2026 World Cup: first round has highest goal average since 1958 and historic marks

The first stage of the 2026 World Cup, which ended last night with Colombia’s triumph over Uzbekistan, inspired FIFA to compile a series of facts, records and peculiarities from the opening week of the dispute. The historic tournament, which features 48 teams, is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The main finding revealed by the entity is that the current goal average is the best in the last 68 years. In the 24 matches played until last Wednesday (17), a total of 75 goals were scored. This represents an average of 3.12 goals per match, the highest since the 1958 edition, based in Sweden, which recorded an average of 3.6 goals per game. This brand goes against a recent trend of more tactical games with fewer goals in large tournaments.

In comparison, previous editions of the World Cup had very similar averages: 2.67 goals in 2014, 2.64 in 2018 and 2.67 in 2022. The highest goal rate in the tournament’s history occurred in 1954, in Switzerland, with an impressive 5.34 goals per game.

Among the 75 goals scored in this initial phase, five came from plays against the goal itself. This number sets a new record for a single round in the competition’s history. The overall record for goals against in a single tournament belongs to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, with 12 across the entire tournament.

In the 1998 FIFA World Cup France, the opening round of the group stage recorded four goals against, a mark that was considered the highest for a single round until the current edition.

Long-distance goals stand out in the opening round

Shots taken from outside the box gained prominence again in the first games: 12 of the 75 goals scored (equivalent to 16%) were scored from long distance. Interestingly, in the first round of the group stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, no goals were scored in this way.

Renowned Argentine player Lionel Messi was responsible for two of his three goals against Algeria from shots from outside the penalty area. With these moves, number 10 reached the mark of six long-distance goals in FIFA World Cups, surpassing Brazilian icon Roberto Rivellino, who found the net five times in this way.

English Championship leads ranking of players with the most goals

The Premier League, a football league in England, occupies first place in the ranking of championships with the most goals after the end of the opening round. To date, athletes playing in the English Championship have scored 17 times. Notable examples include Brighton’s Swede Yasin Ayari and Manchester City’s Norwegian Erling Haaland, both of whom scored two goals in their debut matches.

The Bundesliga, the main German division, appears in second place, with a total of 11 goals. The league saw the contribution of two goals from Harry Kane against Croatia, in addition to four of the German team’s seven goals in the 7-1 rout of Curaçao being scored by players who play in the country.

The Brazilian Championship has recorded, up to this point, a single goal in its favor, scored by Maurício, from Palmeiras, in Paraguay’s 4-1 defeat to the United States. In the same match, Damián Bobadilla, São Paulo midfielder, ended up scoring a goal against his own team.

Real Madrid stars find the back of the net frequently

Regarding the club classification, Real Madrid takes the lead after the first round, with a total of four goals scored by its athletes. Two of these goals came from Kylian Mbappé against Senegal, one from Vini Jr. against Morocco and the last from Jude Bellingham against Croatia.

The second position on the list is shared by four clubs in a technical draw: Arsenal, which featured two goals from Havertz and one from Gyokeres; Bayern Munich, with two from Harry Kane and one from Musiala; PSG, which had Barcola, Mbaye and João Neves scoring; and Inter Miami, with Lionel Messi’s three goals.

Four athletes score two goals in their first matches

Scoring two goals in the opening match of a FIFA World Cup is no simple task, however, this edition demonstrated that the attackers are not succumbing to pressure. Four players achieved this feat in the opening round.

The first to score two goals on his debut was North American Folarin Balogun, a central player in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay. Then, Swede Yasin Ayari repeated the feat in a 5-1 scoreline against Tunisia. The third to join this select list was New Zealander Elijah Just, in the 2-2 draw against Iran. Finally, Erling Haaland lived up to high expectations in his first match, against Iraq.

Debut teams celebrate unprecedented goals in the competition

Of the four teams making their debut at the FIFA World Cup, three of them managed to score their first goals in the competition’s history: Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. However, they all suffered defeats in the opening round.

Curaçao was beaten by Germany 7-1, and Jordan succumbed to Austria 3-1, the same result as Uzbekistan’s defeat to Colombia. The only debutant team that failed to find the net, Cape Verde, achieved the best result by drawing 0-0 against Spain.

The Democratic Republic of Congo was the fourth team to score a World Cup debut, earning a 1-1 draw against Portugal. In its only previous participation, still under the name Zaire, the country had lost all three group stage matches without managing to score a goal.