List of Records Set at the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has brought many historic moments. Players and teams are breaking records on and off the pitch. Some of these achievements have even caught the attention of Guinness World Records.

During the group stage and Round of 32, stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Harry Kane made their mark with incredible performances.

A report from FIFA after the group stage showed that this tournament became the biggest in World Cup history. It drew a record 4.64 million fans across 72 matches and averaged three goals per game.

Below are some major records set during the group stage:

Individual records

• Lionel Messi (Argentina) became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches.
• Messi also became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 19 goals.
• At 38 years, 357 days, Messi became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous record.
• Cristiano Ronaldo became Portugal’s all-time leading World Cup scorer with 10 goals, passing Eusébio.
• Ronaldo is also the only player to score in the most World Cup editions (6).
• Kylian Mbappe became France and Europe’s all-time leading World Cup scorer with 18 goals, just one behind Messi as of June 3, 2026.
• Harry Kane became England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer with 11 goals, surpassing Gary Lineker.
• Ismael Saibari (Morocco) became the first African player to score in three consecutive World Cup matches.
• Kevin Pina scored Cabo Verde’s first-ever World Cup goal.

Team records

• A record nine African teams moved on to the knockout stage, breaking the previous record of two set in 2014 and 2022.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Canada, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and South Africa made it to the knockout stage for the first time.
• Cabo Verde became the only team debuting in the tournament to stay unbeaten in the group stage.
• Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar was the first time a CONCACAF nation scored more than four goals in a World Cup match.
• Japan’s 4-0 victory over Tunisia marked the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup history and was the biggest win by an Asian team at the tournament.
• Mexico won four straight World Cup matches for the first time, extending its record among CONCACAF nations.
• Senegal became the first African team to score five goals in a World Cup match.
• The United States’ 4-1 win over Paraguay was its first-ever four-goal game in a World Cup.

Coaching records

• Dick Advocaat (Curaçao) became the oldest coach in World Cup history at 78 years, 271 days.
• Hugo Broos (South Africa) became the oldest coach to win a World Cup match at 74 years, 75 days, breaking the earlier record set by Carlos Queiroz.

Goalkeeping record

• Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón set a new Guinness World Record for the longest World Cup clean-sheet streak. He went 519 minutes without letting in a goal, breaking Walter Zenga’s 518-minute record set in 1990.