Булангийн цохилтыг тактикийн оновчтой шийдлээр ашиглах нь 2026 оны Дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээний гол онцлог болоод байна.
2026 оны Дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээнд булангийн цохилтоос хойш таван секундын дотор 35 гоол орсон нь өмнөх тэмцээнүүдээс хамаагүй өндөр үзүүлэлт юм. Франц 19 удаа богино зайд дамжуулалт хийж тэргүүлж байгаа бол Канад, Испани зэрэг багууд ч мөн адил олон төрлийн хувилбарыг туршжээ. Ялангуяа Килиан Мбаппе Шведийн эсрэг тоглолтод шүүгчийг “хаалт” болгон ашиглаж, хамгаалагчдыг төөрөгдүүлэн гоол оруулсан нь багуудын бүтээлч байдлыг харуулсан байна.
Багууд зөвхөн богино дамжуулалт бус, талбайн ойрын зайн өнцгийг чиглэсэн цохилтуудыг түлхүү ашиглаж байна. Босни ба Херцеговины эсрэг тоглолтод Сеад Колашинац талбайн ойрын зайд бөмбөгийг чиглүүлснээр Жово Лукич гоол оруулах нөхцөлийг бүрдүүлсэн. Мөн Эквадорын Гонсало Плата, Мароккогийн Соуфиан Рахими, Аргентины Алексис Мак Аллистер нар ижил төстэй тактикаар гоол оруулж, өрсөлдөгчийнхөө хамгаалалтыг сэтэлжээ.
Уругвай, Англи зэрэг багууд бөмбөгийг хаалганаас холдуулан чиглүүлэх (outswinging) хувилбарыг илүүтэй ашиглаж, хамгаалагчдын байрлалыг алдагдуулах замаар боломж үүсгэж байна. Тухайлбал, Английн Жон Пол ван Хеке болон Астон Траст нарын гоолууд нь булангийн цохилтын үеэр хамгаалагчдыг “хашиж” чөлөөтэй зай гаргах тактикийн үр дүн байв. Олон улсын түвшний багууд бэлтгэлийн хугацаа бага байдаг ч энэ удаагийн тэмцээнд булангийн цохилтыг олон талт, уян хатан хувилбараар хэрэгжүүлж байгаа нь тоглолтын үр дүнд хүчтэй нөлөөлж байна.
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The goals have flown in at the 2026 World Cup, with corners contributing to a significant number of them.
There have been 35 goals within five seconds of a corner being taken. That is 22 more than teams managed in Qatar in 2022 and nine more than in the 2018 tournament in Russia — with the caveat that 36 more games have already been played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
That increase, unlike in the Premier League in 2025-26, is not primarily due to inswinging corners causing a rugby-style scrum in the six-yard box.
Teams have regularly used short and outswinging corners, too, as the graphic below shows.
Here The Athletic looks at some of the numbers and tactics behind the corners at the World Cup ahead of the semi-finals.
France leads all teams for short corners with 19.
Their opening goal in the 3-0 round-of-32 win over Sweden was a good example of their creativity from this route to goal. As Ousmane Dembele prepares to take a short corner, Kylian Mbappe first looks at the player responsible for tracking him, Alexander Isak.
Isak initially follows Mbappe’s run towards the ball but stops due to France’s activity behind him. The Real Madrid striker uses referee Danny Makkelie as a screen to get away from Isak and onto Daniel Svensson’s blind side.
Dembele passes into that gap, with Mbappe now faced up against Viktor Gyokeres, a player better known for his work in the other box.
Mbappe dribbles past him with ease and scores.
France’s semi-final opponent, Spain, have also gone short at times (they are third in the list with 10), but the preference has been for flat-ish deliveries into crowded six-yard boxes.
From the left, Alex Baena has sent in corners that have maintained a straight or even outswinging trajectory despite logic suggesting they should swing in. In the example below against Austria, Rodri initially points into a crowded six-yard box as Baena prepares to take the corner.
All the Spain players move towards goal and Austria follow suit, but Baena arrows a straight pass that Mikel Oyarzabal, the only player to step backwards, heads wide.
Canada are just behind France on 17 short corners. In their opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jesse Marsch’s side repeatedly played the ball short but kept several players in the box to draw the Bosnian defence out and find an open man.
In the example below, Stephen Eustaquio plays it short, with Canada set up to attack the six-yard box with two runners.
When he gets it back, Canada have a player free at the front post, two at the edge of the area (if they can work it quickly) and four attackers against three Bosnia defenders in the box.
Eustaquio chooses to cross into a central area and Bosnia clear the ball, but the idea — to draw opponents out and create an overload in one area — was sound.
Bosnia interestingly scored from a corner against Canada, using a strategy that became increasingly common as the group stage went on: attacking the near post.
This is how they are set up ahead of the corner, with Canada using two zonal markers at the near post and Bosnia packing the six-yard box.
Sead Kolasinac races forward to the gap between the zonal defenders to flick the ball on and the ensuing chaos sees Jovo Lukic head past Maxime Crepeau from point-blank range.
Multiple teams have utilised the dash to the near-post to create opportunities.
Gonzalo Plata’s decisive goal for Ecuador against Germany came from a similar approach. Kevin Rodriguez eases past Jamal Musiala to flick the ball into the corridor of uncertainty between Manuel Neuer and Jonathan Tah, who had already had a miscommunication earlier in the game. Plata gets into that area and diverts the ball past Neuer to seal Ecuador’s place in the last 32.
