You can see the top ten goal scorers in the World Cup 2006 here, but what if you wanted to know who had the most shots on goal?

What about the most shots overall?

I dug up the stats for the World Cup so far (we’re in the group stages, with 2 days of the second round of matches to go), and found some very interesting stats: - namely, that the three players with most shots were midfielders. Klose, Valdes and Crespo are close, but only three players - all midfielders - reach double figures.

So who is this magic threesome?

3) Michael Essien (0 Goals, 4 shots on target, 10 shots overall)

2) Cristiano Ronaldo (1 Goal, 6 shots on target, 10 shots overall)

1) Frank Lampard (0 Goals, 6 shots on target, 13 shots overall)

While Essien isn’t the typical attacking midfielder (his was the case of one man driving the whole team forward) and Ronaldo is as prone to missing as he is to scoring, Frank Lampard’s current record in the 2006 World Cup epitomises the position England are in. Prodigious talent, lots of chances but very poor execution.

Here’s to hoping that Lampard will be able to score on Tuesday, when England meet Sweden to determine who tops Group A.