Mexico's Julian Quinones opened the scoring in this World Cup in a 2-0 win over South Africa on 11 June.

The goals have continued to fly in since that opening match in Mexico City.

From Germany's 7-1 rout of debutants Curacao in Houston on 14 June to Canada's 6-0 hammering of Qatar in Vancouver four days later, there has been an avalanche of goals.

One of the reasons for so many goals could be the Adidas 'Trionda' ball used in matches.

It appears as though several goalkeepers have already been caught out by the flight of the ball.

That was evident earlier this week when France captain Kylian Mbappe scored his second goal of the game - and longest of the tournament - by beating Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from 30 yards.

It was one of five strikes from the first round of fixtures that were scored from more than 22 yards out.

Two of those goals were scored by Sweden's Yasin Ayari against Tunisia - from 24.8 yards and 24.3 yards respectively.

Goals from Australia's Connor Metcalfe (25.6 yards against Tunisia) and Ismael Saibari (24.7 yards against Brazil) make up the top five.

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, speaking to BBC Sport, has suggested goalkeepers are struggling to get to grips with the ball.

Hart noticed the ball rushing Jordan Pickford quicker than expected when Martin Baturina equalised for Croatia against England on 17 June.

More than 10 goals have been scored from outside the penalty area, not to mention tap-ins after keepers have fumbled swerving shots.

"There are one or two occasions where this football has not necessarily behaved as you would expect it to," former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who is working at the World Cup for BBC Sport, said. "It is something to keep an eye on."

It isn't the first time World Cup balls have caused problems. During the 2010 tournament in South Africa, the 'Jabulani' became well known for its swerve, dip and drift, which was thought to have contributed to several long-range goals.

At the time, England's David James was one of several players to criticise the ball, saying it would "allow extra goals" and "make some goalkeepers look daft".

"The ball is dreadful," said James. "It's horrible, but it's horrible for everyone."

By the end of that tournament, 26 out of the 145 goals scored were from outside the area.

Goalless draws at this World Cup have been about as rare as Neymar making an appearance on the pitch for Brazil.

Thirty-three games deep into the newly-expanded 104-match tournament, there has been just one.

And what a memorable goalless draw it was for debutants Cape Verde who held 2010 world champions Spain in Atlanta on 15 June.

The Blue Sharks are one of four nations making their debuts at the expanded 48-team World Cup along with Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

While Cape Verde frustrated Spain, Curacao - the smallest nation ever, by size and population, to take part in the tournament - conceded seven against Germany in their opening game.

"Of course, having more teams and lower-ranked sides has had an small impact in terms of quality," said former Brentford and Tottenham boss Thomas Frank.

"But aside from a few matches, like Germany against Curacao where the game eventually got away from them, not that many sides have been blown away so far."

Jordan, 68th in Fifa's rankings,, external opened their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Austria, while Uzbekistan lost by the same scoreline to Colombia.

Has the gap between games been a factor in so many goals being scored?

Mexico, who kicked the whole things off on 11 June, had to wait a week before playing again against South Korea.

Has that given the more powerful teams a chance to refresh and recharge before playing again?

This World Cup (3.09 goals per games) is exceeding the scoring rate from Qatar four years (2.69 goals per game), with that tournament played in December to mitigate the soaring summer temperatures in the Middle East.

So could the heat in North America be leading to physical struggles - and more goals?

Of the tournament's 105 goals (after Germany's win over Ivory Coast), 30 have arrived between the 76th minute and full-time (28.6% - on pace to be the sixth-highest in history and the highest since 2014).

There have also been a high number of costly errors leading to goals.

Tunisia's Ellyes Skhiri lost possession in a dangerous area against Sweden, allowing Viktor Gyokeres to score.

The North Africans committed six errors leading to shots in total, four of which resulted directly in goals, as Graham Potter's side ran out 5-1 winners in their opening game.

Elsewhere, have hydration breaks - booed by fans at some games - allowed teams to reset and then go on and score?

The mandatory three-minute breaks at all 104 games are meant to be used for players to take in liquids, but head coaches have used them to make tactical changes and issue fresh instructions to players.

Brazil were trailing Morocco 1-0 in their opening game in New Jersey but were back on level terms within 10 minutes of the restart after a first-half drinks break.

"You can tell the players what to do," said Switzerland boss Murat Yakin.

"We are able to show them images. During three minutes we can talk to them, talk about substitutions, we can talk about changes."