Goal record broken at the World Cup! Messi writes his name into history

A total of 72 matches were played in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was held with 48 teams for the first time. The back of the net was rattled 215 times in these matches. With this goal tally, a new World Cup record was set. The 172-goal mark from the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was surpassed, setting a new record.

France, Germany, and the Netherlands became the top-scoring teams in the groups with 10 goals each.

1,774 SHOTS RECORDED

A total of 1,774 shots were recorded in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the group phase, where an average of 24.6 shots were taken per match, Belgium led the field in this category with 73 shots.

In the groups where 47 out of 48 countries scored, only Panama failed to experience this joy.

Canada's 6-0 victory over Qatar was also recorded as the first instance in FIFA World Cup history where a Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) country scored more than 4 goals in a single match.

Furthermore, the 4-1 victory against Paraguay marked the first time the USA scored 4 goals in a FIFA World Cup match.

LIONEL MESSI MAKES TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Argentina captain Lionel Messi made history as the first player to score in 7 consecutive FIFA World Cup final matches. Messi also became the tournament's all-time top scorer with 19 goals. Kylian Mbappe follows closely behind Messi with 16 goals. Mbappe still has the chance to surpass Messi in this ranking with the goals he may score in the upcoming rounds.

Additionally, at 38 years and 357 days old, Lionel Messi became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in tournament history, surpassing Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days old when he scored three goals against Spain in 2018.

CRISTIANO RONALDO IS PORTUGAL'S ALL-TIME WORLD CUP TOP SCORER

Cristiano Ronaldo also reached 10 goals, becoming Portugal's all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup history and breaking the record previously held by Eusebio with 9 goals.

RECORD BREAKERS

Curaçao head coach Dick Advocaat set a new record as the oldest coach in tournament history at 78 years and 271 days old.

Meanwhile, South Africa head coach Hugo Broos earned the title of the oldest coach to win a match in FIFA World Cup history at 74 years and 75 days old.

Moroccan İsmail Saibari drew attention as the first African player to score in 3 consecutive matches in the world's biggest football organization.

Japan's 4-0 victory over Tunisia was the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup history and the largest victory achieved by an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) team in the tournament, while Mexico improved its record by winning 4 consecutive FIFA World Cup matches for the first time, becoming the first CONCACAF team to achieve this feat. Senegal also succeeded in becoming the first African team to score 5 goals in a single FIFA World Cup match (against Iraq).

999 OUT OF 1,248 PLAYERS TOOK THE FIELD

A total of 1,248 footballers from 48 countries participated in the tournament. Of these, 999 played in at least one match during the group stage. Furthermore, 23 out of the 26 footballers in Turkey's World Cup squad played in the 3 matches held. Altay Bayındır, Mert Günok, and Samet Akaydin were the players who did not play for the national team.

68,162 PASSES COMPLETED IN THE GROUP STAGE

Teams completed a total of 68,162 passes in the group stage, with an average of 946.7 passes per match. Spain took the lead in this category with 2,191 passes, 2,013 of which were successful.

In the groups where 2,359 successful crosses were made, Canada topped the list with 117.

1,604 FOULS COMMITTED

The 2026 FIFA World Cup group matches were stopped 1,604 times due to fouls. In the matches where an average of 22.3 fouls occurred per game, Haiti hindered their opponents with 55 fouls. While referees showed an average of 2.5 yellow cards per match, a total of 180 yellow cards were issued. The team that received the most yellow cards was Paraguay with 8. Additionally, 10 red cards were shown, 2 of which were given to South Africa.