Four Draws on World Cup Day for First Time in 68 Years
Collected Photo
An extraordinary scene unfolded on the fifth day of the 48-team FIFA World Cup, as all four matches ended in draws. No team managed to secure a victory, marking a rare record in the tournament’s history. For the first time in 68 years, all matches on a single World Cup day ended without a winner.
In the opening match of the day, tournament favorites Spain faced debutants Cape Verde. Despite Spain’s dominance, Cape Verde impressed with solid defensive organization and goalkeeping, forcing the match to end in a goalless draw.
The second match between Belgium and Egypt ended in a 1-1 draw.
In the third fixture, Saudi Arabia played against Uruguay, with both sides sharing the points after a 1-1 stalemate.
In the final match of the day, Iran took on New Zealand in a thrilling contest. Iran came from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw.
With these results, all four matches on a single World Cup day ended in draws for the first time in 68 years. The previous instance came during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, when all four group-stage matches played on June 15 ended in draws: Sweden-Wales (0-0), Yugoslavia-Paraguay (3-3), England-Austria (2-2), and Northern Ireland-West Germany (2-2).
Since the inception of the FIFA World Cup in 1930, these remain the only two occasions when all matches on a single day ended in draws.
