Five goals in eighteen games. That is the number sitting at the top of the meanest defences in football right now, and it belongs not to a club side stacked with data analysts and set-piece coaches, but to Ecuador's national team during CONMEBOL World Cup qualification. Averaging 0.28 goals conceded per game, La Tricolor have made a habit of shutting doors that most qualifying campaigns leave ajar.
Porto Close Behind
In club football, FC Porto lead the way. Six matches into their Liga Portugal Betclic campaign, they have conceded just twice, a rate of 0.33 per game. It is early days by club standards, but six games without much leaking suggests a defensive structure that opponents are struggling to break down.
Levski Sofia sit third overall and top among the rest of the pack tracked here, having shipped four goals in nine Parva Liga matches (0.44 per game). That is a longer sample than most of the names below them, which makes the number carry a bit more weight.
A Crowded Chase Group
Three teams are locked together on exactly 0.50 goals conceded per game, each having let in three goals from six matches:
- US Boulogne Côte-d'Opale (Ligue 2)
- Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (Pro League)
- Celtic (Scottish Premiership)
Three different leagues, three different styles, but identical arithmetic. Boulogne's number stands out given Ligue 2's reputation for scrappier, more open matches, while Union Saint-Gilloise and Celtic have built their reputations this season in part on games where the opposition simply cannot find a way through.
FC Rapid București have conceded five in nine Superliga games, a 0.56 per game rate that still ranks among the better defensive records in the sample. Further down, Juventude's number looks different in context: 17 conceded in 28 Brasileirão Serie B matches works out to 0.61 per game, a solid mark once you account for having played more than three times as many matches as some of the sides above them.
None of these numbers guarantee anything for what comes next. Defensive form can evaporate in a single bad week. But right now, if you are trying to find a way past Ecuador, Porto or Levski Sofia, the data says you had better bring more than one idea.