Morocco’s go-ahead goal against Haiti also came from this route.
Centre-back Chadi Riad flicks the outswinging corner across goal, with his team-mates’ runs dragging Haiti’s defence forward. That gives Soufiane Rahimi the time and space to take a touch and score via a deflection.
Jan Paul van Hecke’s strike in the Netherlands’ 3-1 win over Tunisia saw him score directly from the near-post flick on after racing forward from the six-yard box.
Jan Paul van Hecke rising the highest ⛰️
His first-ever goal for the Netherlands! pic.twitter.com/yBKdlapzrz
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 26, 2026
Argentina, on the shorter side physically, have relied on occupying the middle of the box and targeting the near post from either side. Alexis Mac Allister’s goal in their 3-1 quarter-final win over Switzerland came from this route.
It’s advantage Argentina as Alexis Mac Allister heads his nation into an early lead 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/kQ5pyxDzuE
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 12, 2026
In the 3-2 win over Cape Verde in the last 32, Mac Allister did the same, with his flick-on reaching Lisandro Martinez, who scored the go-ahead goal in extra time.
Argentina also ranks first for corners from the right that traveled to the near edge of the six-yard box with 10, six more than any other team.
Portugal’s second goal against Uzbekistan added even more variety to the mix, with Bruno Fernandes drilling a low effort towards three runners to the near post. The ensuing chaos led to Abduvohid Nematov deflecting the ball into his own net.
A messy own goal sees Portugal grab a fourth 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/fsk3wuutV7
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 23, 2026
Portugal experimented with their set pieces throughout the game, including a lobbed free kick to Cristiano Ronaldo and a free-kick goal scored by Nuno Mendes. Aston Villa set-piece coach Austin MacPhee’s presence in the since-departed Roberto Martinez’s coaching staff no doubt contributed to that.
From outswinging corners, the approach has been to curve the ball towards runners or players moving away from goal.
These are harder to defend as defenders’ body shapes naturally protect their goal, which means they need an extra second to change direction. They are also harder to score from as the ball is moving away from goal, but can generate shots to create pressure.
Uruguay, despite their group-stage elimination, lead all teams with nine shots from 26 corners and regularly used outswingers from the left to create opportunities. Maximilian Araujo often delivered these, while Brian Rodriguez and Nicolas de la Cruz did so from the right.
Below against Saudi Arabia, Uruguay’s players are scattered around the far side of the box while their opponents set up in a zonal scheme protecting the six-yard box. As De la Cruz floats the outswinger in, they sprint towards the Saudi defenders and the chance is an unopposed header for Sebastian Caceres, who guides it wide.
England, second with eight shots from 35 corners, also used this approach to score in their tournament opener, with Harry Kane charging in from behind a Croatian defence jostling with his team-mates to meet Declan Rice’s outswinger.
Thomas Tuchel’s side tried a couple of other tactics in the same game.
Below, Nico O’Reilly is on the goal line at the far post, away from the eye line of the opposition defenders, who are preoccupied with his team-mates.
From here, the Manchester City defender sprints into the six-yard box to meet the corner, forcing a good save from Dominik Livakovic, with his team-mates unable to scramble the ball over the line.
This example from the second half against Croatia was simpler.
England’s players rush to the near post and hold off their markers to give O’Reilly a free header at the far post that he directs wide.
Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT used a variation of that tactic for Auston Trusty’s opener against Turkey. Three players cordon off opponents at the far edge of the six-yard box, which gives Trusty the time to take a touch and lash the ball home from close range.
Thrashed in by Auston Trusty 😤
The USA are off to a flyer in Los Angeles! pic.twitter.com/czjuBNeaBz
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 26, 2026
Turkey struggled against the USMNT’s corners throughout the game, with multiple chances created from outswinging corners towards the penalty spot. The hosts used the same tactic from inswingers in earlier games, too.
Against Paraguay, USMNT players run forward from the far post against a man-marking scheme to create a header for Chris Richards that floated just wide.
Some teams have experimented with their routines, too.
Algeria were almost nonchalant in the lead-up to their first goal of the tournament.
Riyad Mahrez prepares to take this corner against Jordan and even has his hand up to signal he is ready, but his team still seem to be getting into position against a man-marking scheme that is scattered and unsure. As Nadhir Benbouali moves into a pocket of space, his initial marker lets him go, anticipating a run from behind the penalty spot.
It never arrives, though, and Benbouali rises unopposed to score.
For its go-ahead goal, Algeria were more set. They used the near-post tactic, applying pressure there to win the first contact before Amine Gouiri scored at the far post from the second phase.
Norway largely focused on inswingers to the back post, but switched things up on occasion.
Leo Ostigard’s goal in the 4-1 win over Iraq came from a curling Martin Odegaard delivery to the front post. Against Senegal, Odegaard casually jogs off the pitch at the near post to drag a player away from the box as Julian Ryerson delivers the corner. Kristoffer Ajer meets it to force a save from Edouard Mendy.
Norway have two players, including Erling Haaland, free at the far post when Ajer meets the ball.
The physicality Stale Solbakken had at his disposal allowed them to crowd the six-yard box and benefit from the chaos that generated. It nearly paid off in their quarter-final defeat to England, too, with Torbjorn Heggem scoring a second-half goal that was disallowed for a Haaland push on Elliot Anderson.
Restricted time on the practice pitch makes it harder for international teams to achieve the kind of set-piece threat we see at clubs. The best way to maximise corners then is variety and tweaking existing approaches, which several teams have done well at this World Cup.
