By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-07-19 23:24:00 | Updated at 2026-08-03 00:22:15
2 weeks ago
Thanks to the brilliant data insights team at Opta, we look back on the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the very best facts from the tournament.
Group Stage
South Africa’s Yaya Sithole was the first player to be sent off in the opening match of a FIFA World Cup since Marco Etcheverry for Bolivia against Germany in 1994. With Themba Zwane and César Montes also seeing red, it was the fifth World Cup match to see 3+ red cards, and first since Netherlands vs Portugal in 2006.
At 17 years and 240 days, Mexico’s Gilberto Mora became the youngest-ever player to represent a host nation at an edition of the FIFA World Cup (sixth-youngest debutant overall).
Son Heung-Min became the second player to appear in four different FIFA World Cups for Korea Republic (2014-2026), joining manager Hong Myung-Bo (1990-2002).
The United States’ 4-1 win against Paraguay was the first time they’ve scored 4+ goals in a FIFA World Cup match, and their third 3-goal victory in the competition.
At 31 years and 238 days against Haiti, John McGinn became the oldest player to score for Scotland at the FIFA World Cup, surpassing Kenny Dalglish (31y 103d) vs New Zealand in 1982.
Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao was the fourth time they’ve scored 7+ goals in a game at the World Cup, the outright most of any nation (Hungary, 3).
Curaçao became the first FIFA World Cup debutant since Korea Republic in 1954 to concede as many as seven goals in their first match (9), while their six-goal loss was also the heaviest suffered by a debuting team in the competition since that same game (South Korea 0-9 Hungary).
Mattias Svanberg scored 18 seconds after coming off the bench for Sweden against Tunisia, the second fastest sub goal in World Cup history behind only Richard Morales after 16 seconds for Uruguay vs Senegal in 2002.
Spain’s Lamine Yamal became the youngest European player to appear at two major tournaments (Euro 2024 & 2026 World Cup), aged 18 years and 337 days against Cape Verde.
In their opening game against Cape Verde, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal was the first player Opta has on record since 1966 to play the first 30 minutes of a World Cup match without touching the ball once.
Against Senegal, Kylian Mbappé surpassed Olivier Giroud (57) to become France’s all-time leading goalscorer with 58 goals, while also overtaking Just Fontaine (13) as the nation’s top scorer in FIFA World Cup history (14).
Kylian Mbappé became the third player to score for France in three different FIFA World Cup editions (2018, 2022 and 2026), joining Michel Platini and Dominique Rocheteau, who both achieved the feat between 1978 and 1986.
Lionel Messi’s three goals against Algeria made him the oldest hat-trick scorer in World Cup history (38 years and 357 days).
Harry Kane became just the second England player to score at three separate World Cup tournaments (2018, 2022, 2026), along with David Beckham (1998, 2002, 2006).
Jude Bellingham became the youngest European player in history to make an appearance at four different major tournaments (UEFA Euros/FIFA World Cup), aged 22 years and 353 days.
Luka Modric became just the second European player to make an appearance at 10 different major tournaments (UEFA Euros/FIFA World Cup), along with Cristiano Ronaldo (12). He’s played at all but one World Cup/Euros tournament since 2006, with Croatia failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Switzerland 4-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina was the first game in World Cup history to see as many as five goals scored with all of them coming after the 70th minute.
Canada’s 6-0 win against Qatar saw them become the first nation from outside of Europe or South America to score 6+ goals in a World Cup match.
In that win over Qatar, Jonathan David became the first player to score a World Cup hat-trick for a host nation (Canada) since Geoff Hurst for England in the 1966 final against West Germany.
Türkiye had 62 shots without scoring in their opening two 2026 World Cup matches, the most by any team across a two-game span without a goal since records began in 1966.
Sweden are the first side to win their first game by 4+ goals (5-1 vs Tunisia) and then lose their second by 4+ goals (1-5 v Netherlands) at a FIFA World Cup tournament since Sweden in 1938.
Ecuador 0-0 Curaçao saw 18 shots on target, the highest number in a single match in FIFA World Cup since 1966 without any team scoring.
Eloy Room’s 15 saves against Ecuador tied for the most in a single match in the FIFA World Cup on record (since 1966) with USA’s Tim Howard against Belgium in 2014 (that match went to extra-time).
Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera (40 years and 5 days) and Cape Verde’s Vozinha (40 years and 18 days) became the first pair of 40-year-old players to appear in the same World Cup match.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in history to score at six different World Cup tournaments.
Vinícius Júnior became the fifth Brazilian player to score in all three group stage matches of a single FIFA World Cup tournament, following in the footsteps of Jairzinho (1970), Romário (1994), and both Ronaldo and Rivaldo (2002).
Ismail Saibari (Morocco) became the first African player to score in each of his side’s three group stage matches at a single FIFA World Cup tournament.
Ousmane Dembélé’s hat-trick just 32 minutes into France’s game against Norway is the second earliest a player has scored a World Cup hat-trick in a match, behind Erich Probst in 1954 for Austria against Czechoslovakia (24 minutes).
Cape Verde (W0 D3 L0) became the first debutant to go unbeaten in their three group-stage matches at the World Cup since Senegal in 2002 (W1 D2 L0).
Against Jordan, Lionel Messi became the first player to score in seven consecutive appearances at the World Cup, eventually extending that run to nine games in the knockout stages.
