Then Ghana won the second match of the day, defeating South Korea 3-2 in Group H to claim their first points of the tournament so far.

As Opta revealed on Twitter, it meant that it was the first day with multiple five-goal games at the World Cup since 1990, when Czechoslovakia hammered the USA 5-1 and West Germany defeated Yuogslavia 4-1 on June 10. 

Monday’s World Cup goalfest in Qatar was the first with two five-goal thrillers for 32 years

The official FIFA World Cup account may have summed it all up with their simple tweet. ‘Football.’ 

As well as officials, armchair fans were delighted by the events unfolding on the pitch in Qatar. One Twitter user reacted, saying: ‘What a crazy day of football already’, while another said: ‘What is going on in the World Cup today oh my days’. 

A third person tweeted: ‘The football today has been unreal’.  

‘Football.’ The succinct way the official tournament account summed up Monday’s events

Fans were quick to talk about the crazy scorelines taking place in Monday’s group stage games

Many were quick to pull out the calculators as the goals piled up. One fan wrote: ‘TODAY HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT PURE ENTERTAINMENT!!! 11 GOALS IN 2 GAMES’, while a further comment said ’11 goals already in less than 2 games today’, before looking ahead to the Monday’s other games, adding ‘Wow!’

Fans enjoyed the 11 goals across the opening two group stage fixtures played on Monday

The day’s madness began at the Al Janoub Stadium, where Jean-Charles Castelletto opened the scoring for Cameroon within half an hour. However, Serbia were in front by half-time through Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. 

Aleksandar Mitrovic put Serbia in a commanding 3-1 lead eight minutes into the second half, only for Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to pull the Africans level.  

Serbia went 3-1 ahead in the opening match, but were pulled back to a draw by Cameroon

Just an hour after that match, Ghana came into the Education City Stadium looking for their first points of the World Cup. They took the lead through centre-back Mohammed Salisu, before Ajax midfielder Mohammed Kudus doubled their advantage before the break. 

South Korea pulled it back level in the second half, with Cho Gue-sung scoring twice. However, Kudus scored a low finish in the 68th minute to secure a 3-2 win. 

Monday’s later kick-offs include the return of tournament favourites Brazil, this time sans Neymar, as they take on Switzerland, as well as the promising frontline of fellow South American side Uruguay as they clash with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the late game. 

More to follow…