The number of records broken at the World Cup is already insane

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The Football Faithful

·28 Juni 2026

The number of records broken at the World Cup is already insane

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is the biggest of all time, so it has inevitably led to a host of records being broken before we have even reached the knockout phase.

This tournament has has already had the most goals (215) and highest attendances of any edition, though that is purely down to the fact that it has more games than any previous edition due to its expansion to 48 teams.

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Here are all of the history making records and statistics we could find following the conclusion of the group stage. Any we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

World Cup 2026: All of the records broken in the group stage

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Argentina captain Lionel Messi, in likely his final World Cup as a footballer, has been setting a host of records this summer. He has so far scored the most goals by a player (19), played in the most matches (29), won the most matches (19) and played the most minutes (2,490) in World Cup history.

Messi broke the record for most consecutive matches scored in (7), overtaking Jairzinho and Just Fontaine. He has also surpassed Pele’s record of 21 goal involvements, with his six goals this summer taking him up to 27 total contributions.

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But the Inter Miami star also set an unwanted record when he failed to convert his spot kick against Austria, meaning he has now missed more penalties (3) than any other player in the competition’s history.

Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo are the first players ever to play in six World Cups; Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has also participated in six tournaments, but warmed the bench in 2006 and 2010. Ronaldo has also now scored in more World Cups (6) than any other player and, at 41-years-old, became the second-oldest player to ever score a goal in the competition.

Read – World Cup Group Stage Awards: Magic Messi, French firepower

Elder statesmen

At 40 years and 291 days old, Luka Modric became the oldest player on record to assist a goal at the World Cup after swinging in the corner for Nikola Vlasic’s winner for Croatia against Ghana.

In the other Group L match on matchday three, Jordan Henderson was subbed on against Panama to become the first-ever England player to feature at four World Cups and the first to feature at seven major tournaments.

Managers

Didier Deschamps has now won more matches (17) than any other manager at the World Cup following France’s victory over Norway. He also has the joint-most consecutive tournaments (4) with the same team, alongside Walter Winterbottom (England) and Helmut Schön (West Germany).

Iran manager Carlos Queiroz has been involved in the joint-most consecutive World Cups as a coach (5), along with Bora Milutinović.

At 78 years and 271 days old, Dick Advocaat became the oldest coach at a World Cup when he took charge of Curaçao’s final group game against Ivory Coast on 25th June.

Hugo Broos is now the oldest head coach to win a match in World Cup history, at the age of 74 years and 75 days. South Africa’s win over South Korea saw them advance to the knockout stage for the first time ever.

Read – World Cup Round of 32 in full as England discover opponents

Goalkeepers

Vozinha is the third goalkeeper to record multiple World Cup clean sheets after turning 40 years old, joining Peter Shilton (3) and Dino Zoff (2). In the process, moved into second-place among goalkeepers over 40 years old for most saves in a World Cup match on record (since 1966).

At 40 years and 12 days old, Vozinha became the oldest player to feature in a nation’s first World Cup match – breaking the record that had been set by Curaçao’s Eloy Room just a day earlier – and was also the ninth-oldest player to ever feature in the tournament.

Room recorded the most saves in a 90-minute match since records began when he pulled off 15 stops in Curaçao’s goalless draw with Ecuador. Only Tim Howard made more saves (16) in a single match when the US faced Belgium in 2014, although that game went into extra-time.

When Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera fumbled the ball into the net against Spain, it marked the first time a goalkeeper had made three errors that directly led to goals in a single World Cup campaign.

There have been five goalkeeper substitutions this summer, the joint-most in a single edition of the competition with 2014.

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Miscellaneous

A record five pairs of siblings have played at the 2026 World Cup, with six of those ten players born in the Netherlands. Brian Brobbey (Netherlands) and Derrick Luckassen (Ghana) are the first brothers to score for different nations at a World Cup.

Cape Verde are the smallest nation to ever reach the knockout stage of the World Cup and the first country to advance with three draws since Chile in 1998.

Harry Kane is now England’s leading goal scorer at the World Cup with 11 goals, overtaking Gary Lineker (10). Five of those goals have come from the penalty spot, more than any other player in the competition’s history.

England’s possession figure of 78.8 per cent against Ghana was the most on record by any side in a World Cup match without managing to score.

Senegal has scored eight goals so far in the 2026 World Cup, setting the absolute record for an African team during a group stage in the history of the competition. they are the first African side to score five goals in a match following their 5-0 win over Iraq. Iliman Ndiaye is the first player in the tournament’s history to come on as a substitute and then score a goal, assist a goal, have five touches in the opposition box and make five dribbles; he is also Senegal’s outright leading goalscorer with four goals.

Romelu Lukaku scored and assisted against New Zealand despite recording just five total touches, becoming the first player with two goal involvements and so few touches in a World Cup game on record.

Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani is officiating at his fourth World Cup, more than any other referee in history. Argentine official Juan Pablo Belatti has also set the record for most World Cups as an assistant referee with four.

Read – How FIFA’s new World Cup format manufactures dead rubbers