Knockout Stage
South Africa’s Ronwen Williams made 77 successful passes against Canada, the most on record (since 1966) by a goalkeeper in a match at the World Cup.
Gabriel Martinelli’s winner for Brazil against Japan (95:00) is the latest winning goal in normal time of the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup on record (since 1966).
Against Paraguay, Germany lost their very first penalty shootout at the World Cup (fifth shootout), and just their second at a major tournament (World Cup/Euros), also losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final.
In their last-32 tie against Ivory Coast, Norway became the first ever country to make 10+ changes to their starting XI in consecutive World Cup matches within a single edition.
At 17 years, 259 days old, Mexico’s Gilberto Mora became the second youngest player to start a knockout match at the FIFA World Cup behind only Pelé in 1958 (17 years and 239 days in first knockout appearance).
Belgium trailed Senegal 2-0 as late as the 85th minute, the latest into a FIFA World Cup game in normal time a team has trailed by 2+ goals and avoided defeat.
Youri Tielemans’ winning penalty for Belgium against Senegal was the latest goal ever scored in World Cup history (124:44).
Senegal became the first African team to score 10 goals in a single edition of the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal in the World Cup knockout stage for the first time. His strike against Croatia was his 31st shot outside the group stage at the tournament.
Portugal vs Croatia was the first match in World Cup history to feature three different players who have appeared in more than 20 matches. It was Cristiano Ronaldo’s 26th World Cup appearance while it was number 23 for Luka Modric and 21 for Ivan Perisic.
Paraguay didn’t pick up a single card in their 1-0 defeat to France, the first time they’d not received any in a World Cup match since 1998 against Nigeria.
Morocco became the first African nation ever to reach the quarter-finals of two World Cup tournaments (2022 and 2026).
Neymar became only the second Brazil player to score at four different FIFA World Cup tournaments (2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026) after Pelé.
Spain became the first team in World Cup history to keep a clean sheet in six consecutive matches.
Romelu Lukaku became the first player to score as a substitute in four different FIFA World Cup matches, including becoming the first to score in three different matches in a single edition.
Argentina were trailing 2-0 as of the 78th minute against Egypt, the latest any team has ever been 2+ goals down in a FIFA World Cup game and come back to win without going to extra time.
Enzo Fernández’s header against Egypt was the 3,000th goal scored in FIFA World Cup history.
In Harry Kane (6) and Jude Bellingham (7), England became the first team in FIFA World Cup history to have two players score more than five goals at a single edition of the tournament.
France’s 2-0 win against Morocco was Didier Deschamps’ 20th victory at the FIFA World Cup, the most of any manager in the competition’s history. Their semi-final match against Spain was his 26th game in the competition, also the most of any manager (finishing with 27).
2026 was the third time that all four World Cup semi-finalists were previous winners of the competition after 1970 and 1990. It was also the first tournament since FIFA rankings were introduced (1994) that the four semi-finalists were the top four ranked countries coming into the tournament.
There are just two occasions of a team scoring first in the semi-final but not reaching the final of the FIFA World Cup in the 21st century – both of them are England (vs Croatia in 2018 and Argentina in 2026).
The first shot in England vs Argentina came via John Stones in the 33rd minute – it’s the longest wait for a first shot on record (since 1966) in a FIFA World Cup match.
England 6-4 France was the first ever instance of that scoreline occurring in a FIFA World Cup match, while it was the highest scoring match in the competition since Hungary 10-1 El Salvador in 1982.
Bukayo Saka became the fourth Englishman to score a FIFA World Cup hat-trick after Geoff Hurst, Gary Lineker and Harry Kane, while he was only the second player overall to score a hat-trick in the 3rd/4th place play-off match after Just Fontaine in 1958.
Kylian Mbappé’s two goals against England in the bronze final saw him become the first player to score 10+ goals in a single World Cup campaign since Gerd Müller in 1970.
Spain conceded just one goal in their eight games at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the fewest goals conceded by any team in a World Cup winning campaign. They weren’t in a losing position in any of their games at the finals.
Argentina were the first team in history to not have a shot in 90 minutes of a FIFA World Cup final. Their first attempt came via Lionel Messi in the 117th minute.
Spain began the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde. It’s the second consecutive tournament the eventual winners have failed to win their opening game (Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia in 2022), with this happening just three times in the first 21 editions beforehand.
Enzo Fernández was the sixth player to be sent off in a FIFA World Cup final, with 50% of those being Argentina players (also Pedro Monzón and Gustavo Dezotti in 1990).
Ferran Torres was just the second substitute to score the winning goal in a FIFA World Cup final, after Germany’s Mario Götze in 2014, which also came against Argentina.
Lionel Messi became just the second ever player to play in three men’s FIFA World Cup finals (also 2014 and 2022), after Brazil’s Cafu (1994, 1998, 2002). At 39 years and 25 days, he was also the second oldest ever World Cup finalist after Italy’s Dino Zoff in 1982 (40y 133d).
At 19 years and six days, Lamine Yamal became the third-youngest player to play in a FIFA World Cup final, after Pelé in 1958 (17y 249d) and Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982 (18y 201d). With Pau Cubarsí also starting (19y 178d), Spain were the first side to feature two teenagers in a single World Cup final.
Argentina finished as runners up at the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time (also 1930, 1990 and 2014), the joint-most of any side, along with Germany.
Spain have won the FIFA World Cup for the second time after 2010, meaning that seven of the eight winners of the tournament have now won it at least twice – England are the only nation with a solitary victory.
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