In light of the entries on inequality in European International Football, I was asked how many goals were scored by the bottom seeds against the top seeds in the European Championship Qualification stages? Previously I presented data on the score differential. Below is the number of goals scored in the 127 matches from the European Championship Qualifiers (1982-2012). The table shows how many matches per campaign between the top and bottom seeds ended with the bottom seed scoring from 0 to 5 goals.
In 68% of the matches the bottom seed didn’t even score and only once has a bottom seed scored three goals in a single match against a top seed. This happened when Iceland lost 5-3 to Portugal. The bottom seeds are not scoring more goals as time has passed.